Herbie and Friends. Barry D. Rowland

the centuries the cartoon has been able to achieve success by attacking issues - injustice, tyranny, stupidity - that have been remarkably constant from generation to generation.

      Milton Caniff, “terry and the Pirates.” © Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate.

      THE COMIC STRIP

      Today the comic strip is found the world over. On a daily basis through every form of media - newspapers, radio, television, film - hundreds of thousands of people are influenced by and develop an intimate relationship with a myriad of opinion-shaping “word pictures”.

      Most leading researchers acknowledge Swiss school teacher Rudolph Topffer as the father of today’s comic strip art. Topffer who died in 1846 was the inventor of the picture story. Rather than writing novels he drew them - pictures of rather than tales of adventure. Even though his stories had a text connected with them the visuals and graphics were of primary importance.

      Although Topffer is credited as the founding father, the development, implementation and ultimate success of the modern comic strip is an American phenomena. The comic strip reaches out to all in society. It is in essence classless. Kings and commoners are equally accessible to its influence. The comic strip has as its mission not only to mirror society but also to shape and determine societal directions. In each generation economic, political and social conditions provide the springboard for its birth. The comic strip is an art form subject to constant change. The inventor and the reader grow together.

      The greatest impact of the comic strip is at its moment of viewing. It is able to hold the reader’s attention for scant seconds yet it strives through its message and narrative format to win over converts who will become faithful disciples following its course of action through daily and weekly intervals. Characterization and plot development are repetitive and constant. Each single episode becomes a part of a greater whole that holds the readership in its grasp - the continuum ad infinitum.

      Of all the art forms that exist, the comic strip has the most direct appeal. It is not highfalutin. It can be equally managed by the intellectual, the slow learner, the Prince, the commoner, the rich, the poor, the mighty, the humble. As long as there are human follies on the horizon, there will be those poised with pen in hand to point them out.

      THE CARTOONIST