The New Yorker covers: August 4, 2008

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.

Kim DeMarco
"Night Cap"

And now, a few words from . . . Abba Eban

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

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

"Three Worlds," 1955. M.C. Escher

Movie Posters, 1995: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn

Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 6

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.

11.6.1938: Red Ryder, a Western-themed strip created by Stephen Slesinger and Fred Harman, debuts. It ran through 1964.

11.6.1950: Al Capp, the creator of Li’l Abner, makes the cover of Time magazine, with Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae and a couple of Shmoos in the background. 

11.6.1956: Pogo Possum, the star of Walt Kelly’s strip Pogo, loses the presidential race to Dwight D. Eisenhower, as he did in 1952.
 
11.6.1972: Bob Thaves unveils Frank and Ernest, a strip devoted to puns and wordplay.

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: November 29, 1999

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.

Steve Brodner
"Turkey Day"

And now, a few words from . . . Robert Benchley

There seems to be no lengths to which humorless people will not go to analyze humor. It seems to worry them.

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

"On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt," 1868, Claude Monet

Movie Posters, 1999: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn