Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 4

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.

11.4.1932: RKO Pictures releases Little Orphan Annie, a comedy based on Harold Gray’s comic strip.

11.4.1948: Carl Anderson, the creator of Henry, dies at 83. The pantomime strip starring a bald, mute boy first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post before making the move to newspapers in 1934.

11.4.1952: Pogo Possum, the title character in Walt Kelly’s Pogo strip, loses his presidential bid to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

 

11.4.2020: In an interview with AARP on the 50th anniversary of Doonesbury, creator Garry Trudeau hinted that the strip’s life expectancy may be out of his hands. “To be honest, I've been so preoccupied with my 50th year in the business that I haven't given any thought to my 51st,” Trudeau said. “We’ll just have to see. The continuing collapse of the newspaper industry may make the decision for me.”
 

Henry

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.