Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 9

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.

9.9.1917: Frank Robbins, the creator of Johnny Hazard (1944-1977), is born in Boston, Massachusetts.

9.9.1934: Two years after its launch, Vincent T. Hamlin’s Alley Oop expands its reach to include a Sunday strip.

9.9.1934: The Little King begins his newspaper reign following appearances in The New Yorker magazine. The strip ran until the death of cartoonist Otto Soglow in 1975.

9.9.1951:  The Tom Corbett — Space Cadet comic strip begins its two-year run. Corbett appeared in other media as well during the 1950s, including television.

9.9.1968: Bill Hoest debuts The Lockhorns, about a bickering husband and wife, as a daily strip.

9.9.1968: Howard Post introduces The Dropouts, which remained in syndication until 1981. 

9.9.1976: Doonesbury’s Jimmy Thudpucker makes his first appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone (with fellow Doonesbury character Ginny Slade). He showed up again in 1978.

9.9.1979: Lynn Johnston introduces readers to a fictional Canadian family, the Pattersons, in For Better or For Worse. In 1991, Johnston received the Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society.

9.9.1979: Mary Perkins, On Stage, originally entitled On Stage, ends its run after more than 20 years in print.

9.9.2007: Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac goes into daily syndication, following a limited appearance in The Washington Post. The strip, which Thompson discontinued in 2012 because of illness, depicted the daily life of four-year-old Alice Otterloop.

9.9.2010: Stuart Hample dies in New York City, at 84. In 1976, he introduced Inside Woody Allen, a gag-a-day strip about the filmmaker and comedian. It ran until 1984.

9.9.2018: Macanudo, a strip created by the Argentine cartoonist known as Liniers, makes its American debut.
 

For Better or For Worse

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.