Quite a year and a half.

A 79 YEAR OLD TRADITION.  Today being Sunday, I scanned the news, then turned to the "colored funnies" for my daily treat--reading the cartoons.  This has been going on since I learned to read English--roughly 78/79 years now, and it has been interesting to see the comics come, go, and change over time.

Some of the ones that were there in 1941 or '42 are still being published, though not necessarily in the newspapers: Dick Tracy, still being published, was inspired by Elliot Ness, and introduced--albeit sometimes in carriture form-- a variety of villains, and a variety of (then) fanciful gadgets.   Most notable was a wrist-phone used to communicate with police headquarters and others,  then a magnetic space vehicle, etc.  

Others also are still appearing, though over the years the writers and illustrators changes, such as Blondie which started in 1930, and was so popular that it inspired movies (28!), Two short TV series, and a radio series that ran for many years.  Blondie  has slowly adapted to the modern world, and now runs a catering service, and has been seen in the same bed as her sandwich-loving husband, Dagwood Bumstead.

Gasoline Alley, A sort of "just blain Bill" type of family strip debuted in 1919, and is still chugging along.  The idea was to focus on what was becoming an American necessity, the car.  The main character, Walt, was chubby and kind.  The fondling that was left on the doorstep, "Skeezix" and later their own child (Walt got married) "Corky."  Gasoline Alley was notable as the first strip to show characters aging.   Other still being drawn, that I was drawn to read over the years, were Popeye, Barney Google and Snuff Smith, both strips started in 1919, and Alley Oop,starting in 1932.  Also Prince Valiant, Mary Smith (world's longest running busy-body), 

Some comics seem to refuse to die.  Peanuts, introduced by Charles Schulz in 1951, was arguably the most popular strip ever, and is still being reprinted in daily and Sunday newspapers.  Schulz did all the art work and writing, and although there are numerous TV shows, and products there are no new comics.  Nancy started as the niece of Fritzi Ritz, but in 1939 became the chief and named comic.  She continues today, though somewhat more modern in ideas and old-fashioned in style of drawing.   

Other comics metaphorize over time as well.  My favorite was Chief Wahoo, a short, savvy but very caricatured native American.  After quite a few years,  the comic segued into Steve Roper--a reporter--who subsequently left and was replaced by Mike Nomad.  All in all, It ran from 1936 through 2004, and may have been influenced by, or influenced, the Cleveland Indians' nicknamed mascot, "Chief Wahoo."  Terry and the Pirates, started in 1934, was extremely popular while written by Milton Caniff, and remained for a while after he left to start Steve Canyon in 1947.  That strip perished after Caniff's death in 1988.

Some early comic strips made a debut on the newspapers, but morphed into comic books,  movies, TV shows, etc.  Probably best known is Superman who dropped into my world in 1939, and ran until 1966.  This titan from the planet Krypton ran as a comic book, a radio series, an early TV series, and quite a few movies.

The Katzenjammer Kids, started in 1897 and continued until 2006, possibly the longest running comic strip ever.  Han and Fritz, the "kids" were Germanic imps, always getting into trouble, and completely non-PC.  The strip was the first to use ethnic speech, the first to be turned into a play (in 1903), into an animated cartoon, and to be re-introduced as a different strip ("Hans and Fritz.").

Although most of these are gone, and were essentially for entertainment, some had very definite viewpoints.  LIttle Orphan Annie was extremely right-leaning in its' philosophy, featuring adventures by the plucky 11-year old heroine, her ageless dog Sandy and her benefactor, Daddy Warbucks. It ran on and off from 1924 until 2010, and spawned movies (the first in 1932), a TV movie, and the hit musical Annie, in 1977.  Pogo, which has a relatively short life from 1948 through 1975, was filled with animal characters who leaned left, and satires of such figures as Senator McCarthy (a mole) and Deacon Muskrat (gothic in beliefs and style).  Pogo left its imprint via its dialogue ("we have met the enemy and it is  us") and gentle humor.  Doonesbury, by Gary Trudeau, started in the Yale newspaper in 1968, then became a comic strip which continues on Sundays.  So far as I know, it is the only comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize, for editorial content, in 1975. 

Others left their imprint by their characteristics, such as Lil Abner, an amiable naif of Dogpatch, in the South, whose family, Yokum, was probably a modification of yokel.  Originated and drawn by Al Capp, Lil Abner resulted in the introduction, at least for some time, of a new holiday, "Sadie Hawkins Day"--allegedly celebrated one year by over 40,000 schools and club--and the concept of a modern-day manna, The Shmoo.   Plus slogans such as "Are you ready for Freddie?" And characters galore, such .as "Joe Btfsplk" the world's most jinxed person.  Lil Abner resulted in a radio series, a number of musicals, including "Lil Abner" from 1956, and some movies--but not TV series. 

Most comics were written by men, and most featured Caucasian heroes/heroines.  While professional women appeared in comics--Brenda Starr, for example, a reporter--most were secondary to the male leads.  There are a couple of African-American strips, Candorville and Curtis, but beyond them just Luther, started in 1965, and published for eighteen years, and Boondocks, for ten years starting in 1996, there not have been many. 

All in all, looking at today's Washington Post I noted that seven  (Mark Trail, Prince Valiant, Nancy, Doonesbury, Blondie, Dennis the Menace, and Beetle Bailey) all go back many years, and one, Peanuts is a continued repeat.    Nothing like continuity in one's reading habits or what one reads.