The New Yorker covers: August 21, 1971

 

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.

James Stevenson
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Martin Luther King Jr.

It may be true that the law can’t make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also.

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

"Walpurgis Night," 1935, Paul Klee

Movie Posters, 1964: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: July 5

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.

7.5.1958: Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, is born in Washington, D.C. He was named 1986 and 1988 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society, which also awarded him and Jim Scancarelli of Gasoline Alley Newspaper Comic Strip awards in 1988.

7.5.1974: Uncle Duke is first mentioned, but not yet seen, in Doonesbury. He made his first appearance in the strip three days later.

7.5.2004: Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! debuts. Created by Tim Rickard, the strip chronicled the misadventures of Brewster Rockit, captain of the space station R. U. Sirius, and his crew. 

7.5.2008: Spot the Frog, which Mark Heath launched in 2004, ends its run. The strip focused on a talking frog who moves away from his home pond.

7.5.2016: Garry Trudeau releases Yuge!: 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump.

 

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: November 25, 1961

When was the first thanksgiving in what would become the United States? Virginia says 1619 in, of course, Virginia. More familiar, though, is a 1621 feast in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, involving Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. Competing claims aside, the American holiday is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Frank Modell
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Elvis Presley

Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.

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

"Declaration of Independence," 1819, John Trumbull

Movie Posters, 2025: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!