25 Years of National Cartoonists Days
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It’s the Silver Anniversary of National Cartoonists Day!
During World War II in 1943, cartoonists including Gus Edson, Otto Soglow, Clarence D. Russell, and Bob Dunn uplifted the spirits of soldiers by performing cartoon shows in hospitals. While en route to a military base, Russell proposed the idea of forming a club to preserve their camaraderie beyond the war’s end.
This led to the establishment of the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) in 1946. The celebration of National Cartoonists Day began in 1999 [emphasis added], spearheaded by co-chairpersons Polly Keener and Ken Alvine of the National Cartoonists Day Committee.
They drew inspiration from Richard Outcault’s creation of the cartoon Hogan’s Alley, which debuted on May 5, 1895, in the Sunday edition of the New York World. This iconic character, later known as The Yellow Kid, quickly became a cultural phenomenon.
And so in 1999 a number of comic strips celebrated May 5 as National Cartoonists Day.
Above: Rose is Rose – May 5, 1999; below: Nancy – May5, 1999
This year, as in year’s since 1999, a number of comic strip cartoonists have celebrated the day.
Perhaps most involved was FurBabies by Nancy Beiman who hid 10 comics in her Sunday page.
Nancy explains in the comments before >spoiler alert< listing them:
Eight are identified by sound effects that are unique to the comic, and four are drawn in identifiable lettering styles.
Some announced the day in their comics. Foxtrot; Day By Dave; Luann
(Did anybody see the Luann title panel today? Is it relevant to today?)
Some, like The Fusco Brothers, The Buckets, and Garfield, were more subtle about the “holiday.”
And some just celebrated.
Above: Willy Black, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mutts
About that Mutts title panel –
Then there was a Warped rerun.
How many did I miss?
Back to News18:
when it comes to identifying the first official cartoonist, that title is often attributed to John Leech. His groundbreaking drawing was published in the magazine Punch on July 15th, 1843, under the title ‘Cartoon No.1: Substance and Shadow.’ This iconic work not only marked the inception of modern political cartoons but also earned Leech the distinction of being the first artist to be referred to as a ‘cartoonist.’
Above: Cartoon, No. I — Substance and Shadow by John Leech, “the first cartoonist.’
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