Comic strip "Humor Therapy." A blindfolded magician guesses the ace of diamonds in a trick that doesn't involve guessing cards. His assistant looks displeased as she pulls a rabbit from a top hat. "World's Worst Magician Award" is up in the corner.
"Humor Therapy" by Dr. Jon Carlson and Joe Martin, 2005-2005
July 14th, 2005 as seen in the Lake Geneva Regional News
Single panel sports trivia comic strip "Sportester." Full text: "Nicknames have been part of baseball's charm through the years. Do you know the Red Sox coach who has the nickname of 'Muggsy'? Answer: Gary Allenson." Was originally called "Sporteaser" before changing its name in 1977.
"Sportester" by Eddie Germano, 1965-1998
May 16th, 1994 as seen in the Daily Evening Item
Single panel comic strip "The Peter Principle." A travel agent details a European vacation, leaving out the "ten weeks in hock," a dog observes as he reads the price list.
"The Peter Principle" by Laurence Peter and Matt Wuerker, 1984-1985
August 6th, 1984 as seen in The Ledger
Single panel comic strip "Boomernickle." A floating face says, "When I was young, I was going to set the world on fire - but now it's against pollution laws!"
"Boomernickle" by Leslie Rickey Listro, 1973-1973
February 1st, 1973 as seen in the Magicland Citizen
Informational comic strip "Highway Week Facts." Text: "1909. The first mile of concrete roadway in the world was constructed in Detroit, between six and seven mile road in 1909... Many engineers were skeptical! 1922. ...When it was replaced in 1922... over 35 million vehicles had passed over the section! Today, Michigan has 109,714 miles of state and county roads... including 39,000 miles of paved roads!"
"Highway Week Facts" by Mayer, 1959-1959
November 12th, 1959 as seen in the Southern Michigan Farmer
Comic strip "The High-Kicking Kellys." Dancing duo The High-Kicking Kellys complain about working clubs, the audience already lethargic from eating before they go on stage. Good news, they don't have to open! Bad news, it's because there's going to be nine speeches before them, meaning the audience will probably be asleep by the time they go on.
"The High-Kicking Kellys" by Jack Ward, 1925-1927
November 12th, 1926 as seen in the Vaudeville News and New York Star
Comic strip "Caeser." Our titular dog watches as ducklings swim across a pond, while a chicken and their chicks are left stranded at the water's edge. Caeser has an idea, jumps into the water, and carries the chickens across as they sit on top of his head.
"Caeser" by William "Tim" Timym, 1946-1964
June 6th, 1951 as seen int he Houston Chronicle
Comic strip "Napoleon and Uncle Elby." Elby looks to show off his swan dive to his dog, Napoleon, but the diving board breaks under his weight, causing him to crash ungracefully into the pool.
"Napoleon and Uncle Elby" by Clifford McBride, 1932-1960
June 5th, 1937 as seen in the Boston Globe
Comic strip "The Dinosaur Circus." The circus accountant takes up a new circus act: juggling numbers.
"The Dinosaur Circus" by Elena Steier, 2000-2002
August 7th, 2000 as seen in the North Jackson Progress
Comic strip "Wilbur Wolf." Wilbur is so hungry, he "could eat a horse!" An angry horse shows up, and Wilbur sheepishly walks away, insisting it was a figure of speech.
"Wilbur Wolf" by Tom Coffield, 1992-1993
January 14th, 1993 as seen in The Ledger
Single panel trivia comic strip "Did'ja Hear?" Two quirky stories. 1. "In Springfield, Ohio, police lieutenant John Law retired from the force." 2. "In Chicago, a plow horse wearied of his tasks, broke his harness, wandered down the street to a tavern, plopped his nose on the bar, was rewarded with a free beer. His master, tired of the search, dropped into the bar for a short one, saw his horse, had one beer together and they went home."
"Did'ja Hear?" by Herman, 1948-1949
August 26th, 1948 as seen in the Tri-City Independent
Single panel comic strip "Doc." A man asks about the condition of his rich uncle. Stepping out of the operating room, Doc regrets to inform him that his uncle is going to pull through.
