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Created page with "thumb|George Herriman '''George Herriman''' (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for creating the legendary comic strip '''"Krazy Kat"'''. Herriman's distinctive style and surreal approach to both storytelling and art made him one of the most influential figures in early American comics. His work continues to be admired for its innovation and whimsical yet profound exploration of themes such..."
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{{short description|American cartoonist (1880–1944)}}
[[File:George Herriman, 1902.png|thumb|George Herriman]]
{{cbtalkonly}}
'''George Herriman''' (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American [[cartoonist]] best known for creating the legendary comic strip '''"[[Krazy Kat]]"'''. Herriman's distinctive style and surreal approach to both storytelling and art made him one of the most influential figures in early American comics. His work continues to be admired for its innovation and whimsical yet profound exploration of themes such as love, identity, and the absurdities of life.
{{About|the American cartoonist|the English businessman|George Harriman}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox comics creator
|image        = George Herriman 1922-10-21 self portrait.jpg
|caption      = Self-portrait, 1922
|alt          = A black and white drawing of a man wearing a brimmed hat, seated at a drawing table, with his right hand on his forehead.  He holds a cigarette in his right hand, and is surrounded by cartoon characters: a mouse on his hat, a long-billed bird looking over his left shoulder, a cat in front of him, and a dog to his right.
|birth_name    = George Joseph Herriman
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1880|08|22}}
|birth_place  = {{nowrap|[[New Orleans]], Louisiana, US}}
|death_date    = {{death date and age|1944|4|25|1880|8|22}}
|death_place  = Los Angeles, California, US
|cartoonist   = yes
|notable works = ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' (1913–1944)
| spouse      = {{marriage|Mabel Lillian Bridge|1902|1931|end=died}}
| children    = 2
|signature    = George Herriman signature 1.svg
}}


'''George Joseph Herriman III''' (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience among those in the arts. [[Gilbert Seldes]]' article "The Krazy Kat Who Walks by Himself" was the earliest example of a critic from the high arts giving serious attention to a comic strip. ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' placed the strip first on its list of the greatest comics of the 20th century. Herriman's work has been a primary influence on cartoonists such as [[Elzie C. Segar]], [[Will Eisner]], [[Charles M. Schulz]], [[Robert Crumb]], [[Art Spiegelman]], [[Bill Watterson]], and [[Chris Ware]].
== Early Life and Career ==
George Herriman was born in '''New Orleans, Louisiana''', and grew up in a multiracial household. His heritage is often cited as a source of inspiration for his later works, as Herriman was of '''Greek and African-American descent''', a fact that he kept private for much of his life. This element of his identity was not widely known at the time, and Herriman's work was often discussed without acknowledging the complexity of his background.


Herriman was born in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, to [[Creoles of color|mixed-race Creole]] parents, and grew up in Los Angeles. After he graduated from high school in 1897, he worked in the newspaper industry as an illustrator and engraver. He moved on to cartooning and comic strips—a medium then in its infancy—and drew a variety of strips until he introduced his most famous character, Krazy Kat, in his strip ''[[The Dingbat Family]]'' in 1910. A ''Krazy Kat'' daily strip began in 1913, and from 1916 the strip also appeared on Sundays. It was noted for its poetic, dialect-heavy dialogue; its fantastic, shifting backgrounds; and its bold, experimental page layouts.
Herriman's family moved to '''Los Angeles, California''', during his childhood, where he attended '''Los Angeles High School''' and began to show an interest in art. He worked various jobs, including as a '''sign painter''' and '''[[illustrator]]''', before entering the world of newspaper cartoons. Herriman's early cartooning work was in the form of illustrations for humor and editorial pieces, contributing to publications like the '''Los Angeles Examiner''' and '''New York Journal'''.


In the strip's main motif and dynamic, Ignatz Mouse pelted Krazy with bricks, which the naïve, [[Androgyny|androgynous]] Kat interpreted as symbols of love. As the strip progressed, a love triangle developed between Krazy, Ignatz, and Offisa Pupp. Pupp made it his mission to prevent Ignatz from throwing bricks at Krazy, or to jail him for having done so, but his efforts were perpetually impeded because Krazy wished to be struck by Ignatz's bricks.
By 1903, Herriman had started to gain recognition for his work, and he soon began drawing for '''William Randolph Hearst’s''' newspapers, where he would stay for the remainder of his career.


Herriman lived most of his life in Los Angeles, but made frequent trips to the Navajo deserts in the Southwestern United States. He was drawn to the landscapes of [[Monument Valley]] and the [[Enchanted Mesa]], and made [[Coconino County, Arizona|Coconino County]] the location of his ''Krazy Kat'' strips. His artwork made much use of [[Navajo]] and Mexican themes and motifs against shifting desert backgrounds. He was a prolific cartoonist who produced a large number of strips and illustrated [[Don Marquis]]'s books of poetry about ''[[Archy and Mehitabel]]'', an alley cat and a cockroach. Newspaper magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]] was a proponent of Herriman and gave him a lifetime contract with [[King Features Syndicate]], which guaranteed Herriman a comfortable living and an outlet for his work despite its lack of popularity.
== Creation of Krazy Kat ==
Herriman’s most famous and enduring creation, '''"Krazy Kat"''', debuted in '''1910'''. The comic strip quickly became a groundbreaking and influential work that challenged the norms of comic strip storytelling. "Krazy Kat" ran for over 30 years, from 1910 until Herriman's death in 1944, and was published in multiple newspapers, including '''Hearst’s New York Journal''' and later, the '''Chicago Tribune'''.


{{TOC limit|3}}
The strip is set in a surreal, abstract landscape, often referred to as the "desert" or "the wild west," where the central characters engage in bizarre and often nonsensical adventures. The main character, '''Krazy Kat''', is a naive and lovable cat who is endlessly in love with '''Ignatz Mouse''', who constantly hurls bricks at Krazy's head in rejection. Meanwhile, '''Officer Pupp''', a dog, constantly tries to protect Krazy from Ignatz, misunderstanding the complex relationships and emotions at play.


==Biography==
=== Themes and Innovations ===
"Krazy Kat" is renowned for its innovative approach to both art and storytelling. Herriman’s work is characterized by:


===1880–1900: Early life===
* '''Surrealism''': Herriman often incorporated dreamlike, abstract, and fantastical elements into the strip. The landscape was often shown as an exaggerated version of the American Southwest, with distorted architecture, clouds, and strange settings.
* '''Nonlinear Storytelling''': The strip frequently had no clear, linear plot. Instead, it followed repetitive yet complex cycles of action, with each strip contributing to a larger, often abstract narrative. This approach broke away from traditional comic storytelling conventions and had a lasting influence on later experimental comics and animation.
* '''Unconventional Language and Dialogue''': Herriman developed a unique style of writing for the characters, often playing with language, puns, and nonsensical dialogue. This gave the characters a sense of personality and whimsy while allowing Herriman to explore deeper themes of longing, confusion, and social dynamics.
* '''Complex Themes''': Despite the simple premise, "Krazy Kat" explored themes of unrequited love, personal identity, and emotional conflict. Krazy’s obsession with Ignatz is presented as pure and innocent, despite being repeatedly thwarted, and the relationship between the characters was often used as a metaphor for the complexities of love and human emotion.


[[File:AugustineTreme14Jan2008AboveB.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A large, white building with a spire, next to a road.|The Herrimans attended St. Augustine Catholic Church in [[Tremé]] in [[New Orleans]].]]
== Cultural Impact ==
"Krazy Kat" was groundbreaking for its time and is still regarded as one of the most important comic strips in the history of the medium. Though it wasn’t a massive commercial success during its original run, its influence on other creators and its eventual critical recognition cemented its place in the pantheon of great comics.


George Joseph Herriman was born at 348 Villere Street{{efn|[[McDonogh 35 High School]] later occupied the site.{{sfn|McCash|2010}} }} in [[New Orleans]] on August 22, 1880.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}} He was born into a [[mixed-race]] family and came from a line of French-speaking Louisiana [[Creoles of color|Creole mulattoes]]{{sfnm|1a1=McCash|1y=2010|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=30}} who were considered [[free people of color]],{{sfn|Boxer|2007}} and were reportedly active in the early [[Slavery in the United States|abolitionist movement]].{{sfn|McCash|2010}} His paternal great-grandfather, Stephen Herriman, was a white New Yorker who had children with Justine Olivier,<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Bellot |first=Gabrielle |date= January 19, 2017 |title=The Gender Fluidity of Krazy Kat |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-gender-fluidity-of-krazy-kat |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |access-date= November 6, 2022}}</ref> a free woman of color, and owned a tailor shop on [[Royal Street, New Orleans|Royal Street]] in New Orleans.{{efn|The shop was occupied by Bryant Galleries as of 2010.{{sfn|McCash|2010}} }} His paternal grandmother was born in [[Havana]], Cuba.{{sfn|Stern|2008}} His parents were {{not a typo|George Herriman, Jr.}} (1850–1923),<ref>Tisserand, Michael (2016). Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White. p. 323. Harper. {{ISBN|978-0061732997}}.</ref>{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}} born in New Orleans, and Clara Morel Herriman (1857–1911),<ref>Tisserand, Michael (2016). Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White. p. 233. Harper. {{ISBN|978-0061732997}}.</ref> born in [[Iberville Parish, Louisiana|Iberville]].{{sfn|Inge|1996|p=3}} The family attended [[St. Augustine Church (New Orleans)|St. Augustine Catholic Church]] in New Orleans' [[Tremé]] neighborhood.{{sfn|McCash|2010}}
Herriman's work was lauded for its visual and narrative experimentation, and many later cartoonists cited him as a major influence. '''[[Walt Disney]]''', '''[[Charles Schulz]]''', and '''[[Bill Watterson]]''' (creator of ''Calvin and Hobbes'') all admired Herriman's ability to convey complex ideas through simple drawings and the subtle use of humor and absurdity.


When he was ten, Herriman and his family moved to [[Los Angeles]],{{sfn|McCash|2010}} where he grew up south of downtown near [[Main Street (Los Angeles)|Main Street]] and [[Washington Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Washington Boulevard]]. His father worked there as a tailor. Herriman attended the Catholic boys' school St. Vincent's College (now [[Loyola High School (Los Angeles)|Loyola High School]]).{{sfn|Mostrom|2010}} Soon after graduating in 1897, he sold a sketch of the Hotel Petrolia in [[Santa Paula, California|Santa Paula]] to the ''[[Los Angeles Herald-Examiner|Los Angeles Herald]]''. This landed him a $2-per-week job there as an assistant in the engraving department, where he occasionally did drawings for advertisements and [[Editorial cartoonist|political cartoons]].{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=31}}
== Herriman’s Artistic Style ==
Herriman’s art style evolved over the years, but he was particularly known for:


===1900–1905: Early career in New York===
* '''Dynamic Use of Color''': In the early days of ''Krazy Kat'', Herriman's work was primarily black and white, but as color printing technology evolved, he adapted his art to the color format. His use of color was expressive and often enhanced the surreal quality of the strip.
* '''Playful and Distorted Character Designs''': Krazy Kat, Ignatz, and Officer Pupp were all drawn in ways that conveyed personality through their very shapes. Krazy was often shown with round, simplified features, while Ignatz was drawn with sharp angles and a more menacing form.
* '''Fluid Panel Layouts''': Herriman often bent or manipulated the shape of his comic panels, adding an extra layer of unpredictability to the visual storytelling. His layouts were often fluid and varied, complementing the absurd and dreamlike nature of the strip.


