George Herriman, the creator of Krazy Kat, also caught my eye as I browsed through the history of comics. Now a favorite among artists and deep thinkers, Krazy Kat wasn't as popular as most strips of the day. Distributed by Hearst Publications, Hearst being one of the biggest fans, Krazy Kat was only printed in 40 something papers nationwide.
Krazy Kat began as a side story from Herriman's regular strip, the Dingbat family, but eventually the cat and mouse game on the side took his interest more than the main characters, and Krazy Kat became its own strip in 1913. Herriman's inventiveness with this strip still inspires many today. The backgrounds of the comic strip, taken from the American Southwest changed continually from one panel to another in shape and environment. Herriman's constant play of the language engaged many that happened upon the strip in the arts and drama page. Herriman continued to draw the strip until 1944 when he died in his sleep. His ashes were scattered over the rugged landscape of the southwest, where Krazy, Ignatz the mouse and Offisa Pupp still roam.
The Krazy Kat artist also teamed up with journalist and poet Don Marquis for his series of stories entitled Archy and Mehitabel. Herriman illustrated the first few books about a roach, which, in a previous life had been a great poet, but now spent his time dancing on a typewriter and keeping company with an alley cat. Other great cartoonists have since then drawn Archy the roach, such as the late Edward Gorey.
Like any other invention or idea, there's some unknown caveman or woman who started the whole comics thing and doesn't get the credit. Narrowing this article down to American strips, I also left out a lot of good Europeans who paved the way for our country's comics.
What's amazing though is that throughout the entire history of comics, the main idea has stayed the same. It's either been a narrative strip about storytelling, everyday life, or maybe how the artist thought everyday life should be. Everyone wants to feel like they made a little dent in the world by doing whatever they do best. Because, when you make a dent, you achieve what man has been trying to do since the cave days, you achieve immortality. For that, men should have turned to comics. Just look at your funnies page, it's a history of sorts. Charlie Brown's still in the paper and so is Blondie and Katzenjammer Kids and countless others whose creators have died, but the idea, that spark of ingenuity and human expression lives on, greeting you every morning with a silly joke to brighten your day.
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