The New Yorker covers: July 20, 1946

Over the years, there have been many magazines whose covers have featured the work of highly talented artists and illustrators. But probably no magazine has had more varied and memorable covers, over a longer period of time, than The New Yorker, which was founded in 1925.

Constantin Alajalov
(covers untitled until February 1993)

The (old) Down East covers: August 1958

Ever since its founding in 1954, Down East has billed itself as “the magazine of Maine.” There are other Maine-centered mags, but Down East remains the most prominent of the bunch. Nowadays, the Rockport-based monthly features glossy, memorable cover photos, but there's a lot to be said for the charming, old-timey look of covers from the publication’s early decades.

Henry R. Martin, untitled

Movie Posters, 1955: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

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

"Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair," ca. 1877, Paul Cézanne 

Today in the history of the American comic strip: April 17

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.

4.17.1944: Bill Mauldin’s Willie and Joe, cartoon infantrymen who had appeared in military newspapers, make inroads in general circulation papers under the title Up Front.

 

4.17.2000: Writer Hector Cantú and illustrator Carlos Castellanos launch Baldo, a strip focused on light humor and the Hispanic community.

4.17.2002: Fantagraphics releases Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1926: "There Is a Heppy Lend Fur Fur Awa-a-ay," the first volume in a series reprinting George Herriman’s  Krazy Kat Sunday strips.

4.17.2006: F Minus, created by Tony Carrillo, goes into nationwide syndication. Carrillo began the single-panel comic when he was a sophomore at Arizona State University.

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 birth of an artist: April 17

 

Peter Doig
April 17, 1959

Rosamond Praeger
April 17, 1867

The New Yorker covers: May 25, 1935

Over the years, there have been many magazines whose covers have featured the work of highly talented artists and illustrators. But probably no magazine has had more varied and memorable covers, over a longer period of time, than The New Yorker, which was founded in 1925.

Constantin Alajalov
(covers untitled until February 1993)

The (old) Down East covers: March 1980

Ever since its founding in 1954, Down East has billed itself as “the magazine of Maine.” There are other Maine-centered mags, but Down East remains the most prominent of the bunch. Nowadays, the Rockport-based monthly features glossy, memorable cover photos, but there's a lot to be said for the charming, old-timey look of covers from the publication’s early decades.

William E. Baldwin, "Dead Brook in Spring"