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.
3.27.1927: Hy Eisman is born. He put his skills to good use on Popeye, The Katzenjammer Kids, Kerry Drake and Little Iodine.
3.27.1959: In Peanuts, Lucy opens her "psychiatric help" booth for the first time.
3.27.1972: Tom Batiuk debuts Funky Winkerbean, a high-school strip. The comic, which has undergone several format changes over the years, remains in syndication.
3.27.1990: Aviation pioneer Lester J. Maitland, co-creator (with Dick Calkins) of the Skyroads strip, dies in Scottsdale, Arizona, at 91.
3.27.1993: Lawrence Poirier, a character in For Better or For Worse, reveals that he’s gay. His coming out generated controversy, with some readers threatening to cancel newspaper subscriptions while others supported cartoonist Lynn Johnston.
3.27.2000: Soup to Nutz makes its debut. Created by Rick Stromoski, the comic centered on the Nutz family, including the three Nutz children. The cartoon ended its run in 2018.
3.27.2006: Terri Libenson introduces The Pajama Diaries, a strip focused on a Jewish family in Ohio. Libenson retired the comic in 2020.
3.27.2020: Retired Los Angeles school teacher Harriet Glickman dies. In 1968, she wrote to Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz urging him to add a black character to his strip. A correspondence followed, and Schulz introduced an African-American boy named Franklin in July 1968.
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.
