Children of the Yellow Kid: The Evolution of the American Comic Strip

by Robert C. Harvey, Brian Walker

Traces the development of the comic strip since its birth at the turn of the century. The reproductions of vintage strips are strikingly pristine, due to the use of original artwork rather than published versions in the production of the volume. The author, a seasoned writer and scholar of the subje

Genres: Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Robert C. Harvey (born 1937), popularly known as R. C. Harvey, is an author, critic and cartoonist. He has written a number of books on the history of the medium, with special focus on the history of the comic strip, and he has also worked as a freelance cartoonist.
Harvey describes himself as having created cartoons since the age of seven. He was educated at the University of Colorado, where he submitted cartoons to the campus magazine, The Flatiron. Upon graduation, Harvey attempted to earn a living as a freelance cartoonist in New York, but eventually he changed his career path and enlisted in the US Navy. After a three-year tour, Harvey was discharged and found employ as an English teacher.
Dissatisfied with his pay and disillusioned with the work, Harvey left teaching and returned to freelance cartooning, specializing in cartoons of "sexy girls". Unable to make a living solely through cartooning, Harvey took a position with an educational conference company. In 1973, Harvey began writing on the medium, initially for The Menomonee Falls Gazette.

"Comics ... are sometimes four-legged and sometimes two-legged and sometimes fly and sometimes don't ... to employ a metaphor as mixed as the medium itself, defining comics entails cutting a Gordian-knotted enigma wrapped in a mystery ..."

- R. C. Harvey, 2001

Reviews

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comic strips routinely ran 5 columns wide (10 1/4 by 3 inches) before newsprint shortages during WWII reduced their size to 4 columns (7 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches). Where the width was maintained the height might be cropped by as much as 25%. By the 1990s 3 columns became standard (6 by 1 3/4 inches) and 'throwaway panels' were often required so that editors could further reduce the published size. To remain competitive (and viable), artists often simplified their presentation and wrote in a 'gag a day' format.
This book, published as a companion to an exhibition at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and the Cartoon Museum in San Francisco provides an excellent overview along with extensive (fullsize) examples of dozens of cartoons in a wide variety of genres.
The thesis is clear, and demonstrated:
Cartoons have diminished.
In size, but not necessarily in quality.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well done history of the American comic strip that is occasionally insightful and unusually generous regarding the artists who created and currently create comic strips. I have never found a strip history truly excellent, and this book is no exception. My guess is that the field is simply too vast for the story to be told in fewer than 1000 pages with more illustrations than the art budget will support, so this, perhaps, should not be held against this book, but I persist if finding it unsatisfying.