Review: "The Body in the Bath," Ragnar Jónasson

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The New Yorker covers: August 21, 2006

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.

Jean-Jacques Sempé
"Fresh Intoxication"

And now, a few words from . . . Stephen Sondheim

The difference between a cow and a bean is a bean can begin an adventure.

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

Underground," 1932, Thomas Cantrell Dugdale

Movie Posters, 1984: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 23

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.

9.23.1931: Stan Lynde, creator of the Western comic strip Rick O’Shay (1958-1981), is born in Billings, Montana.

9.23.2012: Richard Thompson’s short-lived but much-admired Cul de Sac ceases publication, because of Thompson's failing health. He died at 58 in 2016.
 

Cul de Sac

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: July 29, 1996

Most of the earth’s surface is covered in water, hence the planet’s nickname as the blue planet. Water, its uses and its relationship to land have held a special appeal for cover artists whose work has appeared in The New Yorker.

Charles Burns
"At the Beach"

And now, a few words from . . . Christopher Marlowe

You must be proud, bold, pleasant, resolute, / And now and then stab, as occasion serves.

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

"Liberty Leading the People," 1830, Eugène Delacroix