The New Yorker covers: September 26, 1931

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.

Rea Irvin
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . George Washington

I had rather be on my farm than be the emperor of the world.

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

"The Old Woman in the Wood," 1917, Arthur Rackham
illustration for a collection of Brothers Grimm folk tales

Movie Posters, 1981: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: May 7

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.

5.7.1942: Editorial cartoonist and children’s book illustrator Tony Auth is born in Akron, Ohio. He and Daniel Pinkwater created Norb, a comic strip that ran for 52 weeks beginning in 1989.

5.7.1975: George Baker, the creator of Sad Sack, dies at 59 in Riverside, California. Sad Sack first appeared as a newspaper comic strip in 1942, and later as a comic book.

5.7.1983: The daily installment of Stan Lynde’s Latigo ends its run, but the Sunday feature survived a bit longer. The western comic debuted in 1979. 

5.7.2000: Brian Basset launches Red and Rover, a retro-set strip about the love between a boy and his dog. Basset had previously created Adam, later renamed Adam@Home.

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.

Review: "Missing," E.A. Jackson

Find exclusive book reviews, including this one, at The Walrus Said blog.

The New Yorker covers: November 12, 1927

The New Yorker isn’t Sports Illustrated, of course. But a fair number of sports, from basketball and baseball to golf and hockey, have graced the magazine's covers in one form or another since its founding in 1925.

Theodore Haupt
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . G. H. Hardy

Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not.

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

"Pumpkin March," 1974, Jamie Wyeth