The New Yorker covers: May 26, 1928

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 . . . Bertrand Russell

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

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

"Magnolias," 1938, Stanley Spencer

Movie Posters, 2022: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 4

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.

9.4.1882: Harold Knerr, who drew and wrote The Katzenjammer Kids for 35 years, is born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

9.4.1942: Pruneface, one of the main villains in the Dick Tracy strip, makes his first appearance.
 
9.4.1951: Snoopy’s doghouse appears in Peanuts for the first time. The beagle made his initial appearance in 1950, the year the comic debuted.

9.4.2005: The appearance in Blondie of characters from other comic strips, which began July 10 to celebrate Blondie’s 75th anniversary, comes to an end.

9.4.2007: The Complete Terry and the Pirates, Vol. 1: 1934-1936, marks the start of a six-volume series from the Library of American Comics reprinting Milton Caniff’s strip.

9.4.2018: After a buildup that lasted more than two months, Walt Wallet of Gasoline Alley finally learns that the real reason he’s been invented to visit the Comics Retirement Home (senior housing for retired comic-strip characters) is to celebrate Gasoline Alley’s 100th birthday.

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: "How to Read a Book," Monica Wood

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

The New Yorker covers: June 8, 2026

The New Yorker has long been one of the most respected and influential magazines in the history of American publishing. So it comes as no surprise that many of its cover artists have chosen to showcase readers and reading.

Sergio García Sánchez
"The Secret Life of Books"

And now, a few words from . . . Henry David Thoreau

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

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

"Picking Flowers," ca. 1912, Helen McNicoll