Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 17

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.

9.17.1947: Jeff MacNelly, the political cartoonist who also created Shoe, is born in New York City. He was named 1978 and 1979 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society, and he won the 1972 and 1985 Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning.

 

9.17.1951: Corky of Gasoline Alley, a comedy film based on the Gasoline Alley comic strip, is released. It was a sequel to Gasoline Alley, a movie that came out at the start of the year.

9.17.1973: The Lincoln Journal in Nebraska becomes the first of many papers to move Doonesbury to the editorial page.

9.17.2005: Fantagraphics releases the first volume in a set of reprints of Dennis the Menace, by Hank Ketcham.

Shoe

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.