Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 2

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.

6.2.1894: Richard F. Outcault draws a bald, big-eared kid in a gown — the precursor of The Yellow Kid — for Judge magazine.

6.2.1932: Napoleon debuts as a daily strip. A Sunday strip was added later. The name was changed to Napoleon and Uncle Elby in 1934.

6.2.1940: Will Eisner’s The Spirit appears as the main feature in a 16-page comic-book supplement inserted into newspapers.

6.2.1945: Harry J. Tuthill’s The Bungle Family ends its run for the second and last time.

6.2.1986: Out of Bounds goes into syndication. Created by Don Wilder and Bill Rechlin, the strip ran until 1998.
 

6.2.1991: Moon Mullins, which Frank Willard launched in 1923, finally draws to a close.

6.2.2010: Tony DiPreta dies in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was 88 years old. Although he did not create either strip, he illustrated Joe Palooka and Rex Morgan, M.D. for many years.

6.2.2020: Legendary cartoonist Jules Feiffer, who published a children’s book titled Bark, George in 1999, releases a sequel called Smart George starring the same pooch.

Napoleon and Uncle Elby

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.