The New Yorker covers: October 22, 1960

Some of the politicians who have appeared on older covers of The New Yorker are cartoonish fabrications making campaign swings or holding news conferences. In recent years, though, real-life candidates and officeholders have made the cover, often in an unflattering light.

William Steig
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Homer

The best thing in the world being a strong house held in serenity where man and wife agree.

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

"Summer Kitchen," no date, Mary Azarian

Movie Posters, 1921: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 12

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.

6.12.1938: Prince Valiant's title character receives the Singing Sword, a charmed blade, from Prince Arn of Ord. Hal Foster created the strip in 1937. 

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: September 2, 1950

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 . . . James Baldwin

Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.

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

"Beach near Étretat," ca. 1872, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Movie Posters, 2026: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!