Origins of the Sunday Comics

This is where it all started! From "The Yellow Kid" and "Katzenjammer Kids" to "Little Nemo" and "Little Jimmy," these are the origins of the American comic strip, created at a time when there were no set styles or formats, when artistic anarchy helped spawn a new medium.

This series will present the earliest offerings (from 1895 to 1915) of the famous and lesser-known cartoonists who were there when comics were born—over 150 creations from more then 50 superb artists, most reproduced here for the first time in over 100 years. These early pages also can be seen in all of their full, broadsheet-size glory in the book "Society is Nix, Gleeful Anarchy at the Dawn of the American Comic Strip" from Sunday Press. Later entries will include examples from other Sunday Press volumes. Sunday Press Presents also features more classic comic strips at GoComics, including "Little Nemo in Slumberland."

This historic comic is presented in its original form, unedited from the time period in which it was created. These images may contain harmful stereotypes, problematic and antiquated ideologies, or otherwise negative cultural depictions and themes indicative of the context in which it first appeared. We run these vintage comic strips to preserve a digital archive of the medium's early examples.