1

Newspaper AnthologyBy Courteney West, Caitlin McCann and Emily Nusbickel

2 3

Newspaper AnthologyA comic anthology by Courteney West, Caitlin McCann and Emily Nusbickel

This anthology is dedicated to George, Melissa and Tim.

4 5

Table of Contents1. Introduction 5

2. Peanuts 6-7

3. Dennis 8-9

4. B.C. 10-11

5. Hagar 12-13

6. Garfield 14-15

7. Zits 16-17

8. Meet the Authors 18-19

9. Meet the Editors 20-21

IntroductionThe focus of this anthology is on newspaper comics with

a single narrative with no continuing plot that carries over

several newspaper editions. We highlight the newspaper

medium because we find these comics as integral to the

comic lover’s journey into the art form itself. Many people,

including ourselves, have grown up reading the Sunday

Funnies and grew up alongside the very same characters on

the pages. We find comfort in them and they can remind

us of our childhood. This nostalgia is to be celebrated

by looking at the comics that shaped us as children and

follow us even now into adulthood, forever serialized

in newspapers. We hope that the readers remember the

emotions they felt while reading these for the first time and

appreciate the beauty these one shots still hold today. Please

enjoy this selection of six very popular, still running comics

and remember why you became a comic fan in the first

place!

6 7

Written and illustrated by Charles M. Schultz, Peanuts has been described as not only the most

popular and influential comic strip in history but also as a shining example of ‘the great American unsuccess story.’ It follows the story of

the boy, Charlie Brown, his life, and his friends often drawing upon mature themes for the young characters to think through. It is also considered one of the strips to help cement the four panel gag strip as the standard in the United States. It has had over 17,897 strips published, making it one of the longest stories ever told. Peanuts originally ran from October 2nd, 1950 to

February 13th, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. At its peak, it ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75

countries, and has been translated into 21 languages.

By Charles M. Schultz

8 9

Dennis the Menace follows the wild antics of a 5 year old boy, his family, and the neighbors known as The

Wilsons, the setting being a middle class suburban neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. Originally Dennis the Menace was created, written,

and illustrated by Hank Ketcham and debuted on March 12th, 1951, in 16 newspapers. It is now written and drawn by his former assistants, Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand, and is distributed to at least 1,000

newspapers in 48 countries and in 19 languages.

By Hank Ketcham

10 11

Featuring a blonde caveman named Peter, B.C. is set in prehistoric times with a non-literal time frame. It

made its debut in newspapers on February 17th, 1958 and was among the longest-running strips still written and drawn by its original creator

before Hart died in 2007. Now, the strip is produced by Hart’s grandsons, Mason Mastroianni and Mick Mastroianni, and Hart’s daughter Perri. As the strip continue, characters in the strip often make explicit references to

modern-day events, inventions, and celebrities, causing some to claim that the true setting of the comic instead is of a post apocalyptic Earth.

By Johnny Hart

12 13

Hägar (sometimes written as “Hagar”) is a shaggy, scruffy, overweight, red-bearded Viking who regularly raids

England and sometimes France. The strip is considered a caricature and loose interpretation of medieval Scandinavian life set around the Middle

Ages in an unnamed costal village somewhere in Norway. The comic strip, created by cartoonist Dik Browne, first appeared in February 1973 and after Browne’s retirement, his son, Charles Browne, continued it. As of

2010, Hägar is distributed to 1,900 newspapers in 58 countries and is translated into 13 languages.

By Dick Browne

14 15

Garfield was first published on June 19th, 1978 and is set in Muncie, Indiana. The character, Garfield, was based on

an actual cat that the cartoonist, Jon Arbuckle, bought from a pet store. At birth the actual cat weighed a whooping 5 pounds and 6 ounces! The

famous cat was named after Jon’s grandfather and the strip itself chronicles his daily life in Jon’s home. The Garfield comic appears every day in a number of newspapers after more than 30 years in syndication and has more than

200,000,000 readers across the globe. It is considered the world’s most successful and most read comic strip.

By Jim Davis

16 17

Zits, written by cartoonist Jerry Scott and illustrated by Jim Borgman, centers around the life of 16

year old Jeremy Duncan, a high school sophomore who aspires to be a rock musician. Set in central Ohio suburbia, the strip follows Jeremy

as he tries to balance his family life, social life, the academic demands of high school and his plans for the future. Often he faces a heavy dose of surrealism, which makes it stand out from being just a typical teenager cartoon strip. The comic debuted in July 1997 in over 200 newspapers and

has since become popular worldwide and received multiple awards. As of 2010, it continues to be distributed and is now included in 1,500

newspapers in over ten languages.

