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.
12.12.1883: The creator of Polly and Her Pals, Cliff Sterrett, is born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. His strip ran for 46 years, starting in 1912.
12.12.1897: The Katzenjammer Kids, by Rudolph Dirks, debuts. It survived until Jan. 1, 2006, although reprints remain in syndication.
12.12.1906: Zack Mosley, the creator of The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack, is born in Hickory, Oklahoma. The aviation comic launched in 1933 and remained in print for four decades.
12.12.1909: Dick Moores, who worked on Gasoline Alley for nearly three decades, is born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was named 1974 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society. Moores also received a Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1973, and again in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1985.
12.12.1925: Warren Tufts, the creator of Casey Ruggles (1949-1954) and Lance (1955-1960), is born in Fresno, California.
12.12.1958: In Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Snoopy sleeps atop his doghouse for the first time, rather than in it.
12.12.1958: In Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Snoopy sleeps atop his doghouse for the first time, rather than in it.
12.12.1963: Clarence D. Russell's Pete the Tramp, which debuted in 1932, completes its run.
12.12.1967: Mac Raboy dies, at 53. He drew the Sunday Flash Gordon feature for many years, starting in the 1940s and continuing until his death in 1967.
12.12.1967: Mac Raboy dies, at 53. He drew the Sunday Flash Gordon feature for many years, starting in the 1940s and continuing until his death in 1967.
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| The Katzenjammer Kids |
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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