The New Yorker covers: October 20, 1951

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.

Abe Birnbaum
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . H. L. Mencken

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.

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

"Lady with Hat and Feather Boa," 1909, Gustav Klimt

Movie Posters, 1927: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

 

Today in the history of the American comic strip: March 26

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.

3.26.1973: Rerun Van Pelt, the little brother of Lucy Van Pelt, makes his first appearance in Peanuts. Rerun was first mentioned in the strip in May 1972, but he remained offstage until today.

3.26.1995: Six years after he introduced the comic, Berkeley Breathed discontinues Outland. The strip was a Sundays-only spin-off of Bloom County.

3.26.2006: Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks, which launched in 1996, goes on a "hiatus" from which it never returned. The cartoon viewed American life through the eyes of young, black Huey Freeman.

3.26.2012: Sylvia Hollander announces the “retirement” of her strip, Sylvia, which first appeared as a daily newspaper comic in 1981.

3.26.2018: Will Henry’s Wallace the Brave makes its newspaper debut, following its initial launch as an online strip.

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: December 20, 1941

I don’t get too excited about holidays, with one major exception. I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for Christmas. The New Yorker has run many Christmas covers over the years, some of which, such as those by the late George Booth, are quite memorable.

Christina Malman
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Jerry Seinfeld

I don't want to hear the specials. If they're so special, put 'em on the menu.