<!-- [[File:George and Mabel Herriman - Wedding - 1902-07-07.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A black and white photograph of a woman wearing a dress and a man wearing a suit.|George and Mabel Herriman on their wedding day (July 7, 1902)]] --><!-- copyright staus in question -->
== Later Years and Legacy ==
Although "Krazy Kat" enjoyed some success, it wasn’t a mainstream hit during its original publication, and Herriman struggled with financial issues throughout his career. However, the strip garnered increasing critical acclaim over the years, and by the time of Herriman’s death in 1944, ''Krazy Kat'' was widely recognized as one of the most important comic strips in history.


[[File:Herriman090706.jpg|thumb|alt=A black-and-white cartoon drawing. A short, fat man labeled "Parker" and a tall, thin man labeled "Herrin" are in a farmyard, whose barn is labeled "Republican Stables". The two are looking at a horse with a human face and an enormous collar. The horse is labeled "Gillett". The caption reads, "Parker: 'Will he stand without hitching?'; Herrin: 'Sure! See that collar?'"|Herriman's earliest published works were humor and editorial cartoons. (September 7, 1906)]]
After Herriman's death, his legacy continued to grow. In the decades following his passing, ''Krazy Kat'' was rediscovered by a new generation of readers and critics. The strip was praised for its philosophical depth, visual experimentation, and the way it addressed themes of human emotion and relationships.


When he was 20, Herriman clandestinely boarded a [[Rail freight transport|freight train]] bound for [[New York City]], hoping his chances as an artist would be better there. He was unsuccessful at first, and survived by working as a [[barker (occupation)|barker]] and billboard painter at [[Coney Island]], until one of the leading [[humor magazine]]s of the day, ''[[Judge (magazine)|Judge]]'', accepted some of his cartoons. Between June 15 and October 26, 1901, eleven of his cartoons appeared in that magazine's pages, in the heavily [[Hatching|crosshatched]] style of the day. He often used sequential images in his cartoons, as in the emerging comic strip medium. On September 29 that year, his first real comic strips were published, one in the [[Pulitzer, Inc.|Pulitzer]] chain of newspapers on a non-contractual, one-shot basis and another on a continuing basis in the Philadelphia North American Syndicate's first comic strip supplement. His first color comic strips appeared in the [[McClure Newspaper Syndicate|T. C. McClure Syndicate]] beginning October 20.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=33}}
Herriman's work also found an audience outside of traditional comic fans, influencing the development of both '''[[independent comics]]''' and '''[[graphic novels]]'''. His willingness to break conventional norms in storytelling and art paved the way for future generations of cartoonists to experiment and push boundaries in their own work.


His success with these syndicated strips convinced Herriman to give up on magazine submissions.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=33–34}} For the Pulitzer papers on February 16, 1902, he began his first strip that had a continuing character, ''Musical Mose''. The strip featured an [[African American|African-American]] musician who impersonated other ethnicities, only to suffer the consequences when discovered by his audience. ''Professor Otto and his Auto'', about a terrifyingly dangerous driver, followed in March, and ''Acrobatic Archie'', a "kid strip" with a child protagonist, first appeared in April.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}} With his future as a cartoonist seemingly assured, Herriman traveled back to Los Angeles to marry his childhood sweetheart and returned with her to New York.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=36}}
== Posthumous Recognition ==
Herriman's contributions to the comic medium were finally recognized by broader mainstream institutions. In '''1973''', he was inducted into the '''Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame'''. His influence continues to resonate, with ''Krazy Kat'' often cited as one of the most innovative and groundbreaking comic strips of all time.


In the November 1902 issue of the literary magazine ''[[The Bookman (New York)|The Bookman]]'', Herriman wrote of his profession self-deprecatingly, while poet La Touche Hancock, in an article in that issue titled "The American Comic and Caricature Art",{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=36}} wrote, "Art and poetry is the characteristic of George Herriman. Were his drawings not so well known one would think he had mistaken his vocation."{{sfnm|1a1=Hancock|1y=1902|1p=263|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=36}} Herriman's work was increasing in popularity, and he occasionally had front-page, full-color strips for the Pulitzer supplements, such as ''Two Jolly Jackies'' about two unemployed sailors, which began in January 1903.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=36–37}} He began drawing the cowboy strip ''Lariat Pete'' in September for the McClure syndicate after ''Two Jolly Jackies'' was ended.{{sfn|Blackbeard|1983|p=51}}
Collections of ''Krazy Kat'' have been published in numerous formats, and the strip has appeared in retrospectives about the evolution of American comics. Herriman's innovative approach to art and storytelling, as well as his ability to convey complex themes in a simple, accessible form, continues to inspire contemporary comic creators and artists.


[[File:Major Ozone's Fresh Air Crusade 1906-04-21 panels 11 and 12.png|thumb|left|alt=In two comic strip panels, two men obsessively in search of fresh air are led to an insane asylum, where they are locked away.|The comic strip ''Major Ozone's Fresh Air Crusade'' (1904–1906) was an early success for Herriman. (April&nbsp;21,&nbsp;1906)]]
George Herriman’s legacy as a cartoonist and creator of ''Krazy Kat'' is enduring, thanks to his unique blend of surrealism, humor, and deep emotional complexity. Though he was not widely recognized during his lifetime, his influence on the world of comics is undeniable. Herriman’s ability to fuse art and storytelling in ways that were playful, profound, and ahead of their time has ensured that ''Krazy Kat'' remains one of the most beloved and respected comic strips in history.
 
[[Category:American Cartoonist]]
In June, Herriman was employed by the ''[[New York World]]''. There, he illustrated [[Roy McCardell]]'s commentaries on local events, beginning June 28 and running to the year's end. Herriman still produced syndicate work, such as ''Major Ozone's Fresh Air Crusade'' for the [[World Color Press|World Color Printing Company]] beginning January 2, 1904. Another of Herriman's obsessive characters, the Major traveled the world in an unsuccessful search for the purest air and spouted poetic dialogue.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}} ''Major Ozone'' was so popular that it soon was given the supplement's front page.{{sfn|Blackbeard|1983|p=51}} The same month, Herriman moved from the ''World'' to the ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'', where he was given a larger quantity and variety of work, including cartoon reporting on sports and politics.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}} In February and March, he had a short-lived continuing character comic strip about domestic life called ''Home Sweet Home''. That spring, he began illustrating a series of articles written by Walter Murphy called ''Bubblespikers''.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=41}}
[[Category:Cartoonist]]
 
Rudolph Block hired Herriman for the [[William Randolph Hearst|Hearst]] papers with "a salary commensurate with his talents", starting April 22 at the ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]'',{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=41}} which ran no daily comic strips at the time.{{sfn|Blackbeard|1983|p=51}} Herriman drew sports cartoons in an office alongside [[Frederick Burr Opper]], [[Jimmy Swinnerton|James Swinnerton]],{{sfnm|1a1=Blackbeard|1y=1983|1p=51|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=41}} and [[Tad Dorgan]], who was popularly known as "Tad" and was considered a star at another Hearst paper, the ''[[New York Journal-American|New York Evening Journal]]''. Tad and Herriman were often assigned to cover the same sporting events and became close friends. In 1924, Tad called Herriman "one of the best sporting artists in the world" and regretted that Herriman no longer did that kind of work.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=41, 44–45}} Herriman continued with Hearst until June 1905, when he left the paper,{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1pp=44–45|2a1=Blackbeard|2y=1983|2p=52}} possibly because of the new sports editor's unsympathetic attitude to cartoonists.{{sfn|Blackbeard|1983|p=52}} He returned to Los Angeles{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1pp=44–45|2a1=Mostrom|2y=2010|3a1=Blackbeard|3y=1983|3p=53}} in the latter half of 1905.{{sfn|Blackbeard|1983|p=53}}
 
===1905–1910: Return to California===
 
{{wide image
|1  = Daniel and Pansy 1909-12-04 top half.png
|2  = 600px
|3  = ''Daniel and Pansy'', Herriman's first all-animal strip (December 4, 1909)
|alt = In the first three panels of a six-panel cartoon strip, a pig is given a bottle of medicine by a sheep called Old Doctor Mutton. The pig drinks the medicine. A dog sees the pig drinking from the bottle, mistakes the medicine for an alcoholic beverage, and says "Why the deceitful swine—He told me he'd sworn off".}}
 
In California, Herriman continued to mail in work to the [[World Color Press|World Color Printing Company]]. He revived ''Major Ozone'' and produced ''Grandma's Girl—Likewise Bud Smith'', which he combined from two earlier strips, and a two-tiered children's strip, ''Rosy Posy—Mama's Girl''. He began to work with the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' on January 8, 1906, before returning to Hearst that summer.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}} Accompanying a front-page illustration in Hearst's ''[[Los Angeles Herald-Examiner|Los Angeles Examiner]]'', Herriman was announced as "the ''Examiner''{{'}}s cartoonist" on August 21. His artwork began to appear on nearly every page, resulting in greatly increased sales for the newspaper.{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1p=45|2a1=Blackbeard|2y=1983|2p=54}} In October, he stopped working for World Color.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}}
 
Following the success of [[Bud Fisher]]'s daily strip ''[[Mutt and Jeff|A. Mutt]]'',{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=242}}{{efn|Herriman may also have been inspired by the earlier daily strip ''[[A. Piker Clerk]]'' (1903–04) by [[Clare Briggs]], which also had a sports theme, and which Herriman had likely seen.{{sfnm|1a1=Blackbeard|1y=1983|1pp=52, 54|2a1=Harvey|2y=1994|2p=242}} }} which debuted in late 1907, Herriman began a similarly sports-themed daily strip starting December 10 called ''Mr. Proones the Plunger''. The strip was not as successful as Fisher's, and it ceased to appear after December 26.<ref name=Holtz>{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472117567 |page=273}}</ref>
 
