The New Yorker covers: July 3, 1971

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July in the United States, celebrates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Second Continental Congress approved independence on July 2 of that year, but Congress did not adopt the actual declaration until two days later.

Ilonka Karasz
(covers untitled until February 1993)

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

We do not exist for ourselves.

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

"Pigeons," 1910, John French Sloan

Movie Posters, 2023: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 13

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.

6.13.1942: The Shadow, written by Walter B. Gibson and drawn by Vernon Greene, is discontinued only two years after the comic strip debuted. 

6.13.1943: Betty, a glamor-girl strip that Charles A. Voight launched in 1920, draws to a close.

6.13.1998: Reginald Smythe, the British creator of Andy Capp, dies in Hartlepool, England at 80. He introduced the strip in 1957.

6.13.2010: The revived Little Orphan Annie, which Leonard Starr resurrected in 1979 and retitled Annie, ends its run.

Andy Capp

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: October 22, 1960

Some of the politicians who have appeared on older covers of The New Yorker are cartoonish fabrications making campaign swings or holding news conferences. In recent years, though, real-life candidates and officeholders have made the cover, often in an unflattering light.

William Steig
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Homer

The best thing in the world being a strong house held in serenity where man and wife agree.

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

"Summer Kitchen," no date, Mary Azarian

Movie Posters, 1921: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!