The New Yorker covers: March 27, 2000

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.

Raul Colón
"Winter Is Sprung"

The (old) Down East covers: August 1962

Ever since its founding in 1954, Down East has billed itself as “the magazine of Maine.” There are other Maine-centered mags, but Down East remains the most prominent of the bunch. Nowadays, the Rockport-based monthly features glossy, memorable cover photos, but there's a lot to be said for the charming, old-timey look of covers from the publication’s early decades.

Henry R. Martin, untitled

Movie Posters, 1974: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

 

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

"The Little Girl in Blue," 1934, Amrita Sher-Gil

Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 6

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.

11.6.1938: Red Ryder, a Western-themed strip created by Stephen Slesinger and Fred Harman, debuts. It ran through 1964.

11.6.1950: Al Capp, the creator of Li’l Abner, makes the cover of Time magazine, with Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae and a couple of Shmoos in the background. 

11.6.1956: Pogo Possum, the star of Walt Kelly’s strip Pogo, loses the presidential race to Dwight D. Eisenhower, as he did in 1952.
 
11.6.1972: Bob Thaves unveils Frank and Ernest, a strip devoted to puns and wordplay.

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.

The birth of an artist: November 6

 

Everett Shinn
November 6, 1876

Dennis Miller Bunker
November 6, 1861

Louis Rhead
November 6, 1857

The New Yorker covers: June 26 & July 3, 1995

The New Yorker has long been one of the most respected and influential magazines in the history of American publishing. So it comes as no surprise that many of its cover artists have chosen to showcase readers and reading.

Owen Smith
"Paperback Riders"