above: Earth Day 1970 poster by Walt Kelly via The Billy Ireland Library and Museum
April 22, 2020 is the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day,
and there is a surprising lack of Earth Day comic strips and cartoons today.
I was certain that some would join The Other Coast and Mutts and a few others to celebrate,
but even The Other Coast and Mutts didn’t mention Earth Day in today’s strip.
Surprisingly one strip that actually named the day was Blondie.
And I’m going to give Mark Parisi credit for an Earth Day cartoon panel.
But otherwise, bupkis.
I was kinda hoping Red and Rover, whose place in time is circa 1970, would observe the day,
but they are in the middle of a week honoring first responders.
So here are some past celebrations of Earth Day.
Mutts by Patrick McDonnell
Gordo by Gus Arriola (h/t Terry Van Kirk)
Rustle the Leaf by Dan Wright
Teen-Wise by Jack Berrill
and, of course, the very famous Pogo special illustration for 1971:
By the way, here’s the April 22, 1971 Pogo strip that ran on the comics pages:
