Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Review: "It's Not What You Think," Clare Mackintosh

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

The New Yorker covers: February 6, 1932

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. 


Constantin Alajalov
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . F. Scott Fitzgerald


Draw your chair to the edge of the precipice and I’ll tell you a story.

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

"Las Meninas" (The Maids of Honor), 1656, Diego Velázquez

Movie Posters, 2024: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

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

6.9.1918: The Star Company syndicate begins distributing Rube Goldberg’s Boob McNutt nationally. The comic about a clumsy, incompetent fellow ran until 1934.

6.9.1974: Dotty Dripple, a domestic comedy strip created by Jim McMenamy and modeled on Blondie, ends its run after 30 years.


6.9.1986: Mister Boffo, a strip created by Joe Martin, goes into syndication. The main character is Earl, who is usually shown as being married to a blonde woman named Nadine. But the comic zips around in time and space, and Earl is depicted in various unrelated roles.
 
Dotty Dripple

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.

Monday, June 8, 2026

The New Yorker covers: September 17, 1927

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.

Julian de Miskey
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Yogi Berra


If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.

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

"Portsmouth: Preparing to Launch John Paul Jones' Sloop of War Ranger, May 1777,"
no date, John Stobart