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.
2.17.1895: The Yellow Kid makes his first newspaper appearance in Richard Outcault’s Hogan’s Alley comic strip. Mickey Dugan, the Kid's real name, was a bald, barefoot boy who wore an oversized yellow nightshirt and hung around in a slum. The Kid spoke in slang, which was printed on his shirt.
2.17.1929: Milt Gross introduces Count Screwloose of Tooloose. The title character was a resident of the Nuttycrest Sanitarium, from which he periodically escaped, only to return because folks on the outside were too wacky.
2.17.1933: Blondie Boopadoop and Dagwood Bumstead get married in the strip that still carries her name: Blondie.
2.17.1935: King of the Royal Mounted debuts as a Sunday strip whose protagonist, Dave King, is a Canadian Mountie who always gets his man. The comic ran until 1954, under various writers and artists.
2.17.1936: The Phantom, an adventure strip created by Lee Falk, debuts with a daily feature. The title character is a costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla.
2.17.1952: Beyond Mars, a science-fiction strip drawn by Lee Elias and written by Jack Williamson, begins its run in the New York News. The comic is set in the same universe as the Williamson novels Seetee Ship and Seetee Shock.
2.17.1958: Johnny Hart launches B.C., a strip set in prehistoric times. It was still running in 2019. Hart was named 1968 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (together with political cartoonist Pat Oliphant) by the National Cartoonists Society. In 1967 and again in 1989, Hart received a Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society.
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.
2.17.1929: Milt Gross introduces Count Screwloose of Tooloose. The title character was a resident of the Nuttycrest Sanitarium, from which he periodically escaped, only to return because folks on the outside were too wacky.
2.17.1933: Blondie Boopadoop and Dagwood Bumstead get married in the strip that still carries her name: Blondie.
2.17.1935: King of the Royal Mounted debuts as a Sunday strip whose protagonist, Dave King, is a Canadian Mountie who always gets his man. The comic ran until 1954, under various writers and artists.
2.17.1936: The Phantom, an adventure strip created by Lee Falk, debuts with a daily feature. The title character is a costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla.
2.17.1952: Beyond Mars, a science-fiction strip drawn by Lee Elias and written by Jack Williamson, begins its run in the New York News. The comic is set in the same universe as the Williamson novels Seetee Ship and Seetee Shock.
2.17.1958: Johnny Hart launches B.C., a strip set in prehistoric times. It was still running in 2019. Hart was named 1968 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (together with political cartoonist Pat Oliphant) by the National Cartoonists Society. In 1967 and again in 1989, Hart received a Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society.
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| B.C. |
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