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.
4.23.1916: The first Sunday strip of George Herriman's Krazy Kat appears. One of the most innovative and admired comics of all time, Krazy Kat ran until 1944.
4.23.1963: Al Fagaly dies at 54. With Harry Shorten, he created Bitter Laff (later known as There Oughta Be a Law!) in 1945. It ran until 1985.
4.3.1978: The World’s Greatest Superheroes, a seven-day-a-week strip featuring DC Comics characters, makes its debut. It initially starred Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Black Lightning, but it underwent several title change as Superman became the primary character. The strip ran until February 1985.
4.23.2001: PreTeena, a strip about a 10-year-old girl named Teena Keene, debuts. Created by Allison Barrows, the comic remained in print until 2008.
4.23.2020: Slate.com reports that Cathy Guisewite, whose Cathy strip ended in 2010, is posting one-panel Cathy cartoons on Instagram. The article reported that, since mid-March, all of the Instagram Cathy comics have dealt with life in quarantine, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4.23.1963: Al Fagaly dies at 54. With Harry Shorten, he created Bitter Laff (later known as There Oughta Be a Law!) in 1945. It ran until 1985.
4.3.1978: The World’s Greatest Superheroes, a seven-day-a-week strip featuring DC Comics characters, makes its debut. It initially starred Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Black Lightning, but it underwent several title change as Superman became the primary character. The strip ran until February 1985.
4.23.2001: PreTeena, a strip about a 10-year-old girl named Teena Keene, debuts. Created by Allison Barrows, the comic remained in print until 2008.
4.23.2020: Slate.com reports that Cathy Guisewite, whose Cathy strip ended in 2010, is posting one-panel Cathy cartoons on Instagram. The article reported that, since mid-March, all of the Instagram Cathy comics have dealt with life in quarantine, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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| Krazy Kat |
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.
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