Amph 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: Peter and Ping (1922)

I was just going to say, that dog felt weirdly contemporary to me. He's pretty grotesque.

I've always heard of the Katzenjammer Kids, but never actually seen them. I really loved that strip, weird as it was. Somehow I love the raw exuberance of it. It's not like they plan to just hit that old man on his broken leg (?); they plan to drop a pig on it. Now that's frigging brilliant.

 

"Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1904)

First published by: The New York Evening Telegram (USA)

Creator: Winsor McCay (American, c. 1867-1934)

Adaptation: Short film (1900)

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Each strip starts with an ordinary situation, which rapidly becomes a shocking situation and proves to be a dream blamed upon eating Welsh rarebit.

The influence of this strip can be seen everywhere...in Bunuel's 1930 film "L'Age d'Or", among others.

 

Sorry about that, "Little Nemo" is coming up...I wanted to post a terrific jpg, but it wouldn't post properly, and substituted that one.

 

"Little Jimmy" (1904)

First published by: Hearst Corporation(USA)

Creator: James Swinerton (American, c. 1875-1974)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: Film: "Betty Boop and Little Jimmy" (1936)

James Swinerton had two previous strips: "Three Bears" and "Mr. Jack" before "Little Jimmy". Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1906, he moved to Arizona under sentence of death.
"I forgot to die," he later quipped.

"Little Jimmy" continued until 1958.

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"Little Nemo in Slumberland" (1905)

First published by: The New York Herald (USA)

Creator: Winsor McCay (American, c. 1867-1934)

Genre: Humour, Fantasy

Adaptation: Musical (1908)

"Little Nemo" appeared in the Herald's Sunday comic section, and McCay reveled in the supplement's large pages and subtle color printing to produce a strip of great beauty."

McCay also was responsible for "Gertie the Dinosaur", the first important animated cartoon (1914).

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This strip is so brilliant, you could chose any illustration as an example.

 

The Kin-der-Kids (1906)

First published by: The Chicago Sunday Tribune (USA)

Creator: Lyonel Feininger (German-American) (1871-1956)

Genre: Humour

This only lasted 30 installments.

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Mutt and Jeff (1907)

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First published by: The San Francisco Chronicle (USA)

Creator: Bud Fisher (American) (1885-1954)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: Animated series (1913)

This started as a strip called "A. Mutt", a daily cartoon about horse racing. Fisher managed to retain ownership of his work in an age when the copyright usually belonged to the newspaper. He later introduced a sidekick called Jeff, smaller, rounder, and dumber. The pairing had immense influence in American comedy. The strip was a training ground for Maurice Sendak, and George Herriman ("Krazy Kat").

 

Quadratino (1910)

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First published by: Corriere dei piccoli/Corriere della Sierra (Italy)

Creator: Antonio Rubino (Italian) (1880-1964)

Title in the original language: Quadratino

Genre: Humour/Children's

Adaptation: N/A

Adventures of the square headed boy. Very influential.

 

The art on Little Nemo is stunning.

 

Sure, we may laugh now, but imagine the ostracism that Rhombus head will bring him, particularly once he's in his 40s and Mussolini rises to power.

 

Yes, fascists hate geometry...

Polly and her Pals (1912)

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First published by: New York Journal (USA)

Creator: Cliff Sterrett (Italian) (1883-1964)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: Angouleme Prize for Inheritance (2006)

Hearst asked Sterrett for a strip about a young woman, and he obliged (Though the strip eventually centred about Polly's father "Paw." The strip is prized for the Japanese wood-block style, with plenty of black.

 

Bringing Up Father (1913)

First published by: King Features Syndicate (USA)

Creator: George McManus (1884-1954) and Emil Zekey (1915-2005) (both American)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: Film: "Father Gets Into the Movies" (1916)

Award: N/A

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AKA Maggie and Jiggs after the main characters. Jiggs is an Irish American bricklayer who becomes a contractor and gets rich. He's not interested in pretensions, but Maggie (his wife) is. Lots of violence. All of it by Maggie against Jiggs. (She regularly blacked his eyes and broke his limbs.)

The visual style is influenced by the ligne claire style of Tintin.

 

Krazy Kat (1913)

First published by: King Features Syndicate (USA)

Creator: George Herriman (1880-1944)(American)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: N/A

Influence on: "Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner"

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About a mixed-up relationship between a cat, a mouse and a dog. Krazy Kat (gender unspecified) is in love with Ignatz the Mouse, who despises Krazy and chucks bricks at her/him and is arrested by Officer Pup when he does.

Described as "the 'Citizen Kane' of comics."

 

Completely accurate description, IMO.

Or, to paraphrase Monty Python:

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"Krazy Kat. A brick, a mouse, a cat, and a religion."

 

Krazy Kat is the beez kneez, man.

 

When a Feller Needs a Friend (1914)

First published by: New York Tribune (USA)

Creator: Clare Briggs (1875-1930)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: Musical (1919)

Award: N/A

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Clare Briggs

A version of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

 

Rube Goldberg Inventions (1914)

First published by: Hearst Corporation (USA)

Creator: Reuben Lucius Goldberg (1883-1970)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: Pulitzer Prize

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[image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/Rubenvent.jpg/450px-Rubenvent.jpg]

 

Punch Comic Strips (1916)

First published by: Punch (UK)

Creator: Henry Mayo Bateman (1887-1970)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: N/A

Influence on: Ralph Steadman

Suffering periodically from depression, Bateman used drawing to alleviate it.

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The Gumps (1917)

First published by: Chicago Tribune (USA)

Creator: Sidney Smith (1877-1935)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: N/A

Influence on: Sam 'n Henry radio show

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A continuing strip about Andy Gump, wife Min, son Chester and Uncle Bim. The plot was invented by the publisher of the paper, and given life by cartoonist Sidney Smith.

 

Wow i had no idea comic strips went that far back. I thought they pretty much started around the time of The Katzenjammer Kids and Little Nemo. This is good stuff NM.

 

Yes, it was news to me, too. But some of these strips are beyond brilliant, and should be better known.

 

Mister Bonaventura (1917)

Original Title: Signor Bonaventura

First published by: Corriere dei piccoli (Italy)

Creator: Sergio Togano (Italian 1886-1973)

Genre: Humour

Adaptation: N/A

Award: N/A

Influence on: N/A

Influenced by: Fortunato Depero (1892-1960)

Corriere dei piccoli was the main comic for children in Italy, starting in 1905.

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