50 Fun Facts About Comic Strip

Which 1890s Richard F. Outcault character, an early comic strip, gave sensationalist journalism its name?

Mickey Dugan in his yellow nightshirt appeared in Pulitzer's New York World and then Hearst's Journal from 1895 to 1898.

Which strip, created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897, is the oldest comic strip still in syndication?

It was inspired by Wilhelm Busch's German story Max and Moritz; the last original strip ran in 2006 but reprints continue.

Peanuts ran from October 1950 to February 2000. How many strips did Charles Schulz produce in all?

He drew every one himself, including lettering and coloring, which is why it has been called the longest story ever told by one human being.

What was the original title of Schulz's weekly panel cartoon before United Features renamed it Peanuts?

The author of the retired 1930s strip Little Folks objected to the name, and Schulz never liked "Peanuts".

How much does Lucy charge for advice at her psychiatric booth in Peanuts?

The booth parodies a lemonade stand; one real psychiatrist called Lucy "very much the modern doctor".

Charles Schulz's lifelong nickname "Sparky" came from a horse in which comic strip?

His uncle named him after Spark Plug, the horse in Billy DeBeck's strip, when he was two days old.

Garfield's owner Jon Arbuckle was named after a businessman Jim Davis heard mentioned in an ad for what?

Garfield himself is named after Davis's grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis.

Garfield, the world's most widely syndicated strip, ran in roughly how many newspapers as of 2013?

The strip debuted nationally on June 19, 1978, after running locally as Jon.

According to a TV special, Garfield lives in which Indiana city, Jim Davis's hometown?

Davis was raised on a farm in Fairmount and born in Marion, but Happy Birthday, Garfield puts the cat in Muncie.

Calvin and Hobbes are named after which two thinkers?

John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes lend their names to a six-year-old and his stuffed tiger.

Bill Watterson famously refused to allow what for Calvin and Hobbes during its 1985-1995 run?

He fought his syndicate over creative control and ended the strip in 1995 saying he had explored the format to his satisfaction.

What is the name of Calvin's babysitter in Calvin and Hobbes?

Susie Derkins is his classmate and Miss Wormwood his teacher; Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man are his alter egos.

Gary Larson's The Far Side coined which term for the spikes on a Stegosaurus's tail?

The 1982 panel had a prehistoric lecturer name them after "the late Thag Simmons"; paleontologists adopted the word.

The Far Side ran from 1980 until Gary Larson retired on the first day of which year?

It appeared in more than 1,900 papers and was translated into 17 languages.

Why was Dilbert dropped by most newspapers and its distributor in 2023?

Its distributor Andrews McMeel also removed the strip after Adams called Black Americans a "hate group".

Doonesbury became the first daily comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize in which year?

Garry Trudeau took the Editorial Cartooning award; the strip began at Yale as Bull Tales.

The name "Doonesbury" combines prep-school slang for a clueless person with the surname of whom?

Charles Pillsbury was the roommate; the strip debuted in 28 papers on October 26, 1970, as Universal Press Syndicate's first strip.

Blondie, created by Chic Young in 1930, features her husband Dagwood, famous for his love of what?

Blondie Boopadoop began as a flapper dating Dagwood Bumstead, heir to an industrial fortune.

Beetle Bailey, created by Mort Walker in 1950, is set at which fictional Army post?

Beetle started out as a college student; the camp was inspired by Camp Crowder, where Walker had served.

Who created Hägar the Horrible in 1973?

His son Chris continued the strip after his 1988 retirement; the Vikings were an immediate hit.

In Krazy Kat, what does the mouse Ignatz constantly throw at Krazy?

Krazy reads the missiles as tokens of love; George Herriman set the strip in a dreamlike Coconino County, Arizona.

Winsor McCay's Little Nemo dreamed his way each week into which fantastical land?

The strip ran in the New York Herald from 1905 to 1911, and Nemo always woke up in bed in the last panel.

Walt Kelly's Pogo, an opossum, lived in which real swamp?

Kelly created Pogo and Albert the alligator for Dell's Animal Comics in 1941 before the strip launched in 1948.

Al Capp's Li'l Abner was set in which fictional hillbilly village?

The strip ran 43 years from 1934 and gave the world Sadie Hawkins Day and the Shmoo.

Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace first appeared on March 12, 1951. What coincidence marked that date?

The two Dennises are unconnected and tweak their names in each other's countries to avoid confusion.

What was Bil Keane's round-bordered strip about the Keane household originally called, until a magazine objected?

Its single round-bordered panel gave the strip its name; it debuted on February 29, 1960.

Cathy Guisewite's Cathy struggled with the "four basic guilt groups": food, love, family and what?

The strip ran from 1976 to 2010, and boyfriend Irving finally proposed on Valentine's Day 2004.

Which animal characters star in Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County?

The strip ran from 1980 to 1989 and was unexpectedly revived on Facebook in July 2015.

What is unusual about the format of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, which began in 1937?

The Arthurian saga runs as captioned illustrations and continues today in a half-page Sunday format.

Which gadget, introduced in Dick Tracy in 1946, became the strip's most recognizable icon?

Chester Gould's detective debuted in the Detroit Mirror in 1931.

Little Orphan Annie took its name from an 1885 poem by which Hoosier poet?

Harold Gray's strip debuted in the New York Daily News in 1924 and ended in 2010 running in only 20 papers.

Popeye first appeared in 1929 as a minor character in which existing strip?

E. C. Segar's strip was in its tenth year; the sailor took over so completely that it was later renamed after him.

Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy grew out of a strip about her aunt. What was that strip called?

Nancy was introduced in 1933 and took over the daily slot in 1938.

Marmaduke, the star of Brad Anderson's strip since 1954, is what breed of dog?

The Winslow family put up with him for six decades until 2015.

Reg Smythe's work-shy British strip character Andy Capp lives in which town?

The strip has run in the Daily Mirror since 1957, and Andy lent his name to a brand of snack fries.

Mafalda, the six-year-old who worries about world peace, comes from which country?

Quino drew her from 1964 to 1973; the strip was a hit across Latin America, Spain and Quebec.

Which strip's teen hero, Jeremy Duncan, was 15 when it began in 1997 and later turned 17?

Jerry Scott writes it and Jim Borgman draws it; Scott also co-created Baby Blues.

Before creating Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis worked in what profession?

The strip's cast of Pig, Rat, Zebra, Goat and a fraternity of crocodiles frequently mocks other comic strips.

Bill Amend's FoxTrot switched to what schedule from the end of 2006?

It had run seven days a week since April 1988.

Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks satirized politics through the eyes of which young radical?

It went national with Universal Press in April 1999 and ended in 2006.

What was a signature feature of Lynn Johnston's Canadian strip For Better or For Worse?

The Pattersons of Milborough grew up from 1979 to 2008, when the strip began retelling its story from the start.

Johnny Hart's caveman strip B.C. debuted in 1958. Where was Hart when he died in 2007?

His grandson Mason Mastroianni has produced the strip since.

Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott's 1990 strip about Darryl and Wanda MacPherson opened with which event?

The very first strip takes place in the hospital room right after the birth.

Patrick McDonnell's strip Mutts follows a dog named Earl and a cat named what?

Charles Schulz called Mutts, launched in 1994, 'one of the best comic strips of all time'; it has won awards for its animal-protection themes.

In Jeff MacNelly's strip Shoe, the newspapermen are all what kind of creature?

The strip won MacNelly the Reuben Award for 1979 and was even reprinted in Norway under the name Sjur.

In Get Fuzzy, Boston ad executive Rob Wilco lives with a dog named Satchel and a cat named what?

Darby Conley's strip mines the clash between sweet, naive Satchel and cruel, self-centred Bucky; no new strips have run since 2019.

The Wizard of Id's title combines The Wizard of Oz with a term from which thinker?

Brant Parker and Johnny Hart launched the shabby medieval kingdom in 1964; by 2002 it ran in some 1,000 newspapers.

Bringing Up Father, George McManus's 87-year strip, later took the names of which two characters?

Distributed by King Features, the strip ran from January 1913 to May 2000.

Which villainess leads the pirates in Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates?

Read by 31 million subscribers, the strip earned Caniff the first National Cartoonists Society Cartoonist of the Year award in 1946.

Ziggy's creator Tom Wilson had been an executive at which company before the strip?

His son Tom Wilson II took over writing and drawing the perpetually unlucky character in 1987.