''Mary's Home from College'', a precursor to the popular "girl strips" such as [[Cliff Sterrett]]'s ''[[Polly and Her Pals]]'' and John Held Jr.'s ''Merely Margie'', ran from February 19, 1909 until January 4, 1910.<ref>[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/herriman.htm "George Herriman"]. [[Lambiek]].</ref> His next comic strip, ''Baron Mooch'', starring the titular freeloader, debuted in the ''Examiner'' on October 12, 1909.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}<ref>Note: Historian [[Don Markstein]] gives November 1, 1909, at the entry [http://toonopedia.com/mooch.htm Baron Mooch] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527115316/https://www.webcitation.org/6b6aAtodL?url=http://toonopedia.com/mooch.htm Archived] from the original on August 27, 2015.</ref> Herriman began two more strips in November 1909 with the World Color Printing Company—''Alexander the Cat'' and ''Daniel and Pansy'', which both appeared in color. ''Daniel and Pansy'' was Herriman's first strip to feature an all-animal cast.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}} This was followed in the ''Examiner'' on December 23 by ''Gooseberry Sprig'', about an aristocratic, cigar-smoking duck who had previously and popularly appeared in Herriman's sports cartoons.<ref name="gooseberry-toonopedia">[http://toonopedia.com/gooseber.htm ''Gooseberry Sprigg''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20150209102620/http://toonopedia.com/gooseber.htm Archived] from the original on February 6, 2015.</ref> The bird-populated fantasy was a precursor to ''Krazy Kat'', and many of its characters reappeared in the later strip.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
 
===1910–1922: New York again, and ''Krazy Kat''===
 
{{wide image
|1 = Krazy Kat 1917-12-24.png
|2 = 600px
|3 = ''[[Krazy&nbsp;Kat]]'' daily strip&nbsp;— Krazy&nbsp;Kat kisses a sleeping Ignatz&nbsp;Mouse, who then dreams of cupids. (December&nbsp;24,&nbsp;1917)
|alt = In a five-panel cartoon strip, a cat and a mouse are sleeping. The cat awakens and kisses the mouse, and the mouse dreams of cupids.}}
 
In 1910, the sports editor of the ''New York Evening Journal'' called Herriman back to New York to cover for Tad Dorgan who was in San Francisco covering the [[Jack Johnson (boxer)#"Fight of the Century"|"Fight of the Century"]] between [[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]] and [[James J. Jeffries|Jim Jeffries]].{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}} Six days after arriving in New York, Herriman began ''[[The Dingbat Family]]'', starring E. Pluribus Dingbat and his family.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}} Herriman used typed lettering on the strip on July 26, 1910, but quickly went back to hand-lettering.{{sfnm|1a1=Nel|1y=2012|1p=284|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=55}} On August 10, 1910, Herriman retitled the strip ''The Family Upstairs''.<ref name=toonopedia>[https://archive.today/20150404112356/http://toonopedia.com/dingbat.htm ''The Dingbat Family'' a.k.a. ''The Family Upstairs''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. Archived from [http://toonopedia.com/dingbat.htm the original] on April 24, 2015.</ref> The original title returned after the strip of November 15, 1911, when the Dingbats' building was demolished to make room for a department store and they and their upstairs nemeses parted paths.<ref name=toonopedia />
 
Critics do not regard the strip highly, but it provided the vehicle for a fruitful situation: in the July 26 episode, a mouse threw a brick at the family cat—called "Kat"—which hit the cat on the head.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}} The antics of this mouse and "Kat" continued to appear in the bottom portion of ''[[The Dingbat Family]]''. Herriman said he did this "to fill up the waste space".{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}} About a month after its first appearance, the "Kat" crept up on the sleeping mouse and kissed it loudly. The mouse awoke saying, "I dreamed an angel kissed me", while the "Kat" crept away and said, "Sweet thing".{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=52, 54}}
 
[[File:New York Evening Journal cartoonists photo 1911-01-31.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A black and white photograph of six young-to-middle-aged men, all wearing white shirts, dark ties and waistcoats.|The cartoon staff at the ''[[New York Evening Journal]]'' (January&nbsp;3,&nbsp;1911)<br />Top, from left: [[Gus Mager]], Charles Wellington, Herriman<br />Bottom, from left: [[Harry Hershfield]], Ike Anderson, [[Tad Dorgan]] ]]
 
The gender of "Kat" was unclear from the start. Herriman experimented with a decision about the character's gender, but it remained ambiguous and he would refer to "Kat" as "he" or "she" as he saw fit. Herriman incorporated unusual details into the mini-strip's backgrounds such as [[cacti]], [[pagoda]]s, fanciful vegetation, or anything else that struck his fancy; this became a signature of the later ''Krazy Kat'' strip. The cast grew and soon included the mainstay character Bull Pupp and characters from the ''Gooseberry Sprigg'' strip.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=54}} The strip's characters, relations and situations grew organically during its lifetime, encouraged by Herriman's colleagues.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=54, 56}}
 
The cat-and-mouse substrip was gaining in popularity; instead of filling up space in the bottom of ''[[The Dingbat Family]]''{{'}}s panels, it began to occupy a tier of panels of its own.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}} In July 1912, while Herriman had the Dingbats on vacation, Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse took over the strip, which was retitled ''Krazy Kat and I. Mouse'' for the duration.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=59}} On October 28, 1913, ''Krazy Kat'' debuted as an independent strip on the daily comics page.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
 
Only Hearst's personal support allowed the strip to continue, as the reception from the readers showed zero interest or enthusiasm according to comics historian [[Bill Blackbeard]].<ref>[https://www.apollo-magazine.com/george-herrimans-krazy-kat-revisiting-an-abstruse-but-charming-comic-strip/ George Herriman’s Krazy Kat – revisiting an abstruse but charming comic strip]</ref> But it was liked by famous artists and writers such as [[Willem de Kooning]], [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]] and [[Edwin Denby (poet)|Edwin Denby]], and later by [[E. E. Cummings]], [[Jack Kerouac]] and [[Umberto Eco]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/13/magazine/krazy-kat-highbrow-burlesque.html ''KRAZY KAT'': HIGHBROW BURLESQUE]</ref>
 
During the first few years of publication, ''Krazy Kat''{{'}}s humor changed from slapstick to a more [[Vaudeville|vaudevillian]] kind. The shifting backgrounds became increasingly bizarre, presaging things to come. The strip expanded to a full-page black-and-white [[Sunday strip]] on April 23, 1916.{{efn|April 23, 1916, was actually a Saturday.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=58}} }} Herriman made full use of his imagination and used the whole page in the strip's layout.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=58}} The strips were unlike anything else on the comics page; spontaneous, formally daring, yet impeccably composed.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=61}}
 
Herriman visited [[Monument Valley]] in [[Arizona]] and similar places in [[New Mexico]] and southern [[Utah]], and incorporated the distinct forms of the desert landscape into his strips. The [[Enchanted Mesa]] of New Mexico first appeared in ''Krazy Kat'' in the summer of 1916. Herriman may have visited after reading an article by [[Theodore Roosevelt]] in 1913, but he may have gone earlier—the desert [[Coconino County, Arizona|Coconino County]], Arizona, that became the backdrop to ''Krazy Kat'' was first mentioned in a 1911 ''[[The Dingbat Family]]'' strip,{{sfn|Harvey|2010}} though the real Coconino County was located further southwest than Herriman's fanciful version.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=69}}
 
{{wide image
|1  = Monument valley.jpg
|2  = 600px
|3  = Herriman was enamored with the impressive rock formations at [[Monument Valley]] in Arizona.
|alt = Panorama of rock formations at Monument Valley in Arizona. A red, barren, desert landscape with several mesas and gigantic, unusual rock formations.}}
 
''The Dingbat Family'' finished in 1916 and was replaced by ''Baron Bean''{{'}}s debut the next day. The strip's title character, The Baron, was an impoverished English nobleman, a tramp inspired by [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Charlie Chaplin]]. He and his valet Grimes would plot ways to get by. Herriman later introduced the main characters' wives, and after a run as a domestic strip, with occasional appearances of characters from Krazy Kat's world, it ended in January 1919. It was replaced the next day by ''Now Listen Mabel'', which was about a young man courting a young woman; he would be caught in a compromising situation, which he would try to explain away with "Now listen Mabel ..." The strip lasted until that December.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=57–58}}
 
{{quote box|It happens that in America irony and fantasy are practised in the major arts by only one or two men, producing high-class trash; and Mr Herriman, working in a despised medium, without an atom of pretentiousness, is day after day producing something essentially fine. It is the result of a naive sensibility rather like that of the douanier Rousseau <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Henri Rousseau]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>; it does not lack intelligence, because it is a thought-out, a constructed piece of work.|--[[Gilbert Seldes]] in ''The Seven Lively Arts'' (1924){{sfn|Seldes|1924|p=231}}|width=40em|align=right}}
 
''Krazy Kat'' gained an appreciative audience in the world of the arts. The character debuted in film in 1916. The first animated films starring a cat were produced by Hearst's [[International Film Service]], though without Herriman's direct involvement.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=65}} In 1922, [[Adolph Bolm]] choreographed a jazz-pantomime ''Krazy Kat'' ballet written by [[John Alden Carpenter]]. It was first performed in New York in 1922 by [[Theatre Intime|Ballet Intime]], and Herriman illustrated the libretto and designed the costumes and scenario. While it was not a great success, the critics [[Deems Taylor]], [[Stark Young]]{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1pp=65–66|2a1=Pollack|2y=2001|2p=205}} and Henrietta Straus wrote favorably about it.{{sfn|Pollack|2001|p=205}} The strip itself was the subject of an article by literary critic [[Gilbert Seldes]] called "Golla, Golla the Comic Strip's Art", which appeared in the May 1922 issue of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''. Seldes expanded this article as part of his book on the popular arts, ''The Seven Lively Arts'' (1924), in which Seldes argued against conservative tendencies that excluded artists in the popular arts, such as Herriman and Chaplin, from being considered alongside traditional artists.{{sfnm|1a1=Gorman|1y=1996|1pp=77–78|2a1=Beaty|2y=2005|2p=57}} ''Krazy Kat'' was the subject of a chapter entitled "The Krazy Kat That Walks by Himself", which is the most famous piece of writing about the strip{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1p=66|2a1=Gabilliet|2a2=Beaty|2a3=Nguyen|2y=2010|2p=286|3a1=Petersen|3y=2011|3p=108|4a1=White|4y=1963|4p=12|5a1=Schulz|5y=2010|5p=114}} and the earliest example of a critic from the world of high art giving legitimacy to the comic strip medium.{{sfn|Gabilliet|Beaty|Nguyen|2010|p=286}} ''Vanity Fair'' inducted Herriman into its Hall of Fame in the April 1923 issue.{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1p=66|2a1=Mostrom|2y=2010}}
 
===1922–1944: California again, later career and death===
 
Hearst, an admirer of ''Krazy Kat'', had given Herriman a lifetime contract with his company [[King Features Syndicate]],{{sfnm|1a1=Wolk|1y=2008|1p=353|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=68|3a1=Gabilliet|3a2=Beaty|3a3=Nguyen|3y=2010|p=}} which gave Herriman the security to live anywhere he wanted. In 1922, he moved back to Hollywood,{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=68}} into a two-story Spanish-style home at 1617 North Sierra Bonita,{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=76}} from where he made frequent visits to the Arizona desert.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=68}} Herriman developed ties with members of the film industry; he knew [[Hal Roach]] Studio members [[Tom McNamara (director)|Tom McNamara]] and [[H. M. Walker|"Beanie" Walker]] from their newspaper days. Walker, Herriman's best friend, was the head writer on the ''[[Our Gang]]'' shorts. In the early 1920s, Herriman occasionally drew his strips at the Roach Studio. He met celebrities, including [[Will Rogers]] and [[Frank Capra]], and presented them with hand-colored drawings.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=76}} He loved Charlie Chaplin's films, and reviewed ''[[The Gold Rush]]'' in the magazine ''Motion Picture Classics'' in October 1925.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=77}}
 
[[File:Stumble Inn 1922-12-23 panel 4.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A comic strip panel. At the top, a middle-aged caucasian male, leaning over the railing to a staircase, says to an African-American male, "I've looked everywhere for 'Owl-Eye', 'Soda'—do you know where he is?" The African-American, carrying a broom over his shoulder and descending the staircase, replies, "No, Boss, Ah ain't laid eyes on him fo the lass half hour".|''Stumble Inn'' ran from 1922 until 1925 (December 23, 1922).]]
 
