Chobits
"Chobits" began as a manga written and illustrated by Clamp, a collective of four Japanese manga artists. It appeared as a serial in "Weekly Young Magazine" from the 43rd issue for 2000 to the 48th issue for 2002. Kodansha compiled the eighty-eight chapters into eight bound volumes and published them from February 14, 2001, to November 29, 2002.
In 2002, Tokyopop licensed "Chobits" for an English-language translation in North America and marketed it as part of its new unflipped manga line, which reads from right-to-left. Previously, translated manga was typically flipped from its original reading order to a left-to-right one to better suit Western readers. Tokyopop published the series from April 23, 2002, to October 7, 2003, and its translation was distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. Tokyopop's license concluded in 2009. At San Diego Comic-Con International 2009, Dark Horse Manga announced an omnibus edition of the series in celebration of Clamp's 20th anniversary. In 2010, it published the two volumes on March 24, and September 29, respectively.
"Chobits" is also published in Hong Kong in Traditional Chinese by Jonesky, in Singapore in Simplified Chinese by Chuang Yi, in South Korea by Daiwon C.I., in France by Pika Édition, in Spain by Norma Editorial, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Italy by Star Comics (which serialized it in "Express"), in Germany by Egmont Manga & Anime (which serialized it in "Manga Power"), in Poland by Japonica Polonica Fantastica, in Brazil by JBC, and in Sweden by Carlsen Verlag.
Columbia Features
The syndicate debuted a number of strips in 1955, including the long-running "The Mountain Boys" by Paul Webb. Beginning in 1955 and continuing until his death in 1966, writer France Herron worked on a number of strips for Columbia Features. He started with the daily strips "Davy Crockett, Frontiersman" and "Nero Wolfe" — staying on the Davy Crockett strip until 1959, when he became the writer of the "Rip Tide" and "Bat Masterson" strips. "Bat Masterson" was illustrated by Howard Nostrand and Bob Powell. (Notably, Nostrand was assisted [on backgrounds] by future comic book superstar Neal Adams who had just graduated from the School of Industrial Arts; it was among his first professional art jobs.) The Davy Crockett strip, though not a success, was notable for the fact that Jack Kirby ghosted the art in the early months of 1956. Both "Nero Wolfe" and "Rip Tide" ran until 1972.