This delightful and informative book traces the artistic and social evolution of the "funnies" over a 100-year period. Many familiar characters, from Dick Tracy to Dagwood, are represented in over 130 original drawings which create a pictorial history of American newspaper comics.

Examples from American public and private collections ranging from the Katzenjammer Kids (1897) and Happy Hooligan (1900), through Dick Tracy (1931) and Steve Canyon (1947), to Doonesbury (1971) and Mutts (1994) are included. Original drawings are carefully reproduced in color to capture the sketches, notations, and alterations not visible in the printed versions, revealing the vitality and subtlety of the artist's conception. Selected strips are reproduced at full size.