Autumn 1922 saw the first daily installment of ''Stumble Inn'', the first non-''Krazy Kat'' strip Herriman had drawn since 1919. A verbose strip whose Sundays were often overrun with prose, its lead characters were Uriah and Ida Stumble, who rented rooms to an assortment of strange characters. The daily strip was short-lived, but the Sundays edition lasted three years.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=67–68}}
 
From August 1925 until September 1929, King Features required that Herriman design the ''Krazy Kat'' Sundays so that they could be run either as a full Sunday page or as two four-panel dailies. Herriman lamented intrusion on his page designs, and the artwork of the period took on a rushed look. He was made to focus on the strip's characterization, and during this period, the Krazy—Ignatz—Offisa Pupp love triangle for which the strip is remembered became fully developed. Pupp pined for Krazy, Krazy loved Ignatz, and Ignatz hated Krazy and pelted the annoying "Kat" with a brick, and Pupp imprisoned Ignatz.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=77–78}}
 
Throughout the late 1920s, Herriman made frequent trips to [[Kayenta, Arizona]], in [[Navajo people|Navajo]] country about {{convert|25|mi|km}} from Monument Valley.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=69}} He also made winter trips to Mexico. The desert, Navajo artwork, and Mexican pottery and architecture became more prominent in Herriman's strips, and he sometimes used Spanish vocabulary in the dialogue. Herriman did little work on these excursions, and it is likely that he drew his strips in hurried bursts when in Hollywood.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=78–79}}
 
''Stumble Inn'' finished in late 1925, and it was replaced with the domestic strip ''Us Husbands'' (with ''Mistakes Will Happen'' as a "[[Topper (comic strip)|topper]]" strip), which ran until the end of that year.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}} In 1928, Herriman took over the strip ''Embarrassing Moments'', which had begun in 1922 and had been drawn by several cartoonists. The strip eventually became ''Bernie Burns'', in which embarrassing moments would happen to the title character. The strip appeared in few papers, and after it ended in 1932, Herriman worked only on ''Krazy Kat'', although he provided illustrations for Don Marquis' popular ''Archy and Mehitabel'', a series of books of poetry about a cat and a cockroach.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
 
In 1930, Herriman sold his first Hollywood home to a friend and moved his family to 2217 Maravilla Drive, a Spanish-style mansion atop a hill. It was adorned with paintings of Southwest and Native themes, and had a Mexican-style garden paved with [[flagstone]]s and decorated with painted pots and tropical plants. Herriman later bought the lot across the street and turned it into a public park.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=80–81}}
 
The 1930s were a period of tragedy for Herriman. On September 29, 1931, his wife Mabel died after an automobile accident,{{sfnm|1a1=Los Angeles Times staff|1y=1931|2a1=Chicago Daily Tribune staff|2y=1931}} and in 1939, his youngest daughter Bobbie died unexpectedly at 31.
 
After his wife's death, Herriman never remarried and lived in Los Angeles with his cats and dogs.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=81}} He developed a close relationship with cartoonist James Swinnerton's first wife Louise, with whom he frequently exchanged letters. Herriman underwent a kidney operation in spring 1938, and during his ten-week convalescence King Features reran old ''Krazy Kat'' strips.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=86}}
[[File:1937 1107 kkat brick 500.jpg|right|thumb|alt=In a color comic strip panel, a brick thrown by a mouse through an open window hits a cat on the head. The cat says, "L'il ainjil" (little angel).|Starting in 1935, ''Krazy Kat'' ran in color. (November&nbsp;7,&nbsp;1937)]]
 
''Krazy Kat''{{'}}s popularity fell considerably over the years, and by the 1930s it was running in only thirty-five newspapers, while its contemporaries such as ''[[Bringing Up Father]]'' were reportedly running in up to a thousand. By some accounts, Herriman's salary from Hearst's King Features Syndicate was $750 a week, and, realizing that this was far more than the revenue the strip could be generating, Herriman once offered to take a pay cut, which Hearst refused;{{sfn|Sorel|1992|p=24}} however, according to Michael Tisserand's biography on Herriman from 2016, there exists no evidence of the story that Herriman ever suggested to take a pay cut, or that his salary was $750 a week.
 
From 1935, ''Krazy Kat'' appeared in color, of which Herriman made bold use. He reduced the amount of hatchwork and used larger, more open panels.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=81}}
 
Herriman died in his sleep in his home near Hollywood on April 25, 1944, after a long illness.{{sfnm|1a1=New York Times staff|1y=1944|2a1=Time staff|2y=1944}} An incompletely inked penciling of a week's worth of daily strips was found on his drawing board. On his death certificate, the cause of death was listed as "[[Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease|non-alcoholic]] [[cirrhosis]] of the liver",{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=219}} and despite his mixed-race heritage, he was listed as "caucasian".{{sfnm|1a1=Elam|1y=2011|1p=79|2a1=Heer|2y=2005}} The ''[[New York Journal-American]]'' ran a front-page obituary.{{sfn|Sorel|1992|p=25}} His funeral at Little Church of Flowers at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] was attended by few. Cartoonist [[Harry Hershfield]] spoke at the funeral, saying, "If ever there was a saint on earth, it was George Herriman".{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=88}} According to his request, his body was cremated and his remains were scattered over Monument Valley.{{sfnm| 1a1=McDonnell |1a2=O'Connell |1a3=Havenon |1y=1986 |1p=88 |2a1=Harvey |2y=2010}}
 
On June 25, 1944, two months after Herriman's death, the last of his completed ''Krazy Kat'' strips, a full-page Sunday, was printed.{{sfn|Boxer|2012}} At the time, Hearst usually engaged new cartoonists when the artists of popular strips quit or died, but he made an exception for Herriman, as he felt that no one could take his place.{{sfn|Lyons|1944}}
 
==Personal life==
 
<!-- [[File:George Herriman and family - 1915.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=A black and white photograph in an ovoid frame showing a young man, a young woman, and two girls.|The Herriman family in 1915 (from left, "Bobbie", Mabel, George and "Toots")]] --><!-- copyright status in question -->
 
Herriman was described as self-deprecatingly modest, and he disliked being photographed.{{sfn|Mostrom|2010}} The ''New York Journal-American''{{'}}s obituary described him as a devoted husband and father, of slight build, mild-mannered and an anonymous contributor to charities.{{sfnm|1a1=Sorel|1y=1992|1p=25|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=86}} He was generous to his friends, and sold his first Hollywood house, which he had bought for $50,000, to a friend for $40,000.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=81}} Though a private person, he was said to be an entertaining host to his friends. He would sometimes stay silent during social occasions and would often leave the room to wash dishes, which he said he enjoyed as it gave him the opportunity to think. His favorite game was poker, which he particularly enjoyed playing with his fellow cartoonists.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}}
 
Herriman had a great love of animals, and had a large number of dogs and cats;{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=81}} he had five dogs and thirteen cats in 1934.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}} He usually kept to a vegetarian diet, except when it made him feel too weak, and he refused to ride horses. He so admired [[Henry Ford]]'s pacifist stance that he would only buy [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] automobiles. He purchased a new model annually.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=86}}
 
Herriman married his childhood sweetheart Mabel Lillian Bridge in Los Angeles on July 7, 1902.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=36}} They had two daughters: Mabel (1903-1962), nicknamed "Toodles" (later "Toots") and Barbara (1908-1939), nicknamed "Bobbie",{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}} who had [[epilepsy]]{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=81}} and died unexpectedly in 1939 at the age of 31.
 
==Race and identity==
 
{{wide image
|1  = Musical Mose 1902-02-16 "Impussanates" a Scotchman, with Sad Results.jpg
|2  = 600px
|3  = Though Herriman had mixed ethnicity, he partook in the ethnic humor that was typical at the time. (''Musical Mose'', February 16, 1902)
|alt = In a six-panel comic strip titled "Musical Mose 'Impussanates' a Scotchman, with Sad Results", a caricatured black man wearing a kilt impersonates a Scotsman and plays his bagpipes. When his disguise is foiled, two white women beat him with an ax and jump on him. He expresses his regret for the stunt in the final panel.}}
 
[[File:George Herriman, 1902.png|thumb|upright|alt=A black and white photograph showing an early middle-aged man with short, uncovered Afro-textured hair posing in a suit.|Herriman, who was of mixed heritage, kept his "[[Afro-textured hair|kinky hair]]" under a hat (1902).]]
 
