Polygon highlights five major pop-culture franchises that later received daily newspaper comic strips, despite having originated in television, film or comic books. The examples show how syndicated strips were used to keep characters visible and commercially relevant during periods of intense popularity.

– The Muppets ran in newspapers from 1981 to 1985, with meta humour and stories by Guy and Brad Gilchrist.
– Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a lighter strip from December 1990 to January 1997, amid peak “Turtle-Mania”.
– The Simpsons strip appeared from 1999 to 2002, surprisingly after the earlier Bartmania merchandising boom.
– These strips often supported wider marketing campaigns while adapting each franchise’s familiar tone.
– Creative disputes, changing priorities and the end of wider media runs helped bring some strips to a close.