The New Yorker covers: June 15, 1981

Over the years, there have been many magazines whose covers have featured the work of highly talented artists and illustrators. But probably no magazine has had more varied and memorable covers, over a longer period of time, than The New Yorker, which was founded in 1925.

Charles Saxon
(covers untitled until  February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Joe Martin

If it weren't for my lawyer, I'd still be in prison. It went a lot faster with two people digging.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" Saul Bellow

"Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth," 1842, J.M.W. Turner

Movie Posters, 2023: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: December 5

American cartoonists and writers may not have invented the comic strip, but some argue that the comics, as we know them today, are an American creation. Clearly, the United States has played an outsize role in the development of this underappreciated art form.

12.5.1937: Gustave Verbeek, creator of The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo, dies in New York City, at 70.

12.5.1972: Anders Morgenthaler is born. The Danish artist is the co-creator (with Mikael Wulff) of Wumo (formerly Wulffmorgenthaler), which began appearing in American newspapers in 2013.

12.5.1987: Early comics artist Arthur R. Momand dies in New York, at 100. His creation, Keeping Up with the Joneses, popularized the title as a term for judging success by the social standing of neighbors.
 
12.5.2011: Fantagraphics releases Through the Wild Blue Wonder, the first installment in a planned 12-volume set of the complete daily and Sunday Pogo strips by Walt Kelly.

Wumo

Most of the information listed here from one day to the next comes from two online sites -- Wikipedia, and Don Markstein's Toonopedia -- as well as 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, edited by Maurice Horn. Note that my focus is on American newspaper comic strips (and the occasional foreign strip that gained popularity in the United States). Thus, comic books and exclusively online comics are not included here.

Review: "The Black Wolf," Louise Penny

 Find exclusive book reviews, including this one, at The Walrus Said blog.

The New Yorker covers: March 4, 1972

Over the years, there have been many magazines whose covers have featured the work of highly talented artists and illustrators. But probably no magazine has had more varied and memorable covers, over a longer period of time, than The New Yorker, which was founded in 1925.

James Stevenson
(covers untitled until February 1993)