The New Yorker covers: April 5, 1993

The New Yorker isn’t Sports Illustrated, of course. But a fair number of sports, from basketball and baseball to golf and hockey, have graced the magazine's covers in one form or another since its founding in 1925. 

Richard Merlin
"The Changing of the Guard in the House That Ruth Built"

And now, a few words from . . . William Blake

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.

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

The Foxes, 1913, Franz Marc

Movie Posters, 1982: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: August 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.

8.9.1964: Fontaine Fox, creator of the classic comic Toonerville Folks (1908-1955), dies in Greenwich, Connecticut, at 80.

8.9.1991: Pasquale, the lovable tyke in Rose Is Rose, finally grows out of baby talk. The strip launched in 1984.

Toonerville Folks

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 New Yorker covers: September 19, 1983

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 E. Martin
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Thomas Merton

Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.

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

"Little Island," 1965, A.J. Casson

Movie Posters, 1971: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!