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.
12.11.1904: Marjorie "Marge" Henderson Buell, the creator of Little Lulu, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
12.11.1923: Morrie Turner, the creator of Wee Pals, is born in Oakland, California. His strip was the first syndicated comic in the United States featuring a racially diverse cast.
12.11.1939: A double-page spread in Life magazine announces: “On Sadie Hawkins Day, Girls Chase Boys in 201 Colleges.” The layout includes photos from Texas Wesleyan University. Al Capp created the fictional holiday two years earlier, in Li’l Abner.
12.11.1959: A musical film entitled Li’l Abner is released. It was based on Al Capp’s comic strip, and the Broadway musical of the same name that opened in 1956.
12.11.1923: Morrie Turner, the creator of Wee Pals, is born in Oakland, California. His strip was the first syndicated comic in the United States featuring a racially diverse cast.
12.11.1939: A double-page spread in Life magazine announces: “On Sadie Hawkins Day, Girls Chase Boys in 201 Colleges.” The layout includes photos from Texas Wesleyan University. Al Capp created the fictional holiday two years earlier, in Li’l Abner.
12.11.1959: A musical film entitled Li’l Abner is released. It was based on Al Capp’s comic strip, and the Broadway musical of the same name that opened in 1956.
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| Wee Pals |
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.
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