Charles M. Payne was born in 1873, and began his career in comics in 1896. 14 years later, he created his most famous comic strip S'Matter Pop, whcih ran for thirty years. Charles M. Schulz cited him as an influence on his own work. Tragically, C.M. Payne died penniless in 1964.
Look at those clean lines and clear staging. Even at such a small size, the image reads so well.Cliff Sterrett was born in 1883. In 1912, he was hired by William Randolph Hearst to be a cartoonist for his syndicate. At this time, Sterrett create his most popular comic strip, Polly and Her Pals. As the years, Sterrett brought in influences of Cubism, Surrealism, and Expressionism into his comic strip (see below). He died in 1964.
This must have been a huge influence on Will Eisner and The Spirit.
George Herriman is perhaps the most well-known and most influential artist I've chosen. His comic masterpiece Krazy Kat has influenced generations of cartoonists, including Charles M. Schulz. R. Crumb has called him "The Leonardo Da Vinci of comics".
George Herriman was born in 1880. Even though he was working in comics by 1902, it wasn't until 1913 that he achieved fame and notoriety with Krazy Kat. Though the strip had few fans outside of the intelligentsia, Herriman always had a staunch supporter in Hearst, who loved the strip. When Herriman died in 1944, Hearst decreed that nobody was to replace Herriman as the artist on his strip. Nobody could.
I hope you all enjoyed this little excursion into comics history. I will get back to posting more of Alice in Wonderland soon.
1 comment:
These are some very good comics, Eric. I don't think I've ever heard of the artist before; but the style certainly seems familiar to me!
Y'know, soon I actually might post some VIZ strips today--I can try!
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