"Doc" by Hy Gage, 1925-1925
January 19th, 1925 as seen in the San Francisco Examiner
Comic strip "Bertha, the Beautiful Typewriter!" Bertha is working in the office alone when a mustached villain approaches, insisting she marry him. Bertha makes a run for it, and find two helpful men who make a bridge over to the next building so that Bertha can escape.
"Bertha, the Beautiful Typewriter!" by Frederick Burr Opper, 1908-1908
January 24th, 1908 as seen in the Norfolk Journal of Commerce
Comic strip "Doings of the Duffs." Thomas Duff puts on his coat and starts leaving his office, claiming he has important business. His assistant, Jimmy, knows what's up, and informs Duff that there's no game today, the home team is playing out of town. With nowhere to go, Duff goes back to work.
"Doings of the Duffs" by Walter Allman, 1914-1931
May 18th, 1918 as seen in the Atchison Daily Globe
Comic strip "Sisters of Eve." A husband complains to his wife that they only have hash for dinner. When he asks what dinner will be for Sunday, the wife yells at him, "Hash, of course! What did you think - TURKEY?" The man flies out of his chair from the force of it all.
"Sisters of Eve" by Will Lawler, 1912-1914
June 23rd, 1914 as seen in the Patriot-News
Sports comic strip "Jim Evans' Diamond Challenge." Readers are presented with baseball scenarios and asked to make a ruling. Full text: "Situation. Runners on first and second... No outs. The batter rips a sharp ground ball to the third baseman. The third sacker snares the smash and fries towards second to start the double play. The runner from second reached up and touches the thrown ball. Who should the umpire declare out? 6.05 (m) / 7.09 (L) Declare the runner out for the interference and the batter out for his teammate's actions. The other runner returns to first."
"Jim Evans' Diamond Challenge" by Jim Evans and John Johnson, 1990-1992
August 20th, 1991 as seen in the Oakland Tribune
Single panel comic strip "Inklings." Two men watch a pretty-but-tiny woman walk down the street. One man observes, "Yes sir, boy, she's a little bit of all right!"
"Inklings" by John Jarvis, 1947-1950
August 26th, 1949 as seen in the Uintah Basin Standard
Comic strip "G. Whiskers." A rich man is very generous in giving his money to the homeless and charity. When looking in the mirror one day, he sees he's now sporting wings and a halo.
"G. Whiskers" by Geoffrey "Fola" Foladori, 1940-1943
August 31st, 1940 as seen in the Daily Reporter
Serialized comic strip "The Black Buccaneer." The masked vigilante known as the Black Buccaneer leaves a tavern after killing a man who sold English sailors into slavery. Some pirates give chase.
"The Black Buccaneer" by "Jack Curtiss"*, 1937-1937
April 8th, 1937 as seen in the Crescent Times
*Jack Kirby
Sunday comic strip "Buster Brown." First, an opening where side character Buddy Tucker tells Buster he's leaving to track down his rich uncle (spinning off into his own comic). Then, Buster brings a kitten home. The dog Tige tries to get to know the pussy, but the cat hisses and then attacks Tige, resulting in him running into a full bathtub. The kitten walks away, soaked.
"Buster Brown" by Richard F. Outcault, 1902-1921
March 19th, 1905 as seen in the Atlanta Journal
Comic strip "Zoo Gossip." Subtitled "Why the Sloth Sleeps Upside Down." Realistic drawings of a sloth with the following text: "The sloth is a native of South America, and derives its name from its slow and awkward movements. But in addition to this it has a habit of sleeping on the boughs of trees upside down, and it is concerning this oddity that this legend is related. A long time ago the sloth, rested or slept upright like all brother animals - Now in the country in which he dwelt, mirages were of frequent occurrence, and it was puzzling to the poor sloth to gaze miles over the sea and behold strange inverted pictures on the horizon. One day, when the sloth was descending the trunk of a tree head-foremost, he chanced to gaze seaward when a very fine mirage was occuring and looking at it upside down. A beautiful panorama of ships and harbors and castles burst upon his vision. Ever after that whenever a mirage occured, he would suspend himself from a tree head-foremost and gaze long and fixedly upon the beauties of civilization, which were denied him in the solitary land in which he lived. Like all habits, this one grew on the sloth so that he is not comfortable unless he is hanging upside down, in which position the poor creature eats and sleeps and walks - thus reads the legend of the sloth."
