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

Movie Posters, 1942: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 22

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.

9.22.1901: Frederick Burr Opper’s Alphonse and Gaston, featuring two absurdly polite and deferential characters, makes its first appearance in William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal.

9.22.1952: H.T. Webster dies. His cartoon The Timid Soul introduced Caspar Milquetoast, whom Webster described as “the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick.”
 

Alphonse and Gaston

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: April 15, 1985

 

Merriam-Webster defines a garden as “a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated,” but the dictionary’s definitions also include this: “a container (such as a window box) planted with usually a variety of small plants.” Houseplants and cut flowers may not meet either definition, but I think they come close.

Jean-Jacques Sempé
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Langston Hughes

I do not need my freedom when I’m dead. / I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.

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

"Christina's World," 1948, Andrew Wyeth

Movie Posters, 1987: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!