Herriman was born to mixed-race parents,{{sfn|Heer|2005}} and his birth certificate lists Herriman as "colored".{{sfn|Boxer|2007}} In the post–''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' U.S., in which "[[separate but equal]]" racial segregation was enshrined, people of mixed race had to choose to identify themselves as either black or white. Herriman seems to have identified himself as white. According to comics academic [[Jeet Heer]], his early work is "replete with black caricatures", such as ''Musical Mose'', in which the lead character, an African-American musician, wishes his "color would fade".{{sfn|Heer|2005}} Racial ambivalence crept into ''Krazy Kat'', such as on two occasions where Krazy's black fur was dyed white. Ignatz falls in love with the whitened Krazy, only to return to hatred and brick-throwing when the truth is revealed. Similarly, in an oft-repeated joke, Ignatz would accidentally become covered with coal dust and would be spurned by the normally love-struck Krazy. In one such episode, a brick thrown by the blackened Ignatz hits Krazy, who declares, "A lil Eetiopium Mice, black like a month from midnights. Fuwi!"{{efn|"A little Ethiopian Mouse, black like a month of midnights. Phooey!"}} Once Ignatz reverts to his white self, Krazy loves him again.{{sfn|Stern|2008}}
 
Herriman's ethnic heritage was unknown to his colleagues. Fellow cartoonist Tad Dorgan nicknamed him "the Greek", a label which stuck and was taken up by his biographers and the press, who called him the son of a Greek baker.{{sfn|Heer|2005}} At other times, he was identified as French, Irish, and Turkish.{{sfn|Heer|2011}} He told a friend that he was Creole, and speculated that he may have "Negro blood" in him, as he had "[[Afro-textured hair|kinky hair]]".{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}} The friend said that Herriman wore a hat to hide his hair,{{sfn|Heer|2005}} which may have been an attempt to [[Passing (racial identity)|pass as white]].{{sfn|Amiran|2000|p=56}} Herriman said that he dreamed of being reborn a Navajo.{{sfn|Heer|2011}} On his death certificate, he was listed as "Caucasian",{{sfnm|1a1=Elam|1y=2011|1p=79|2a1=Heer|2y=2005}} and his daughter Mabel had his father's birthplace listed as [[Paris]] and his mother's as [[Alsace-Lorraine]].{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}}
 
Sociologist [[Arthur Asa Berger]] made Herriman's mixed-race heritage known in 1971. While researching for Herriman's entry for the ''[[Dictionary of American Biography]]'', Berger discovered the cartoonist's race was listed as "colored" on his birth certificate obtained from the New Orleans Board of Health. The 1880 census for New Orleans listed his parents as "mulatto".{{sfn|Inge|1996|pp=2–3}} On reading this, African-American poet [[Ishmael Reed]] dedicated his 1972 novel ''[[Mumbo Jumbo (novel)|Mumbo Jumbo]]'' to "George Herriman, Afro-American, who created Krazy Kat". Herriman came to be identified as Black or Creole in comics literature, including his first book-length biography, ''Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman'' (1986),{{sfn|Inge|1996|p=4}} while the "Greek" label stuck with some biographers, and was used by [[Bill Blackbeard]] in his introductions to the ''Krazy and Ignatz'' volumes in the early 2000s.{{sfn|Harvey|2003|p=60}} Later research at the [[New Orleans Public Library]] by cartoonist Brian Nelson showed that Herriman's maternal grandmother was born in Havana, Cuba, that all his relatives were listed as "mulatto" on the 1890 census, and that Herriman may also have had Spanish or Native American ancestry.{{sfn|Stern|2008}}
 
==Reception and legacy==
 
[[File:E. E. Cummings NYWTS.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=A black and white photograph of a man in late middle-age wearing a dark cowboy hat, white shirt, tie, gray jacket, scarf and gray trousers. He faces left and his left hand is in his trouser pocket.|{{not a typo|[[E.&nbsp;E.&nbsp;Cummings]]}} wrote the introduction to the first ''Krazy Kat'' book in 1946.]]
 
''Krazy Kat'' was popular with intellectuals, artists and critics,{{sfn|Kramer|1982}}{{efn|Writers and artists such as [[T.&nbsp;S. Eliot]],{{sfnm|1a1=Sabin|1y=2002|2a1=Mostrom|2y=2010}} [[Pablo Picasso]],{{sfn|Sabin|2002}} [[Gertrude Stein]]{{sfn|Mostrom|2010}} [[Joan Miró]], [[Jack Kerouac]], {{not a typo|[[E.&nbsp;E. Cummings]]}},{{sfn|Heer|2010|p=10}} [[Fritz Lang]]{{sfn|Siegel|2004}} and [[Umberto Eco]]{{sfnm|1a1=Heer|1y=2010|1p=10|2a1=Ito|2y=2003|2p=94}} expressed their love of ''Krazy Kat''.}} and in the 1920s Herriman's modernist touches received praise.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p=147}} In 1921, composer John Alden Carpenter, who had long been an admirer of Herriman's work, approached him to collaborate on a ''Krazy Kat'' ballet.{{sfn|Pollack|2001|p=191}} President [[Woodrow Wilson]] refused to miss any installment of ''Krazy Kat'', and would take it into cabinet meetings.{{sfnm|1a1=Marschall|1y=1997|1p=109|2a1=Tompkins|2y=1996|2p=371}}
 
Writer [[E.&nbsp;B. White]] praised Herriman's illustrations for ''Archy and Mehitabel''.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}} Cartoonist [[Edward Sorel]] wrote that ''Krazy Kat''{{'}}s lack of popularity later in its run was largely due to Hearst's editorial policies, in that the "[[Low culture|lowbrow]]" readership at whom he aimed his papers was unlikely to appreciate Herriman's style of work, though Hearst personally championed the strip.{{sfn|Sorel|1992|p=24}} Following Herriman's death, the strip was discontinued, unlike most popular strips which were continued by other cartoonists after their creators' deaths. His stature was such that decades after his death, his work was displayed in art galleries.{{sfnm|1a1=Kramer|1y=1982|2a1=Boxer|2y=2006}}
 
Critics found Herriman's work difficult to classify and contextualize; Seldes, {{not a typo|[[E.&nbsp;E. Cummings]]}}, and writers [[Adam Gopnik]] and [[Robert Warshow]] were among critics who tempered their enthusiasm for the strip with qualifications about its perceived naïveté and its "lowbrow" origins on the comic strip page.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|pp=147–149}}
 
The strip has had a lasting influence on a large number of cartoonists. ''[[Mutts (comic strip)|Mutts]]'' creator Patrick McDonnell calls ''Krazy Kat'' one of his foremost influences,{{sfn|McDonnell|2007|p=6}} and is co-author of ''Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman'' (1986).{{sfn|Heer|2010|p=10}} [[Will Eisner]]{{sfn|Lundy|2011}} discovered Herriman's comics when he was selling newspapers in the 1930s and called ''Krazy Kat'' "the big strong influence" on his own work.{{sfn|Kaplan|2008|p=38}} [[Art Spiegelman]] called Herriman one of his "conscious influences".{{sfn|Jacobowitz|2007|p=154}} Herriman's widespread influence on American {{not a typo|[[underground comix]]}},{{sfn|Estren|1974|pp=28, 30–31}} particularly his shape-shifting, [[Psychedelia|psychedelic]] backgrounds, lack of respect for convention and his irreverence, is evident in the work of [[Robert Crumb]],{{sfnm|1a1=Estren|1y=1974|1pp=30–31|2a1=Hignite|2y=2006|2p=20}} [[Denis Kitchen]], and [[Bobby London]].{{sfn|Estren|1974|pp=28, 30–31}} Journalist Paul Krassner called Crumb "the illegitimate offspring of ''Krazy Kat''".{{sfn|Estren|1974|p=30}} Cartoonist [[Chris Ware]] was so taken with Herriman's work he made a pilgrimage to Monument Valley to see the desert landscapes that inspired much of Herriman's art.{{sfn|Heer|2010|p=3}}
 
{{quote box|I always thought if I could do something as good as ''Krazy Kat'', I would be happy. ''Krazy Kat'' was always my goal.|--[[Charles M. Schulz]] in 1967{{sfn|Harrington Hall|2000|p=55}}|width=30em|align=left}}
 
''Krazy Kat'' was a primary influence on other cartoonists such as [[Charles M. Schulz]] of ''[[Peanuts]]'',{{sfn|Harrington Hall|2000|p=55}} [[Bill Watterson]] of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'',{{sfnm|1a1=McGavran|1y=1998|1p=6|2a1=Watterson|2y=1995|2p=|3a1=Martell|3y=2009|3p=71}} and the Italian [[Massimo Mattioli]].{{sfn|Healey|1998|p=358}} [[Walt Kelly]] paid homage to Herriman in some of his ''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]'' strips.{{sfn|Estren|1974|p=30}} [[Dr. Seuss]] expressed fondness for ''Krazy Kat'',{{sfn|Nel|2003|p=70}} and children's literature scholar [[Philip Nel]] has detected Herriman's influence in Seuss's works, especially in his zig-zagging, Coconino County-like backgrounds.{{sfn|Nel|2003|pp=72, 76}} Multimedia artist [[Öyvind Fahlström]] appropriated ''Krazy Kat'' in a series of works from 1963 to 1965.{{sfn|Collins|1991|p=220}} [[Jay Cantor]] published a [[Postmodern literature|postmodern novel]] in 1987 called ''Krazy Kat: A Novel in Five Panels'', in which the retired Krazy and Ignatz contemplate a comeback in a post-atomic world.{{sfn|Collins|1994|pp=119–120}}
 
Since 1997, the [[Small Press Expo]] has held the annual [[Ignatz Award]]s in honor of Herriman's mouse from ''Krazy Kat''. It recognizes talent in independent comics publishing.{{sfn|Gabilliet|Beaty|Nguyen|2010|pp=253–245}} ''Krazy Kat'' was ranked first on ''The Comics Journal''{{'}}s list of the greatest comics of the twentieth century.{{sfn|Ito|2003|p=94}} The [[Society of Illustrators]] inducted Herriman into its Hall of Fame in 2013.{{sfn|Gardner|2013}}
 
==Work==
 
===Style===
 
Within the seeming strictures of the strip—the recurring characters, the Krazy–Ignatz–Offisa Pupp love triangle—Herriman improvised freely with the story, the shifting backgrounds, and the sex of the ''Krazy Kat''{{'}}s title character.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|pp=147–148}} Among the multicultural influences Herriman mixed in his work were those of the Navajo{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p=147}} and Mexican.{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=78–79}} He made creative use of language{{sfnm|1a1=Berger|1y=1996|1p=124|2a1=Estren|2y=1974|2p=112|3a1=Ito|3y=2003}} with a poetical sense,{{sfnm|1a1=Waugh|1y=1947|1p=57|2a1=Johnson|2y=1999|2p=208}} employing multilingual puns{{sfn|Baetens|2012|p=109}} in a fanciful mix of dialects from different ethnic backgrounds.{{sfnm|1a1=Anderson|1y=1999|1p=159|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=63}} Herriman used [[metafiction]]al techniques associated with [[postmodernism]];{{sfn|Soper|2008|p=83}} his characters were self-aware,{{sfn|Johnson|1999|p=208}} he frequently drew attention to himself and his drawings as drawings in his strips, and he emphasized the subjectivity of language and experience.{{sfn|Soper|2008|p=83}}
 
