I'm doing an independent study next semester and I'm meeting with my advisor to finalize the syllabus tomorrow. The study will be on 20th century comic strips, starting with Little Nemo In Slumberland and ending with Pearls Before Swine. I'm looking for milestone strips that really moved the medium forward. So far my reading list is:
Little Nemo in Slubberland Krazy Kat Rip Kirby Dick Tracy Peanuts Superman (maybe) Non Sequitur Garfield Calvin and Hobbes Pearls Before Swine
What else belongs on this list?
Isaiah Roberts
Gasoline Alley. At least looking into how the strip aged its characters through its progression which is rather unheard of, even in most strips with an overreaching plot.
Ditch Non Sequiter, it's worthless, and research The Far Side instead. Why it's not on here is baffling to me. Doonesbury and Pogo definitely need a mention as well, moreso than Rip Kirby and the Superman strip.
Jacob Morales
>Gasoline Alley. At least looking into how the strip aged its characters through its progression which is rather unheard of, even in most strips with an overreaching plot.
This plus it fits in with the "moved the medium forward" part since it influenced Chris Ware.
Levi Baker
Do a term paper on the deconstructionist dada of Heathcliff.
Jack Brooks
Terry & The Pirates Li'l Abner Little Orphan Annie Prince Valiant Pogo Far Side Mary Perkins, On Stage drop Non Sequitur and Superman and you have a pretty well-rounded list of great comics that covers a broad range of styles.
Blake Morgan
cont., these are in addition to the ones you've already listed, btw.
Gavin Butler
How do you judge a newspaper-based comic strip as "moving the medium forward"?
Josiah Ward
I forgot to list Pogo but that's definitely one I'll look into.
This is also for a writing credit, so I'll be producing one strip every other day for the semester. The first quad will be a story-driven narrative around a familiar cast, the second will be political cartoons (don't know where to even start looking for major figures in that field).
I guess I narrowed it too much by saying "moving the medium forward." I'm looking for a lot of things in these comics, like the dissolving print industry and its toll on strips. I'm looking for art vs. commerce (hence why I would even include Garfield, the little shit).
These are good strips guys, this is valuable advice
Also, pic related, just drew this.
Andrew Bell
I included Rip Kirby because I loved the illustration style and wanted to learn from it, I'll reconsider it.
The only reason I'm looking into Pearls Before Swine is because it was one of the most recent strips picked up for syndication. Is there a better one? I've little knowledge of current syndication.
Nicholas Thomas
Also, what the hell is this Heathcliff stuff? It's incomprehensible
Joseph Mitchell
Don't think it's a particularly great political cartoon, but I like the art here.
Camden Lee
No one knows for sure.
Julian Bell
What in the hell... XD it's oddly charming though, isn't it?
Thomas Adams
Yes, yes it is.
Ayden Cooper
Pearls Before Swine began in 2001. That's not the 20th century.
Zachary Lee
Rip Kirby is awesome, I definitely recommend it. Alex Raymond is one of the greatest comic artists of all time, bar none. Even if you don't cover it for your project (it isn't necessarily of any historical importance aside from being Raymond's last work before he died, and arguably his best) you should just read it for fun.
Angel Garcia
E.C. Segar - Popeye Cliff Sterrett - Polly and Her Pals Crockett Johnson - Barnaby Roy Crane - Captain Easy, Buz Sawyer, Wash Tubbs Hank Ketcham - Dennis the Menace Will Eisner - The Spirit Jules Feiffer - Sick Sick Sick/Fables/Feiffer (same strip) George McManus - Bringing Up Father Ernie Bushmiller - Nancy Bill Griffith - Zippy the Pinhead Garry Trudeau - Doonesbury Berkeley Breathed - Bloom County The Kinder-Kids' Lyonel Feininger Lynda Barry - Ernie Pook's Comeek Matt Groening - Life in Hell Ben Katchor - Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer Lyonel Feininger - The Kin-der-Kids Terry and the Pirates was already mentioned but he did Steve Canyon too The Katzenjammer Kids was also a notable strip but it debuted before Little Nemo.
Bentley Hernandez
I know, but it was easier to just refer to the last century. I'm starting with Winsor McCay too, who started Nemo in 1905. I think Pearls could be a solid end point for the survey. I'm not going to end with Lola, that's for sure (shudder).
Gavin Edwards
As odd as it sounds, could "Cathy" be on the list?
I thought the cartoonist was the first syndicated woman in the industry at the time
or was that Lynn Johnston
Noah Diaz
Anyone got that EVA edit?
That shit was just too much.
John Campbell
I have a rough thesis I'd like to hear you guys' thoughts on. I'm getting the sense that you can separate 3 main sections in comics history: Pre-War, the Schultz era, and Post-Print (I say post-print because I believe Watterson marks the beginning of this, before the digital age was in full swing).
Pre-War comics were larger, detailed, and focused a lot more on art. Story-driven strips were more common. Strips in this age were Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, Dick Tracy, Superman, etc.
Schultz Era-- I know Schultz was groundbreaking but to be honest I'm not very familiar with him. My sense is that this age saw a rise in gag comics, simpler design, focus on common experience, and the "classic strip." Peanuts, Orphan Annie, Pogo...
The Post-Print age is marked by a dissolving print industry, the tension between art and commerce, downsizing comics pages, and tensions between artists and syndicates. Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and a slew of modern writers have commented on this.
What do you guys think? I know a lot doesn't quite fit in like Prince Valiant (good suggestion btw), but those are the trends I'm sensing. Is it worth playing with this thesis?
Parker Parker
yes, but for the record:
it's *Schulz
Oliver Ramirez
Boy is my face red :/ I've been spelling it wrong my entire life
Nicholas Smith
That's a decent list OP. The only others I would add are Cathy and bloom county.
Aaron Brown
>Schultz Era-- I know Schultz was groundbreaking but to be honest I'm not very familiar with him. My sense is that this age saw a rise in gag comics, simpler design, focus on common experience, and the "classic strip." Peanuts, Orphan Annie, Pogo...
Annie started in the 1920's.
I think that around or after Peanuts, comic strips started getting more streamlined and simplified (partly because newspapers were reducing the comics pages).
Owen Gray
I really want to try to squeeze Bloom County in. Berkeley Breathed is just an interesting guy to read about. I've heard he had a pretty close correspondence with Watterson. I would KILL to read their letters.
Charles Morales
That's a better way to put it, thanks. This is really coming together now guys, thank you
Bentley Hall
Popeye.
Nicholas Martin
Any suggestions for books or interviews I can use?
Mason Hernandez
Why Popeye?
Robert Cruz
Also, can someone please explain how Universal Uclick, the syndicate that printed Calvin and Hobbes, picked fucking LOLA for syndication? Every Sunday I see that shit artwork, crap jokes, and half-assed attempt to appeal to young and old audiences
Christian Young
Kalle och Hobbe
Lincoln Rivera
Ehhhhhh.
Maybe? Cathy is one of the more modern strips that eventually turned into a zombie strip of interchangeable gags; I remember reading one of the older collections and that incliuded a freaking storyline about her being sexually harassed by her boss and punching him in the face in a panic. They...somehow worked this out so she never quit her job or sued the shit out of her employers (probably to keep the status quo?) but early Cathy focused on the whole Working Woman angle back when it was a sign of the changing times and by the time it because more of the status quo itself the strip lost its edge.