Today in the history of the American comic strip: March 11

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.

3.11.1900: Frederick Burr Opper’s Happy Hooligan debuts in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers. The strip about a well-meaning hobo plagued by misfortune ran until 1932.

3.11.1910: Harry Hershfield’s Desperate Desmond premieres. It featured a villain (Desmond) in constant, but unsuccessful, pursuit of Rosamond, a damsel in distress.

3.11.1935: The Adventures of Patsy, created by Mel Graff, begins its run, which continued for 20 years under various cartoonists. The strip began as a fantasy, but became more realistic over time.

3.11.1944: Will Eisner's The Spirit retires as a daily strip, but continues to appear in a comic book insert for newspapers.

3.11.1968: Mort Walker launches Boner’s Ark, a cartoon about a menagerie of animals stuck aboard an ark as they search for land.

Boner's Ark

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.