{{wide image
|1  = Krazy Kat 1917-11-04 original cropped.png
|2  = 600px
|3  = Herriman played with page structures, as with this circular panel, surrounded by borderless panels. He drew with a loose, spontaneous line, and had his characters speak in dialect-heavy, poetic dialogue.
|alt = A circular panel from a comic strip, surrounded by borderless panels. Within the circular panel, from left to right, are an anthropomorphic stork, mouse, and cat. The stork to the left says, "Pause, 'Ignatz', Pause!! What 'Krazy' says is true, they are twins—hark to the tale I will tell you—." The cat, hands on its hips, says in dialect speech, "Oh, I'm so gled, Mr. Stork, y'see 'Ignatz' is such a skeptikle l'il chep, he doubts me." ["Oh, I'm so glad, Mr. Stork, you see 'Ignatz' is such a skeptical little chap, he doubts me."]}}
 
Herriman drew with what cartoonist Edward Sorel called a "liberated, spontaneous-looking style&nbsp; ... &nbsp;a cartoon counterpart of [[expressionism]]".{{sfn|Sorel|1992|p=25}} It was organic, and his pen strokes had a dynamic, thick-and-thin range which Sorel describes as instantly recognizable and difficult to imitate. The ''Krazy Kat'' Sunday pages showed Herriman experimenting most freely—each had a unique panel layout and logo,{{sfn|Sorel|1992|p=25}} and the jumbled panels could be circles, irregular shapes, or borderless.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p=152}} In his last few years, Herriman's arthritis led to an ever-scratchier style of art; he used a knife to scratch out whites from inked surfaces, giving the artwork the look of a [[woodcut]].{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=85}}
 
===Collections===
 
[[File:Sollies Ville - Chris Ware - P1200285.jpg|right|thumb|alt=A color photograph of a seated, middle-aged man with a receding hairline. He is wearing spectacles, a white undershirt and a light blue collared shirt. He looks left past the camera.|[[Chris Ware]] designed the complete ''Krazy Kat'' Sundays series ''Krazy and Ignatz''.]]
 
''Krazy Kat'' has been [[Krazy Kat#Reprints and compilations|collected]] in a variety of formats over the years, though Herriman's other strips have been less frequently reprinted. ''George Herriman's Krazy Kat'' (1946) was the first ''Krazy Kat'' collection;{{sfn|Tashlin|1946}} it featured an introduction by poet {{not a typo|[[E.&nbsp;E. Cummings]]}}.{{efn|Cummings had attended [[Harvard University]] with Gilbert Seldes.{{sfn|Gabilliet|Beaty|Nguyen|2010|pp=287}} }}{{sfnm|1a1=McDonnell|1a2=O'Connell|1a3=Havenon|1y=1986|1p=221|2a1=Boxer|2y=2012}} Comics historian Bill Blackbeard began compiling a complete collection of ''Krazy Kat'' Sundays beginning in 1988, but the publisher [[Eclipse Comics]] went bankrupt in 1992, before the series was complete.{{sfnm|1a1=Heer|1y=2010|1pp=13|2a1=Bloom|2y=2003}} Blackbeard's thirteen-volume{{sfn|Boxer|2012}} ''Krazy and Ignatz'' series was published by [[Fantagraphics Books]] beginning in 2002, and was designed by Chris Ware.{{sfn|Heer|2010|pp=10–11}}<!-- Reprinted in this series were also ''Us Husbands'', ''Little Tommy Tattles'' and ''Mrs. Waitaminnit''.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}--> In 2010, Sunday Press Books released ''Krazy Kat: A Celebration of Sundays'', which reprinted a selection of ''Krazy Kat'' Sundays and some of Herriman's pre-''Krazy Kat'' work in a {{convert|14|×|17|in|cm|adj=on}} format, which approximated the original printed size of the strips.{{sfn|Mautner|2011}} In 2012, IDW began issuing a three-volume ''Baron Bean'' reprinting,{{sfn|Comic Book Resources staff|2012}} and Fantagraphics will release ''George Herriman's Stumble Inn''.{{sfn|Cornog|2012}} Fantagraphics has also announced plans to collect the complete ''Krazy Kat'' dailies at an unspecified time.{{sfn|Mautner|2011}}
 
{{clear}}
 
===List of comic strips===
 
{{wide image
|1  = Baron Bean circa 1916–1917.png
|2  = 843px
|3  = Herriman had many long- and short-lived comic strips. (''[[Baron Bean]]'' daily for Friday, April 14, 1916, subtitled "We Fear Grimes's Employer Is a Bit Peevish")
|alt = In a four-panel comic strip, a short man dressed as a clown tells a tall man seated at a table that he must dine alone, as the short man is going out to supper. The tall man's negro cook tells him she has eaten his meal herself and he falls out of his chair in surprise. The short man returns and boasts of his fine supper, and the tall man, with a cat-and-mouse comic strip in mind, prepares top throw a brick at him.}}
 
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Comic strips by George Herriman
|-
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Begin date
! scope="col"|End date
|-
!scope="row"|''Musical Mose''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|February 16, 1902}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|March 9, 1902}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=215}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Professor Otto and his Auto''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|March 30, 1902}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 28, 1902}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=215}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Acrobatic Archie''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|April 13, 1902}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=34}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 25, 1903}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=215}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Two Jollie Jackies''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 11, 1903}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}}
|align="right"| {{dts|November 15, 1903}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Lariat Pete''{{sfnm|1a1=Blackbeard|1y=1983|1p=51|2a1=McDonnell|2a2=O'Connell|2a3=Havenon|2y=1986|2p=216}}{{efn-lr|Taken over by Herriman{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}} }}
|align="right"| {{dts|September 6, 1903}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}}
|align="right"| {{dts|November 15, 1903}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Major Ozone's Fresh Air Crusade''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 2, 1904}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=37}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 20, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Home Sweet Home''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=41}}
|align="right"| {{dts|February 22, 1904}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=41}}
|align="right"| {{dts|March 4, 1904}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=41}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Bud Smith''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 29, 1905}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 20, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Mr. Proones the Plunger''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 7, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 26, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Rosy Posy, Mama's Girl''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=45}}
|align="right"| {{dts|May 19, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|align="right"| {{dts|September 15, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Grandma's Girl''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|align="right"| {{dts|November 26, 1905}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|align="right"| {{dts|May 19, 1906}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Baron Mooch''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 12, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 19, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Mary's Home from College''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|February 19, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|March 27, 1919}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Gooseberry Sprig''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 23, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 24, 1910}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=49}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Alexander the Cat''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}}
|align="right"| {{dts|November 7, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 9, 1910}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Daniel and Pansy''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}}
|align="right"| {{dts|November 21, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=50}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 4, 1909}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=216}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[The Dingbat Family]]/The Family Upstairs''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=51}}
|align="right"| {{dts|June 20, 1910}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=218}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 4, 1916}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Krazy Kat]]''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 28, 1913}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
|align="right"| {{dts|June 25, 1944}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=211, 219}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Baron Bean]]''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=57–58}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 5, 1916}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 22, 1919}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=57}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Now Listen Mabel''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=58}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 23, 1919}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=58}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 18, 1919}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=58}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Stumble Inn''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=218}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 30, 1922}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=67}}
|align="right"| {{dts|October 30, 1925}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=68}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Us Husbands''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|pp=80, 218}}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 9, 1926}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 18, 1926}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Mistakes Will Happen''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}{{efn-lr|Ran as a "[[Topper (comic strip)|topper]]" to ''Us Husbands''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}} }}
|align="right"| {{dts|January 9, 1926}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 18, 1926}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Embarrassing Moments''/''Bernie Burns''{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=218}}{{efn-lr|Begun in 1922, taken over by Herriman in 1928{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}} }}
|align="right"| {{dts|April 28, 1928}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=218}}
|align="right"| {{dts|December 3, 1932}}{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=80}}
|-
|}
 
