Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 15

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.

9.5.1918: Fred McCarthy, a Franciscan cartoonist, is born in Massachusetts. His comic about a cheerful friar, Brother Juniper, made the move from a Franciscan magazine to newspapers in 1958, and ran until 1989.

9.15.1931: Fifteen leading newspaper cartoonists appear on an NBC radio program in which each cartoonist speaks for 90 seconds. Some of the participants: Billy Debeck, Rube Goldberg, Milt Gross, Walter Hoban and Cliff Sterrett.

9.15.1971: Doonesbury introduces Barbara Ann "Boopsie" Boopstein. Cheerleader, actress, model, New Age channeler, she eventually married B.D. In 1992 they had a daughter, whom they named Samantha (Sam).

9.15.1974: A villain named Big Brass makes his first appearance in Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy. Gould’s strip has featured a long list of colorful, often bizarre-looking, evildoers over the years. 

 

9.15.2001: Vanguard releases Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators, by Brian Kane, an illustrated biography of the creator of Prince Valiant.

9.15.2009: The Library of American Comics releases Rip Kirby, Vol. 1: 1946-1948, launching a set that is scheduled to reprint the complete run of Alex Raymond’s strip.
 

Doonesbury

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.