"Zoo Gossip" by Clarence Rigby, 1910-1911
April 2nd, 1911 as seen in the Houston Post
Fantasy adventure comic strip "Oaky Doaks." A wizard stands in the court of the queen of the moon, and is ordered to drink some moonshine. A tall man in armor insists on drinking it first, in case it is poison, but a woman protests because she likes the man. There is a cry for help, and the queen identifies the voice belonging to someone named Stella.
"Oaky Doaks" by William McCleery and Ralph Fuller, 1935-1961
December 17th, 1951 as seen in the Fort Collins Coloradoan
Single panel comic strip "The DeBrees." While on a ship, a woman comments on her male companion's drinking and shaky legs. "Oh, poor dear, you don't have your sea legs yet."
"The DeBrees" by Kipp Barsotti, 1975-1976
November 25th, 1975 as seen in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Comic strip "Hey Swingy." Teen girl Swingy has been chatting on the phone with friends for a long while. Her father comes over and gives her a stern look, and she tells her friends it's time she hung up. However, as soon as her father's out of the room, the conversation resumes.
"Hey Swingy" by Jan Green, 1964-1971
June 2nd, 1966 as seen in the Ann Arbor News
Single panel comic strip "Yanks From the Camps," reprintings of comics from various armed forces publications. Today's comic is by Joe Buresch from "The Camp News" out of Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. An officer gets his fortune told by a psychic with a crystal ball. She says, "You're going to meet someone who will order you around the rest of your life - and I don't mean a sergeant!"
"Yanks From the Camps" by various*, 1943-1945
February 27th, 1944 as seen in the Cedar Rapids Gazette
*this week, Joe Buresch
Comic strip "Deadwood Gulch." Two cowboys watch a pretty lady walk by, and get into a fist fight over who should approach her. With them both knocked senseless on the ground, they watch as she walks back with her husband and child. Newspaper printings of this are sporadic, it ran regularly in the comic book "The Funnies."
"Deadwood Gulch" by Gordon Rogers, 1929-1934
February 26th, 1931 as seen in the Frankfort Index
Comic strip "Fillum Fables." Jack Hopp tries to convince a jeweler to hire him, saying he can sell a ring to anybody. The jeweler takes him up on the challenge, and takes him to the local carnival, telling him to see a ring to the "Armless Giant." Turns out not to be an issue, but the sign is partly covered up, and he's actually the "Harmless Giant."
"Fillum Fables" by Chester Gould, 1925-1929
January 25th, 1928 as seen in the Oakland Post Enquirer
Comic strip "Gloria." Two American women are on a ship heading towards France. Excited, they start to wonder if the language barrier is going to be a problem. One says that if there's any doubt, show off some American money. That's understood in any language.
"Gloria" by Julian Ollendorff, 1930-1931
August 5th, 1930 as seen in the Daily Item
Comic strip "The Flibbertys." A father complains about how rude his children are. "I wonder when they last said something nice about their teacher," he says to his wife. "Probably when he said something nice about his congressman," the pet dog says to the pet cat.
"The Flibbertys" by Ray Helle, 1954-1972
June 24th, 1967 as seen in the Montana Standard
Comic strip "Got a Life." Stacey falls asleep while working on a project at work. When one of her coworkers comes in and compliments her, she snaps awake, hurting her neck in the process. She's in agony when she sees the doctor.
"Got a Life" by Terri Davis, 2000-2003
March 17th, 2002 as seen in the Dunn County News