Monday, November 11, 2024

Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 11


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.

11.11.1942: The creator of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Billy DeBeck, dies in New York City at 52. Launched in 1919, DeBeck's strip remains in print.

11.11.1968: Dateline: Danger! joins the lineup of comic strips. Created by writer John Saunders and artist Al McWilliams, the feature starred two intelligence agents working undercover.

11.11.1998: Famed World War Two cartoonist Bill Mauldin draws infantrymen Willie and Joe for publication one last time on Veterans Day, for a Peanuts comic strip. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, also a World War Two veteran, signed the strip "Schulz, and my hero," with Mauldin's signature underneath.
 
11.11.2023: After promising the eventual release of Guard Dog, a beloved character in the Mutts strip who has been chained outside for years, cartoonist Patrick McDonnell begins a dramatic and emotional story arc in which Guard Dog’s owner abandons him, chained to his post.
 


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.

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