This Week in History...

Last Wednesday, the 24th of October, marked the anniversary of the publication of the first comic strip in an American newspaper. The strip, called 'The Yellow Kid', appeared in the New York Journal on October 24th, 1897.
Although cartoons had been around in various forms since almost before the American Revolution, 'The Yellow Kid' was the first comic strip with a continuous set of characters to be published in a newspaper as opposed to a magazine. Although the strip has of course not survived this long, it began the   practice of publishing comic strips in newspapers that has certainly continued to this day.

Pogo (Walt Kelly)

Comic strips have always had a large part in my life, for several reasons. Every morning for as long as I have attended school, I have read the comics with my breakfast. I have favorite comic strips in the paper (Zits, Candorville, Pearls) and comic strips I refuse to read (Prickly City and that sports one). Half a shelf next to my desk is devoted to comic books, from vintage Pogo books to brand-new Zits books. I also have every volume of the Cartoon History of the Universe and Cartoon History of the Modern World books, which are the source for eighty percent of my historical knowledge (and I highly recommend them to anyone, interested in history or not).
Each of the comic strips I read in some way represent an aspect of my character.
 Pogo is a nod to my roots, to my father's side of my family and to my general philosophy. It is funny, whimsical and strange.

Cartoon History of the Universe
(Larry Gonick)

Foxtrot, by far my favorite comic strip for pure humor, is unbelievably funny and imaginative.
Cartoon History of the Universe, although not technically a comic, is incredibly intelligent and also very funny. Almost everything I know about history is from that cartoon.

But I can only have one favorite comic strip. And that comic strip will always be Calvin and Hobbes. I own the complete Calvin and Hobbes, of course, and I read it often. Calvin and Hobbes was the first comic I ever read, and certainly the one that had the most impact on me. It combines the most basic forms of physical and visual humor with discussions of things that in any other comic strip would seem out of place. Calvin is childish and immature, but also shockingly intelligent. Every element of Calvin and Hobbes just makes the strip more powerful and more funny, and it will always be my favorite.