The New Yorker covers: September 27, 2010

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.

Barry Blitt
Bedbugs and Beyond"

And now, a few words from . . . Dorothy L. Sayers

Death seems to provide the minds of the Anglo-Saxon race with a greater fund of amusement than any other subject.

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

"The Wave," 1885, T. Alexander Harrison

Movie Posters, 1997: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: April 12

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.

4.12.1956: In Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Charlie Brown gets his kite caught in a kite-eating tree for the first time, but certainly not the last.

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 30, 2000

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
"Twin Bill"

And now, a few words from . . . George Orwell

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

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

"A Proud Mother," no date, Frank Paton

Movie Posters, 1980: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!