This Day in Comic Book History: July 26
This Day in Comic Book History: July 26
July 26 is the day before Jim Davis's birthday — making it the perfect moment to celebrate the American newspaper comic strip, the form Davis mastered to create the world's most syndicated comic. From Krazy Kat to Calvin and Hobbes, newspaper strips represent one of the most democratic and beloved art forms in American history.
The American Newspaper Comic Strip: A Century of Art
The Newspaper Comic Strip
Yellow Kid (1895) · Little Nemo (1905) · Krazy Kat (1913) · Peanuts (1950) · Garfield (1978) · Calvin and Hobbes (1985)
The American newspaper comic strip is one of the great indigenous art forms of the United States, born in the yellow journalism wars of the 1890s and growing over the following century into a beloved cultural institution. From Richard Outcault's Yellow Kid (1895) — the first true comic strip character — to Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905), to George Herriman's Krazy Kat (1913), Charles Schulz's Peanuts (1950), and Jim Davis's Garfield (1978), the comic strip has been America's most widely read art form for over a hundred years.
The Golden Age of Newspaper Strips: 1920s–1950s
The Classic Strip Era
Little Orphan Annie · Flash Gordon · Dick Tracy · Terry and the Pirates · Prince Valiant · The adventure strip tradition
The 1920s through the 1950s were the golden age of the American newspaper adventure strip. Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie (1924) was a phenomenon. Chester Gould's Dick Tracy (1931) invented the procedural crime comic. Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon (1934) set the visual standard for science fiction. Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates (1934) was the most cinematic story comic ever drawn. Hal Foster's Prince Valiant (1937) was painted with the beauty of illustrated manuscripts. This was the era that proved comics could be as sophisticated, as funny, as moving, and as visually inventive as any other art form — an era Jim Davis inherited and celebrated through his own very different approach.
What Garfield Owes to the Newspaper Strip Tradition
Garfield's Heritage
Jim Davis's Garfield debuted June 19, 1978 · Draws on the gag-strip tradition of Blondie and Beetle Bailey · Became the world's most syndicated strip
Jim Davis, born July 27, 1945, grew up reading the great newspaper comic strip tradition and deliberately channeled the gag-a-day comedy tradition of strips like Blondie and Beetle Bailey rather than the adventure narrative tradition of Flash Gordon and Dick Tracy. His decision to create a lazy, sarcastic cat who hated Mondays and loved lasagna was not accidental — it was a calculated appeal to universal human emotions that transcended language, culture, and demographic. Garfield succeeded because Davis understood, perhaps better than any cartoonist of his generation, what the newspaper comic strip was for: a brief daily moment of recognition and laughter in the middle of an ordinary morning.
🏆 Top 10 Greatest American Newspaper Comic Strips
- Peanuts (1950–2000) — Charles Schulz's 50-year masterwork; the philosophical depth, gentle melancholy, and genuine wit of Peanuts make it the greatest American comic strip ever drawn.
- Calvin and Hobbes (1985–1995) — Bill Watterson's decade-long masterpiece; widely considered Peanuts' only true rival for the title of greatest American comic strip.
- Krazy Kat (1913–1944) — George Herriman's surrealist love triangle between a cat, a mouse, and a brick; the most artistically ambitious newspaper strip ever created.
- Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905–1914) — Winsor McCay's dream-fantasy strip; the most visually spectacular newspaper comic ever printed.
- Terry and the Pirates (1934–1946) — Milton Caniff's cinematic adventure epic; the most influential newspaper strip in the development of American comic storytelling technique.
- Garfield (1978–present) — Jim Davis's creation; tomorrow is his birthday! Guinness World Record holder for most widely syndicated comic strip, appearing in 2,580+ newspapers.
- Prince Valiant (1937–present) — Hal Foster's illustrated medieval epic; the most visually sumptuous adventure strip in American comics history.
- Bloom County (1980–1989) — Berkeley Breathed's Pulitzer-winning political satire; the funniest and sharpest newspaper strip of the Reagan era.
- Flash Gordon (1934–present) — Alex Raymond's sci-fi adventure; set the visual standard for space opera and directly inspired Star Wars.
- Dick Tracy (1931–present) — Chester Gould's crime procedural; pioneered the villainous rogues gallery concept that superhero comics would later make their own.
Tomorrow: Jim Davis's birthday! And every day — find newspaper strip collections and comic book history at Epic Panels Comics!