{{Notelist-lr}}
 
==Notes==
 
{{Notelist}}
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}
 
===Works cited===
 
====Books====
 
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
 
* {{cite book
|last      = Anderson
|first    = Eric Gary
|title    = American Indian Literature and the Southwest: Contexts and Dispositions
|chapter-url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=rf_RehmSjG4C&pg=PA147
|year      = 1999
|publisher = University of Texas Press
|isbn      = 978-0-292-78393-5
|pages    = 147–168
|chapter  = Krazy Kat I: Context and Crossings}}
* {{cite book
|last        = Baetens
|first        = Jan
|chapter      = Words and Images in the Contemporary Graphic Novel
|pages        = 92–110
|editor-last  = Herzogenrath
|editor-first = Bernd
|title        = Travels in Intermedia[lity]: ReBlurring the Boundaries
|url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ko8tu_EzsQC
|year        = 2012
|publisher    = University Press of New England
|isbn        = 978-1-61168-261-8}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Beaty
|first    = Bart
|title    = Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=hxTbRV67rM4C
|year      = 2005
|publisher = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-1-60473-071-5}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Berger
|first    = Arthur Asa
|title    = Manufacturing Desire: Media, Popular Culture, and Everyday Life
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=HqpIxY5jGL8C
|year      = 1996
|publisher = Transaction Publishers
|isbn      = 978-1-4128-2801-7}}
* {{cite book
|last          = Collins
|first        = Jim
|chapter      = Appropriating Like Krazy: From Pop Art to Meta-Pop
|editor1-last  = Naremore
|editor1-first = James
|editor2-last  = Brantlinger
|editor2-first = Patrick
|title        = Modernity and Mass Culture
|url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=CeEfBGnsbkwC
|year          = 1991
|publisher    = Indiana University Press
|isbn          = 978-0-253-20627-5}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Collins
|first    = Jim
|title    = Architectures of Excess: Cultural Life in the Information Age
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=LjHywMzkrIkC
|year      = 1994
|publisher = Taylor & Francis
|isbn      = 978-0-415-90706-4}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Elam
|first    = Michele
|title    = The Souls of Mixed Folk: Race, Politics, and Aesthetics in the New Millennium
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=hoFM2Y3K4rUC&pg=PA226
|year      = 2011
|publisher = Stanford University Press
|isbn      = 978-0-8047-7730-8}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Estren
|first    = Mark James
|title    = A History of Underground Comics
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=hQb_q6DWle4C
|year      = 1974
|publisher = Ronin Publishing
|isbn      = 978-0-914171-64-5}}
* {{cite book
|last1    = Gabilliet
|first1    = Jean-Paul
|last2    = Beaty
|first2    = Bart
|last3    = Nguyen
|first3    = Nick
|title    = Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=J1t8g_yX1wcC
|year      = 2010
|publisher = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-1-60473-267-2}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Gorman
|first    = Paul R.
|title    = Left Intellectuals and Popular Culture in Twentieth-Century America
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=P3JhHjHIUcQC&pg=PA77
|year      = 1996
|publisher = University of North Carolina Press
|isbn      = 978-0-8078-4556-1}}
* {{cite book
|first        = Mary
|last        = Harrington Hall
|editor-last  = Inge
|editor-first = M. Thomas
|title        = Charles M. Schulz: Conversations
|url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=bMlJTPWp6O0C
|year        = 2000
|publisher    = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn        = 978-1-57806-305-5
|pages        = 45–75
|chapter      = A Conversation with Charles Schulz}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Harvey
|first      = Robert C.
|author-link = R. C. Harvey
|title      = The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=sb374j7kI1sC
|year      = 1994
|publisher  = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-0-87805-674-3}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Healey
|first    = Robin Patrick
|title    = Twentieth-Century Italian Literature in English Translation: An Annotated Bibliography 1929–1997
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=t7WVhymRPZEC
|year      = 1998
|publisher = University of Toronto Press
|isbn      = 978-0-8020-0800-8}}
* {{cite book
|first        = Jeet
|last          = Heer
|chapter      = Inventing Cartooning Ancestors: Ware and the Comics Canon
|pages        = 3–13
|editor1-last  = Ball
|editor1-first = David M
|editor2-last  = Kuhlman
|editor2-first = Martha B
|title        = The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing Is a Way of Thinking
|url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=QrFmPKlv61sC
|year          = 2010
|publisher    = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn          = 978-1-60473-442-3}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Hignite
|first    = Todd
|title    = In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=uRSSybBdi3AC
|year      = 2006
|publisher = Yale University Press
|isbn      = 978-0-300-11016-6
|pages    = 6–39
|chapter  = Robert Crumb}}
* {{cite journal
|last        = Inge
|first      = M. Thomas
|author-link = M. Thomas Inge
|title      = Was Krazy Black? The Racial Identity of George Herriman
|journal    = Inks: Cartoons and Comic Art Studies.
|date        = May 1996
|pages      = 2–9
|volume      = 3
|issue      = 2
|issn        = 1071-9156
}}
* {{cite book
|editor-last  = Witek
|editor-first = Joseph
|last        = Jacobowitz
|first        = Susan
|title        = Art Spiegelman: Conversations
|chapter-url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKd1aGW7EMoC&pg=PA152
|year        = 2007
|publisher    = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn        = 978-1-934110-12-6
|pages        = 152–162
|chapter      = 'Words and Pictures Together': An Interview with Art Spiegelman}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Johnson
|first    = Charles Richard
|title    = I Call Myself an Artist: Writings by and About Charles Johnson
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=jtAUCalQz0IC
|year      = 1999
|publisher = Indiana University Press
|isbn      = 978-0-253-33541-8}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Kaplan
|first    = Arie
|title    = From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=8aH3H7DC6BQC
|year      = 2008
|publisher = Jewish Publication Society
|isbn      = 978-0-8276-0843-6}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Marschall
|first      = Richard
|author-link = Rick Marschall
|title      = America's Great Comic-Strip Artists: From the Yellow Kid to Peanuts
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=asobP3Fu6a8C
|year      = 1997
|publisher  = Stewart, Tabori & Chang
|isbn      = 978-1-55670-646-2}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Martell
|first    = Nevin
|title    = Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and his Revolutionary Comic Strip
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=q6wHaqIDzDEC
|year      = 2009
|publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group
|isbn      = 978-0-8264-2984-1}}
* {{cite book
|author1-link = Patrick McDonnell
|last1        = McDonnell
|first1      = Patrick
|last2        = O'Connell
|first2      = Karen
|last3        = Havenon
|first3      = Georgia Riley de
|title        = Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman
|year        = 1986
|publisher    = Abrams Books
|isbn        = 978-0-8109-9185-9}}
* {{cite book
|last      = McDonnell
|first      = Patrick
|author-link = Patrick McDonnell
|title      = The Best of Mutts
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=K4XL7MsQXpQC
|year      = 2007
|publisher  = Andrews McMeel Publishing
|isbn      = 978-0-7407-6844-6}}
* {{cite book
|last      = McGavran
|first    = James Holt
|title    = Literature and the Child: Romantic Continuations, Postmodern Contestations
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=LVTsR0J13RIC
|year      = 1998
|publisher = University of Iowa Press
|isbn      = 978-1-58729-291-0}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Petersen
|first    = Robert S.
|title    = Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels: A History of Graphic Narratives
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=w1b5wVUEHpUC
|year      = 2011
|publisher = ABC-CLIO
|isbn      = 978-0-313-36330-6}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Nel
|first      = Philip
|author-link = Philip Nel
|title      = Dr. Seuss: American Icon
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=IjvHQsCn_pgC
|year      = 2003
|publisher  = Continuum International Publishing Group
|isbn      = 978-0-8264-1708-4}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Nel
|first      = Philip
|author-link = Philip Nel
|title      = Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=4R7XE4nUrmMC
|year      = 2012
|publisher  = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-1-61703-636-1}}
* {{cite book
|author-link = Howard Pollack
|last        = Pollack
|first      = Howard
|title      = John Alden Carpenter: A Chicago Composer
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=BvhZdjEf2TIC&pg=PA205
|year        = 2001
|publisher  = University of Illinois Press
|isbn        = 978-0-252-07014-3}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Schulz
|first      = Charles Monroe
|author-link = Charles M. Schulz
|title      = My Life with Charlie Brown
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=DV8NvhEX2LYC
|year      = 2010
|publisher  = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-1-60473-448-5}}
* {{cite book
|author-link = Gilbert Seldes
|first      = Gilbert
|last        = Seldes
|title      = The Seven Lively Arts
|chapter    = The Krazy Kat That Walks By Himself
|pages      = 231–245
|year        = 1924
|url        = http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/SELDES/ch15.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19990224192736/http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHYPER/SELDES/ch15.html|url-status  = dead|archive-date = February 24, 1999}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Soper
|first    = Kerry
|title    = Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZJ4VSEaFE0C
|year      = 2008
|publisher = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-1-934110-88-1}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Tompkins
|first    = Vincent
|title    = American Decades: 1910–1919
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=1EkUAQAAIAAJ
|year      = 1996
|publisher = Gale Research
|isbn      = 978-0-8103-5723-5}}
* {{cite book
|author-link = Bill Watterson
|last      = Watterson
|first      = Bill
|year      = 1995
|title      = The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book
|publisher  = Andrews McMeel Publishing
|isbn      =  0-8362-0438-7}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Waugh
|first      = Coulton
|author-link = Coulton Waugh
|title      = The Comics
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=fm8mRsBP3YkC
|year      = 1947
|publisher  = University Press of Mississippi
|isbn      = 978-0-87805-499-2}}
* {{cite book
|last      = White
|first    = David Manning
|title    = The Funnies: an American idiom
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?id=-55ZAAAAMAAJ
|year      = 1963
|publisher = Free Press of Glencoe}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Wolk
|first      = Douglas
|author-link = Douglas Wolk
|title      = Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=NuW25idPmz8C
|year      = 2008
|publisher  = Da Capo Press
|isbn      = 978-0-7867-2157-3}}
 
{{Refend}}
 
====Journals and magazines====
 
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
 
* {{cite journal
|first      = Eyal
|last      = Amiran
|title      = George Herriman's Black Sentence: The Legibility of Race in ''Krazy Kat''
|journal    = [[Mosaic (journal)|Mosaic]]
|volume    = 33
|issue      = 3
|date=September 2000
|pages      = 56–70
|url        = https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-66279092
|access-date = October 13, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|title      = The Forgotten Years of George Herriman
|first      = Bill
|last      = Blackbeard
|author-link = Bill Blackbeard
|journal    = [[Nemo (magazine)|Nemo]]
|date=June 1983
|issue      = 1
|pages      = 50–60}}
* {{cite journal
|first      = Sarah
|last      = Boxer
|title      = 'Masters of American Comics': UCLA Hammer Museum Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
|journal    = Artforum International
|date=April 2006
|url        = https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-144705024
|access-date = September 28, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|url        = http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=639&fulltext=1
|first      = Sarah
|last      = Boxer
|title      = Krazy Kriticism: The Tics of the Trade
|date      = May 16, 2012
|journal    = [[Los Angeles Review of Books]]
|access-date = October 12, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|url        = http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/05/books/graphic-novels/graphic-novels-prepub-alert-a-new-life-for-peanuts-jeff-smiths-series-for-adults-tezukas-final-work/
|title      = Graphic Novels Prepub Alert: A New Life for Peanuts, Jeff Smith's Series for Adults & Tezuka's Final Work
|journal    = [[Library Journal]]
|first      = Martha
|last      = Cornog
|date      = May 3, 2012
|access-date = October 13, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|last      = Hancock
|first      = La Touche
|title      = American Caricature and Comic Art
|journal    = The Bookman
|date=November 1902
|pages      = 263–274
}}
* {{cite journal
|title      = Re-emerging Talent of the Year: George Herriman
|journal    = [[The Comics Journal]]
|first      = R. C.
|last        = Harvey
|author-link = R. C. Harvey
|date=February 2003
|issue      = 250
|pages      = 59–62
}}
* {{cite journal
|title      = Krazy Theme Park
|url        = http://classic.tcj.com/top-stories/krazy-theme-park/
|journal    = [[The Comics Journal]]
|first      = R. C.
|last        = Harvey
|author-link = R. C. Harvey
|date        = April 10, 2010
|access-date  = October 2, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|title      = Love Hurts
|journal    = [[Los Angeles (magazine)|Los Angeles]]
|first      = Robert
|last      = Ito
|date=January 2003
|volume    = 48
|issue      = 1
|page      = 94
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=q10EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA94
|access-date = October 2, 2012}}
* {{cite journal
|first      = Tiel
|last      = Lundy
|title      = Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist
|journal    = [[Shofar (journal)|Shofar]]
|volume    = 29
|issue      = 2
|year      = 2011
|url        = https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-2269878951
|access-date = September 28, 2012
|doi        = 10.1353/sho.2011.0069
|pages        = 193|s2cid = 170793886
}}
* {{cite journal
|first        = Edward
|last        = Sorel
|author-link  = Edward Sorel
|editor-first = Richard
|editor-last  = Marschall
|editor-link  = Rick Marschall
|journal      = Nemo
|issue        = 32
|date=Winter 1992
|title        = ''Krazy Kat'': A Love Story
|pages        = 22–25}}
* {{cite magazine
|author    = ''Time'' staff
|title      = Among the Unlimitless Etha
|url        = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933397,00.html
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071023075910/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933397,00.html
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = October 23, 2007
|magazine    = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
|date      = May 8, 1944
|access-date = May 10, 2008}}
 
