Today in the history of the American comic strip: April 25

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.

4.25.1924: Krazy Kat’s George Herriman, one of the true geniuses of the genre, dies in Los Angeles, California. He was 63.

4.25.1939: Nicole Hollander, the creator of Sylvia, is born in Chicago, Illinois. Her comic ran as a newspaper strip from 1981 to 2012.

4.25.1960: After hugging Snoopy, Linus says “happiness is a warm puppy” for the first time in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts.

4.25.1987: The final Brick Bradford daily strip appears in print. The science fiction comic created by writer William Ritt and artist Clarence Gray began its run in 1933.

 

Sylvia

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.