The New Yorker covers: December 1, 2025

Eustace Tilley (above), a cover illustration by Rea Irvin, has long been the mascot of The New Yorker. Eustace graced the first issue of the magazine when it appeared on February 21, 1925, and he has appeared on many covers since then, usually in February. In recent years, he has been depicted or commemorated in many different ways.

 

Malika Favrre
"Taking Flight"
(One of several covers for The New Yorker's 100th anniversary) 

And now, a few words from . . . Confucius

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.

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

"Joan of Arc," 1879, Jules Bastien-Lepage

Movie Posters, 1940: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: February 28

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.

2.28.1907: Milton Caniff is born in Hillsboro, Ohio. Best known for creating Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, he was named 1946 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society. Caniff also received a Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1979.

2.28.1962: Jef Mallett, the creator of Frazz, is born in Lansing, Michigan. Ostensibly, Frazz is about school custodian Edwin "Frazz" Frazier, but Mallett has said it's really about discovery.

Frazz

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 29, 2013

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. 

Eric Drooker
"Shadow Over Boston"

And now, a few words from . . . René Descartes

I think; therefore I am.