Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 3

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.

11.3.1897: F.O. Alexander is born in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1931, he took over Hairbreadth Harry following the death of its creator, C.W. Kahles. Alexander produced the strip until 1939.

11.3.1957: Charles M. Schulz of Peanuts fame creates It’s Only a Game, a sports-and-game-oriented comic that ran four times a week for 14 months. Fellow cartoonist Jim Sasseville worked with Schulz on the short-lived strip. 

11.3.1986: The Middletons premieres. Created by Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers, the strip s set in a town called Middleton and features a suburban family and their neighbors.

Hairbreadth Harry

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.

The New Yorker covers: September 21, 1968

Wikipedia describes a cityscape as “an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape.” The New Yorker, which is based in New York City, has displayed a fair number of cityscapes on its cover.

Arthur Getz
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Oscar Wilde

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" Saul Bellow

"Zeichen in Gelb," 1937, Paul Klee

Movie Posters, 2026: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn

Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 2

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.

11.2.1926: Howard Post, who debuted The Dropouts in 1968, is born in New York City. The strip remained in syndication until 1981.

11.2.1941: Fearless Fosdick, a comic strip within a comic strip, first appears in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. The square-jawed Fosdick was a parody of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.
 
11.2.1946: Following the recent demise of the Sunday Batman and Robin strip, the daily strip is discontinued as well.

11.2.2008: Berkeley Breathed cancels Opus. The Sunday strip ran for only five years. It was Breathed's fourth strip, following The Academia Waltz, Bloom County and Outland.
 

Opus

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.

The New Yorker covers: March 8, 1958

Merriam-Webster defines a garden as “a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated,” but the dictionary’s definitions also include this: “a container (such as a window box) planted with usually a variety of small plants.” Houseplants and cut flowers may not meet either definition, but I think they come close.

Garrett Price
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Andy Rooney

I'm always on the lookout for something good about people. Often months go by.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" Saul Bellow

"Sunny September," 1913, Helen McNicoll