The New Yorker covers: April 7, 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.

Leonard Dove
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Flannery O'Connor

I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.

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

"Lane Behind Montrose Avenue," 1966, Albert Franck

Movie Posters, 1929: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn

Today in the history of the American comic strip: May 20

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.

5.20.1929: Lester J. Maitland and Dick Calkins introduce Skyroads, an aviation-based comic strip than remained in print until 1942.

5.20.1930: Malcolm "Mal" Hancock is born. In addition to publishing cartoons in Playboy and other magazines, he drew many comic strips, including Nibbles (1961-63), Humphrey Hush (1963), Patrick (1965-69), The Fantastic Foster Fenwick (1968-72), Polly (1972-73), Fenwick (1977-79), The Lumpits (1970-78), Pig Newton (1983), Willie (1983-85), Malfunction Junction (1990-93), and Hi and Jinx (1991-93).

5.20.2012: Crock, launched by Bill Rechin and Brant Parker in 1975, ends its run. The strip was a parody of the French Foreign Legion classic, Beau Geste, a novel that triggered movie adaptations.

5.20.2025: Scott Adams, 67, the creator of Dilbert, says he has the same kind of aggressive prostate cancer as former President Joe Biden, and that it has spread to his bones.

Crock

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: October 19, 1940

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.

Constantin Alajalov
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Yogi Berra

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

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

"Portrait," 1929, Dean Cornwell

Movie Posters, 1922: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn