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.
6.28.1944: Skeezix, who was adopted as an infant by Gasoline Alley bachelor Walt Wallet back in 1921 when someone left the baby on his doorstep, marries Nina Clock.
6.28.1976: Snoopy's sister Belle makes her Peanuts debut. Snoopy has at least five siblings: brothers Spike, Marbles, Olaf and Andy; and Belle.
6.28.2010: Bob Weber Jr. and Jay Stephens launch Oh, Brother!, a strip about young siblings. Bud and Lily often seem at odds, but love each other deeply. Daily syndication ended the following year.
6.28.2018: Gasoline Alley begins a long-running series in which Walt Wallet, the strip’s oldest character, is invited to the Old Comics Home. There, retired cartoon characters eventually toast him to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gasoline Alley’s launch, in 1918.
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| Gasoline Alley |
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.
