| Comic strips are almost as popular as comic | | | | effect,caricaturing many prominent politicians of |
| books in somecircles. So I would be remiss if I | | | | the day asanimal denizens of Pogo's Okeefenokee |
| didn't compile anarticle about them. Strips have | | | | Swamp. Creator Walt |
| ended up in a multitude ofnewspapers and other | | | | Kelly, in a gutsy move, took on Joseph McCarthy |
| media all over the world. Most peoplewho read | | | | in the |
| the Sunday paper can't pass up the comic section. | | | | 1950s, caricaturing him as a bobcat named Simple |
| I know I sure can't. | | | | J. |
| Comic strips are short strips or pieces of | | | | Malarkey, a megalomaniac bent on taking over |
| sequential art,telling a story. They are drawn by | | | | thecharacters' bird watching club and rooting out |
| cartoonists and arepublished on a recurring basis in | | | | allundesirables. |
| newspapers, magazines oron the Internet. | | | | Kelly also defended the medium against possible |
| Strips can be humorous like Beetle Bailey, Hi & | | | | governmentregulation in the McCarthy era. At a |
| Lois, or | | | | time when comic bookswere coming under fire |
| Hagar the Horrible, with no continuous story but | | | | for supposed sexual, violent, andsubversive |
| ends witha typical punch line. Or they can have a | | | | content, Kelly feared the same would happen |
| soap opera likecontinuity (like Judge Parker or | | | | tocomic strips. Going before the congressional |
| Little Orphan Annie) withserious story lines in serial | | | | subcommittee,he proceeded to charm the |
| form. They are, however,nonetheless known as | | | | members with his drawings and theforce of his |
| "comics" - though the term "sequentialart", coined | | | | personality. Due to his actions, the comicstrip |
| by cartoonist Will Eisner, is becomingincreasingly | | | | remained safe for creative satire. |
| popular. | | | | Comic strips have also made quite a splash on the |
| In America, the great newspaper icons of the | | | | Net sincethe World Wide Web came into play in |
| time, Joseph | | | | the 1990s. This led toan explosion of amateur |
| Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were | | | | webcomics, comic strips createdsolely for Web |
| continuouslywarring with each other during the | | | | sites. Webcomics differ from publishedcomic |
| late 1800's and early | | | | strips, in that anyone can start his own strip |
| 1900's. This created a great popularity in comic | | | | andpublish it on the Web. No longer is there any |
| strips and | | | | need for acreator to meet the approval of a |
| "The Little Bears" was the first American comic | | | | publisher or syndicate. |
| withrecurring characters. Then the now famous, | | | | Currently there are hundreds of webcomics. Many |
| "Yellow Kids"became the first color comic and | | | | of whichare low quality and sporadically updated. |
| was part of the first | | | | However, a numberhave endured, and the best |
| Sunday comic section in 1897. This is where the | | | | ones rival their newspaper andmagazine |
| term | | | | counterparts in terms of quality and quantity. |
| "yellow journalism" supposedly formed its origin. | | | | Megatokyo, Penny Arcade, PvP, Sluggy Freelance, |
| Mutt and | | | | and User |
| Jeff was the first daily comic strip appearing in | | | | Friendly are considered to be among the best of |
| 1907. | | | | thewebcomics. |
| Comic strips not only provide us with the laugh | | | | The majority of traditional newspaper comic strips |
| each day orweek that we must have to start | | | | now havesome Internet presence. Syndicates |
| the day. They also give apolitical platform to | | | | often provide archivesof recent strips on their |
| some of the strip creators in whichthey can pass | | | | websites. |
| on their social and political opinions. | | | | So the next time you sit down to the Sunday |
| Comic strips have long held a distorted mirror | | | | paper, takeparticular note of the funnies section. |
| tocontemporary society. They have long been | | | | Keep your favoritecomic strips near and dear to |
| used forpolitical and social commentary, ranging | | | | your heart. And remember thetrials and |
| from the staunchconservative values of Little | | | | tribulations these strips have gone through |
| Orphan Annie to the unabashedliberalism of | | | | tocontinue to provide you with everlasting |
| Doonesbury. | | | | entertainment. |
| Pogo used animals to particularly devastating | | | | |