The New Yorker covers: October 3, 1931

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.

Helen E. Hokinson
(covers untitled until February 1993)

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

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

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

"Stormy Sea at Night," 1849, Ivan Aivazovsky

Movie Posters, 1988: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn

Today in the history of the American comic strip: May 18

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.

5.18.1941: After a seven-year hiatus, The Teenie Weenies begins the third of its three runs, which, in combination, spanned more than 50 years. Created by William Donahey, the comic starred two-inch-tall humans who lived under a rose bush.
 

5.18.1996: Garry Trudeau wins a Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society as cartoonist of the year. His strip, Doonesbury, went into syndication in 1970.

5.18.1996: Tom Forman dies at 60. He and Ben Templeton created the satirical strip Motley’s Crew, which ran from 1976 to 2000. 

5.18.2008: PreTeena, a strip about a 10-year-old girl named Teena Keene, is discontinued after seven years. It was created by Allison Barrows.

PreTeena

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.

Review: "The Ending Writes Itself," Evelyn Clarke

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

The New Yorker covers: November 19, 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.

Rea Irvin
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Michel de Montaigne

Let us banish the strangeness of death: let us practice it, accustom ourselves to it, never having anything so often present in our minds.

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

"Master Bedroom," 1965, Andrew Wyeth