The New Yorker covers: October 11, 2004

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.

Barry Blitt
"Diversionary Tactics"

And now, a few words from . . . Socrates

To find yourself, think for yourself.

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

"Fairlight Downs: Sunlight on the Sea," 1852-58, William Holman Hunt

Movie Posters, 2001: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: August 10

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.

8.10.1990: Peggy Jean becomes Charlie Brown’s girlfriend in Peanuts, despite his unrequited love for the Little Red-Haired Girl. Peggy Jean appeared intermittently in the comic until mid-1999, a few months before the strip ended in February 2000.

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: 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!