By Jerry Scott

18 19

Meet the AuthorsCharles M. Schulz: PeanutsCharles M. Schulz is regarded as one of the most influential comic book artists. His work has influenced many other famous works including Calvin and Hobbes. Shultz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota but grew up in Saint Paul. He was an only child, and loved drawing his dog, Spike, who liked to eat unusual things like razors. As a kid, he was published in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for the drawings of Spike. He began his career by working with lettering for a Roman Catholic comic magazine, “Timeless Topix,” and from there took a job as an editor at Art Instruction, Inc. He began his first regular cartoons called Lil’ Folks in which he first introduced the character of Charlie Brown. Lil Folks eventually transformed into the world known series Peanuts which appeared in 1950.

Hank Ketcham: Dennis the Menace Hank Ketcham grew up in a politically involved family in Seattle, Washington. He was introduced to drawing when he was six years old and his father had guests over for dinner, one which was an illustrator. From there, his father set him up a desk in his closet where Ketcham could draw. Ketcham attended the University of Washington but dropped out in hopes of working for Disney, which he eventually did. He worked as an animator for Walt Disney where he worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi and several Donald Duck shorts. In addition to animating, during World War II, he was a photographic specialist for the US Navy. Today he has retired from drawing comics and works full time painting. He also has received many awards including the Rueben Award for one of his strips.

Johnny Hart: B.C.Hart was born and raised in Endicott, New York. He served in the Air force during the Korean War and during this time was first published for his strip, Stars and Stripes. After he returned home, he published cartoons in “The Saturday Evening Post” and “Collier’s Weekly.” Growing up in a fairly religious family, Hart had a strong faith. This led to his rather controversial comic strip B.C.. Since Hart liked to incorporate religious and political ideals into his strips, many newspapers refused to publish him. However, he still received countless awards for his work with B.C., including the Swedish Adamson Award and National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben award.

Dik Browne: Hagar the HorribleDik Browne grew up in New York City where he attended Cooper Union. He began his career at the “New York Journal American” where he started as a copy boy but was moved in the art department. From there he joined the engineering unit of the army and began Jinny Jeep, a strip about the Women’s Army Corps. Browne is well known for his work with Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible. In 1973, Browne created Hagar the Horrible and the comic continues to be produced by his son, Chris Browne. Both Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible were successful and Browne received many awards for them including the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben award.

Jim Davis: GarfieldJim Davis was raised on a small farm in Marion, Indiana. As a child, he had serious asthma which led to him spending countless hours drawing, inside of regular outdoor activities. He went on to study art and business at Ball State University. From there, he began working with the Tumbleweeds comic strip, and eventually started his own strip, Gnorm Gnats. Gnorm Gnats struggled because it was not considered relatable and thus Davis created Garfield, which was considered much more relatable to the average reader.

Jerry Scott: ZitsJerry Scott completed high school and his first year of college in Havasu City, Arizona but from there followed his dreams to work in advertising. He started his cartooning career by submitting gag cartoons to the “Saturday Evening Post.” However, his career truly launched when he was asked to take over the Nancy comic strips. From there, he met Rick Kirkman, who helped him create his more well-known comics like Baby Blues, and also Jim Borgman, who assisted in the creation of Zits.

20 21

Meet the EditorsCaitlin McCann Caitlin McCann is currently a freshman in college. Her major is Japanese Language and Culture and plans to teach English in Japan when she graduates. She was born and raised in Largo, Florida. She first found comics in her dad’s closet and has enjoyed them ever since, having a soft spot for Archie and Friends, Warrior Nun Areala, and Blondie.

Emily Nusbickel Emily Nusbickel was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. She is currently a student at the Florida State University majoring in Hospitality Management. She started reading comics at around 7 or 8 years old. Her favorite comic is Garfield because of her love of cats. Her own cat, Lily, also reminds her of Garfield.

Courteney West Courteney West was born and raised in Washington D.C. with her brother and sister. She is currently a student at the Florida State University. She hopes to be accepted into the Entrepreneurship Program. She first started reading newspaper comics at the age of 8. Her first comic was Garfield because she saw her brother reading it and thought it was cool.

22