Today in the history of the American comic strip: October 10

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.

10.10.1922: Russ Westover's Tillie the Toiler expands from a daily strip by adding a Sunday feature.

10.10.1947: Ferd’nand, a pantomime strip devoid of dialogue or text that was first published in Denmark in 1937, appears in the United States.

10.10.1959: Carl Ed, the creator of Harold Teen, dies at 69. His strip died with him, ending its 40-year run.

10.10.1965: In Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Snoopy makes his first appearance as the World War One Flying Ace.

10.10.1986: Frank O’Neal dies in California, at 64. He launched Short Ribs in 1958, and turned the strip over to an assistant in 1973.

 

10.10.2023: Andrews McMeel Publishing releases The Mysteries, by Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht. Amazon.com describes the book as "a mysterious and beautifully illustrated fable about what lies beyond human understanding."
 

Ferd'nand

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.