Comic Strip
A comic strip is a short sequence of panels, usually three or four, published regularly in newspapers or online, often with a recurring cast and a gag or a running story.
In depth
Comic strips grew up in American newspapers at the end of the nineteenth century and became a daily habit for millions of readers in the twentieth. A daily strip is a single row of panels in black and white; the Sunday strip is larger and in colour. Some strips tell continuing stories, but most are built around a setup and a punchline.
The classics
Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts ran from 1950 to 2000; Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes from 1985 to 1995. Both remain in print in complete and themed collections. Today many strips are published online first and collected in books later.
On the shelf
Strips reach bookshops as collections, from slim themed books to complete multi-volume editions that reprint every strip in order.
Strips in book form
Newspaper strips are collected in several ways: small paperback collections of a year or two, themed anthologies, and complete chronological editions in hardcover that reprint every daily and Sunday strip. Complete editions are the most faithful, including early strips that look rough next to the characters' later, familiar forms.
Strips today
Many cartoonists now publish strips online first. Webcomic strips follow the same rhythm as newspaper strips — a few panels and a punchline — and are collected in books in the same way.
Where it appears
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. ran in newspapers from 1950 to 2000
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. ran from 1985 to 1995, widely collected
What it means today
Complete editions of long-running strips are the most faithful; themed collections are a lighter way in.
