Complex sentence: Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst was a proponent of Herriman, and gave him a lifetime contract with King Features Syndicate, guaranteeing Herriman a comfortable living and an outlet for his work, despite its lack of popularity.
Split into simpler sentences: Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst was a proponent of Herriman, and gave him a lifetime contract with King Features Syndicate. This guaranteed Herriman a comfortable living and an outlet for his work, despite its lack of popularity.