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.
10.13.1885: Harry Hershfield, the cartoonist behind Abie the Agent, is born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The cartoon, which debuted in 1914, featured the first Jewish protagonist in an American comic strip.
10.13.1938: E.C. Segar, the creator of Popeye, dies at 43 in Santa Monica, California, as a result of leukemia and liver disease.
10.13.1941: Will Esiner's The Spirit, already the main feature in a comic-book supplement for newspapers, expands its reach to include a daily strip as well.
10.13.1948: An
American plane affiliated with Operation Little Vittles, which dropped
candy on Berlin during the Soviet blockade of western sectors of that
city, takes off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City carrying about
100 plastic, candy-filled shmoos for Berlin’s children. The shmoo was, at that time, a recently introduced and very popular addition to Al Capp’s Li’l Abner.
10.13.1959: A villain named Flyface 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.
10.13.2006: Hilda Terry, 92, dies in New York City. She created the comic strip It’s a Girl’s Life, which later evolved into Teena. The revised strip ran from 1944 to 1964.
10.13.2015: The Library of American Comics releases King of the Comics: 100 Years of King Features Syndicate. King Features is a venerable distributor of comic strips.
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.
10.13.1959: A villain named Flyface 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.
10.13.2006: Hilda Terry, 92, dies in New York City. She created the comic strip It’s a Girl’s Life, which later evolved into Teena. The revised strip ran from 1944 to 1964.
10.13.2015: The Library of American Comics releases King of the Comics: 100 Years of King Features Syndicate. King Features is a venerable distributor of comic strips.
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