A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
Back in the day, before Barney became a purple dinosaur sensation, and before Google replaced a set of encyclopedias, there was “Barney Google.”
In fact, on June 17, 1919, the “Barney Google” cartoon strip, drawn by Billy DeBeck, premiered.
Since then, and even a few years prior, cartoon strips became a cornerstone of daily newspapers in the U.S. And they remain so.
According to previous research from a colleague, the first serialized comic strip to appear in the Deseret News was “Just Kids,” which began appearing in August 1916. Some of the early Deseret News favorites included “The Katzenjammer Kids,” “Maggie and Jiggs” and “Mutt and Jeff.” The introduction of comics was closely allied with the invention of the color press. Some newspapers included a single strip on each page of the classified section, but most offered one or two pages during the week, and the Sunday funnies in color.
The strip was also known as “Barney Google and Spark Plug,” “F’rinstance Barney Google,” and finally “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.” The strip first appeared on the sports section of daily newspapers, as it did in the Deseret News (below):
Famous American full-page Sunday strips include “Alley Oop,” “Blondie,” “Bringing Up Father,” “Buck Rogers,” “Captain Easy,” “Flash Gordon,” and “Thimble Theatre.” (Note: I Googled that.)
The evolution of comic strips, the funnies, and what they reflect in our culture, is fascinating. For many youngsters through the years, it was their introduction to the daily newspaper:
“Comics are best part of paper”
“Comics’ sweeping graphic novel ‘Prince Valiant’ turns 80″
“A funny thing happened when a strip got the ax”
“Orem exhibit allows visitors to color on the art”
“Four volume history of comics is a fascinating journey”
“Comic strip questions answered”
“Happy birthday, Deseret News! A look back at our first issue and others through the ages”
“Newspapers and comics: A historic tie”
So what was your favorite comic strip?
And just an FYI, the comics still appear in the Deseret News midweek and weekend editions.