The Funnies: Newspaper Strips & the Origins of Comics
On October 18th, 1896, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst published the first issue of the American Humorist, a color supplement to the New York Journal which featured what is considered the first modern comic strip: Hogan's Alley, by Richard F. Outcault:
Set in the tenements of New York’s Lower East Side, the comic chronicles the antics of a group of raucous working-class children. The kids were led by a scrappy young boy whose given name was Mickey Dugan but who quickly became known by the nickname “The Yellow Kid” after the mustard-colored nightshirt that he commonly wore.
— Michelle Ann Abate, "The Yellow Kid and the Yellow Peril"
Hogan's Alley (November 29, 1896). Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The strip was a cultural phenomenon, and "Outcault’s scrappy protagonist became the first merchandized comic strip character, appearing on cracker tins, cigarette packs, ladies’ fans, buttons, and a host of other artifacts” (Abate 2021). Other artists quickly took note: Winsor McCay's Art Nouveau masterpiece Little Nemo in Slumberland premiered in the New York Herald in 1905, followed by Henry Conway Fisher's slapstick humor strip Mutt & Jeff in 1907 (credited as the first comic to use panel borders, rather then simply arranging images sequentially). In 1913, George Herriman debuted Krazy Kat, a strange comic about a love triangle between Ignatz the mouse, Krazy the cat, and friendly Offissa Pupp, set against a background of stark, abstract landscapes.
Krazy Kat (March 20, 1941). Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Early Comic Strips
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The Best of Little Nemo
Winsor McCay's graphic masterpiece of dreams and fantasy, Little Nemo in Slumberland, comes alive in this anthology. As astonishing today as when it was published almost a century ago, Little Nemo is considered by many critics and artists to be the greatest comic strip of all time.
Krazy & Ignatz : "A kind, benevolent and amiable brick" (1919 - 1921)
This volume features another three years' worth of Sunday strips — over 150 little masterpieces by George Herriman, one of the most celebrated cartoonist of all time. Each page is a hilarious, poetic masterpiece crackling with verbal wit and graphic brilliance.
The Flapper Queens
From the foremost historian of women cartoonists, Trina Robbins, comes an eye-catching collection of comic strips from the Roaring Twenties depicting the high-stepping “Flapper” ― the symbol of women’s newfound freedom ― all drawn by the best female cartoonists of the era!
Krazy & Ignatz : "A brick stuffed with moom-bims" (1939-1940)
George Herriman integrated full, spectacular color into Krazy Kat in June, 1935. The gorgeous evolution continues in this third color volume, which includes the Sunday strips from all of 1939 and 1940.
The Katzenjammer Kids: Early Strips in Full Color
Collection of early strips from Rudolph Dirks classic newspaper strip.
Pioneering Cartoonists of Color
Syndicated cartoonist and illustrator Tim Jackson offers an unprecedented look at the rich yet largely untold story of African American cartoon artists.
Little Nemo in the Palace of Ice and Further Adventures
These strange and marvelously drawn cartoons recount the continuing adventures of Little Nemo, a small boy transported nightly to fantastic worlds, where time and again his adventures get him into deep trouble and nothing can possibly save him — except waking up.
SCREWBALL! the Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny
Comics scholar Paul C. Tumey traces the development of screwball as a genre in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics, presenting the work of around fifteen cartoonists, with an art-stuffed chapter on each.