{{Refend}}
 
====Newspapers====
 
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
 
* {{cite news
|first      = Sarah
|last      = Boxer
|title      = Herriman: Cartoonist Who Equalled Cervantes
|url        = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3666365/Herriman-Cartoonist-who-equalled-Cervantes.html
|newspaper  = [[The Daily Telegraph]]
|date      = July 7, 2007
|access-date = February 3, 2009}}
* {{cite news
|date      = September 30, 1931
|author    = ''Chicago Daily Tribune'' staff
|title    = Obituary
|page      = 22
|newspaper = [[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Daily Tribune]]}}
* {{cite news
|url        = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/939856981.html?dids=939856981:939856981&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+11%2C+2005&author=Jeet+Heer&pub=Toronto+Star&edition=&startpage=D.04&desc=A+cat-and-mouse+game+of+identity
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001023355/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/939856981.html?dids=939856981:939856981&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+11,+2005&author=Jeet+Heer&pub=Toronto+Star&edition=&startpage=D.04&desc=A+cat-and-mouse+game+of+identity
|archive-date = October 1, 2007
|access-date  = June 20, 2007
|first      = Jeet
|last        = Heer
|date        = December 11, 2005
|newspaper  = [[Toronto Star]]
|title      = A Cat-and-Mouse Game of Identity
}} [http://gentlejones.blogspot.jp/2005/12/cat-and-mouse-game-of-identity.html Alt URL]
* {{cite news
|title      = Critics' Choices
|author-link = Hilton Kramer
|first      = Hilton
|last        = Kramer
|date        = January 17, 1982
|url        = https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/17/arts/critics-choices-175035.html
|access-date  = March 8, 2013
|newspaper  = [[The New York Times]]}}
* {{cite news
|newspaper = [[Los Angeles Times]]
|date      = September 30, 1931
|author    = ''Los Angeles Times'' staff
|title    = Obituary
|page      = 20}}
* {{cite news
|first      = Leonard
|last      = Lyons
|title      = The Lyons Den
|url        = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DgENAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uGkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5958,3766610&dq=george+herriman+died
|newspaper  = [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]
|date      = May 3, 1944
|access-date = February 3, 2009}}
* {{cite news
|url        = http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2010/07/new_book_celebrates_century-ol.html
|first      = Doug
|last      = McCash
|newspaper  = [[The Times-Picayune]]
|date      = July 25, 2010
|title      = New Book Celebrates, Century-Old 'Krazy Kat' Cartoons Created by a Crescent City-Born Artist
|access-date = October 17, 2012}}
* {{cite news
|url        = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-29-la-me-0829-then-20100829-story.html
|date      = August 29, 2010
|first      = Anthony
|last      = Mostrom
|title      = L.A. Cartoonist Was Obscure and Misunderstood&nbsp;– the Epitome of Avant-Garde
|newspaper  = [[Los Angeles Times]]
|access-date = August 31, 2012}}
* {{cite news
|author    = ''New York Times'' staff
|title      = George Herriman, Noted Cartoonist. Creator of 'Krazy Kat' Comic Strip Dies in Hollywood at 66. Once a House Painter.
|url        = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B17F83959147B93C5AB178FD85F408485F9
|newspaper  = [[The New York Times]]
|date      = April 27, 1944
|access-date = February 3, 2009}}
* {{cite news
|title      = A Cat Above the Rest
|first      = Roger
|last        = Sabin
|author-link = Roger Sabin
|newspaper  = [[The Observer]]
|date        = June 16, 2002
|url        = https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/jun/16/comics
|access-date  = October 2, 2012}}
* {{cite news
|title      = Symphony in Black and White: Krazy Kat Kontinued
|first      = Alexander
|last      = Stern
|url        = http://blog.timesunion.com/comics/symphony-in-black-and-white-krazy-kat-kontinued/99/
|date      = November 20, 2008
|newspaper  = [[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]
|access-date = October 17, 2012}}
* {{cite news
|author-link = Frank Tashlin
|last      = Tashlin
|first      = Frank
|title      = In Coconino County
|newspaper  = [[The New York Times]]
|date      = November 3, 1946
|page      = 161}}
 
{{Refend}}
 
====Web====
 
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
 
* {{cite web
|last      = Bloom
|first      = John
|title      = Krazy Kat Keeps Kracking
|url        = http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/06/23/Feature-Krazy-Kat-keeps-kracking/UPI-99481056384121/
|work    = United Press International
|date      = June 23, 2003
|access-date = September 27, 2012
}}
* {{cite web
|last        = Gardner
|first      = Alan
|title      = Schulz, Herriman inducted into Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame
|date        = May 10, 2013
|url        = http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2013/05/10/schulz-herriman-inducted-into-society-of-illustrators-hall-of-fame/
|access-date  = April 2, 2015
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130628043750/http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2013/05/10/schulz-herriman-inducted-into-society-of-illustrators-hall-of-fame/
|archive-date = June 28, 2013
}}
* {{cite web
|last      = Heer
|first      = Jeet
|title      = Racism as a Stylistic Choice and other Notes
|work      = [[The Comics Journal]]
|date      = March 12, 2011
|url        = http://www.tcj.com/racism-as-a-stylistic-choice-and-other-notes/
|access-date = January 16, 2012
}}
* {{cite web
|last      = Mautner
|first      = Chris
|title      = Comics College {{!}} George Herriman
|work      = [[Comic Book Resources]]
|date      = July 4, 2011
|url        = https://www.cbr.com/comics-college-george-herriman/
|access-date = April 24, 2023
}}
* {{cite web
|last      = Siegel
|first      = Harry
|title      = Krazy's America&nbsp;– No Austerities
|date      = December 3, 2004
|work      = New Partisan
|url        = http://www.newpartisan.com/home/krazys-america-no-austerities.html
|access-date = October 12, 2012
}}
* {{cite web
|author    = ''Comic Book Resources'' staff
|title      = IDW Publishing Solicitations for September, 2012
|work      = [[Comic Book Resources]]
|url        = http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=39261
|date      = June 19, 2012
|access-date = October 13, 2012
}}
 
{{Refend}}
 
==Further reading==
 
* {{cite journal
 
|first        = Richard
|last        = Marschall
|author-link  = Rick Marschall
|editor-first = Richard
|editor-last  = Marschall <!-- |editor-link  = Rick Marschall --><!-- redundant -->
|journal      = [[Nemo (magazine)|Nemo]]
|issue        = 16
|date=December 1985
|title        = The Diary of a Deluded Dandy: Baron Bean de la Mancha He Runs for Constable
|pages        = 6–14
|publisher    = Fantagraphics Books}}
* {{cite journal
 
|last      = Orvell
|first    = Miles
|title    = Writing Posthistorically: ''Krazy Kat'', ''Maus'', and the Contemporary Fiction Cartoon
|date=Spring 1992
|pages    = 110–128
|journal  = [[American Literary History]]
|volume    = 4
|issue    = 1
|publisher = Oxford University Press|doi = 10.1093/alh/4.1.110
}}
* {{cite book
 
|last      = Tisserand
|first    = Michael
|title    = Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White
|url      = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0062098055
|year      = 2016
|publisher = Harper
|isbn      = 978-0061732997}}
 
== External links ==
* {{Commons-inline|George Herriman}}
* [http://www.ignatzmouse.net/ ignatzmouse.net], "The only website dedicated to 'Ignatz Mouse'"
* [http://www.comicstriplibrary.org/browse/results?title=1 Comic Strip Library] collection of public domain ''Krazy Kat'' strips
* ''[http://www.barnaclepress.com/comics/Baron%20Mooch/ Baron Mooch]'' collection at [http://www.barnaclepress.com Barnacle Press]
* ''[http://www.old-coconino.com/sites_auteurs/herriman/index.html Herriman's Krazy Kountry]'' at ''[http://www.old-coconino.com Coconino World]'' has selections from ''[http://www.old-coconino.com/modules/herriman/mary/mary_00.htm Mary's Home from College]''
* [http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2010/07/krazy_kat_creator_george_herri.html Video] tour of George Herriman's New Orleans
* {{cite web
|url        = http://uncleeddiestheorycorner.blogspot.jp/2012/01/tracing-evolution-ofgeorge-herrimans.html
|title      = Tracing the Evolution of George Herriman's Style
|first      = Eddie
|last      = Fitzgerald
|date      = January 5, 2012
|access-date = October 17, 2012}}
 
{{Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame}}
{{Portal bar|United States|Biography|Cartoon|Comics}}
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herriman, George}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American comics creators]]
[[Category:American comics creators]]
[[Category:American comics artists]]
[[Category:American comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:American surrealist artists]]
[[Category:Artists from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Hearst Communications people]]
[[Category:Louisiana Creole people]]
[[Category:Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Krazy Kat]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:Cat artists]]

Revision as of 17:26, 26 November 2024

George Herriman

George Herriman (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for creating the legendary comic strip "Krazy Kat". Herriman's distinctive style and surreal approach to both storytelling and art made him one of the most influential figures in early American comics. His work continues to be admired for its innovation and whimsical yet profound exploration of themes such as love, identity, and the absurdities of life.

Early Life and Career

George Herriman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in a multiracial household. His heritage is often cited as a source of inspiration for his later works, as Herriman was of Greek and African-American descent, a fact that he kept private for much of his life. This element of his identity was not widely known at the time, and Herriman's work was often discussed without acknowledging the complexity of his background.

Herriman's family moved to Los Angeles, California, during his childhood, where he attended Los Angeles High School and began to show an interest in art. He worked various jobs, including as a sign painter and illustrator, before entering the world of newspaper cartoons. Herriman's early cartooning work was in the form of illustrations for humor and editorial pieces, contributing to publications like the Los Angeles Examiner and New York Journal.

By 1903, Herriman had started to gain recognition for his work, and he soon began drawing for William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers, where he would stay for the remainder of his career.

Creation of Krazy Kat

Herriman’s most famous and enduring creation, "Krazy Kat", debuted in 1910. The comic strip quickly became a groundbreaking and influential work that challenged the norms of comic strip storytelling. "Krazy Kat" ran for over 30 years, from 1910 until Herriman's death in 1944, and was published in multiple newspapers, including Hearst’s New York Journal and later, the Chicago Tribune.

The strip is set in a surreal, abstract landscape, often referred to as the "desert" or "the wild west," where the central characters engage in bizarre and often nonsensical adventures. The main character, Krazy Kat, is a naive and lovable cat who is endlessly in love with Ignatz Mouse, who constantly hurls bricks at Krazy's head in rejection. Meanwhile, Officer Pupp, a dog, constantly tries to protect Krazy from Ignatz, misunderstanding the complex relationships and emotions at play.

Themes and Innovations

"Krazy Kat" is renowned for its innovative approach to both art and storytelling. Herriman’s work is characterized by:

  • Surrealism: Herriman often incorporated dreamlike, abstract, and fantastical elements into the strip. The landscape was often shown as an exaggerated version of the American Southwest, with distorted architecture, clouds, and strange settings.
  • Nonlinear Storytelling: The strip frequently had no clear, linear plot. Instead, it followed repetitive yet complex cycles of action, with each strip contributing to a larger, often abstract narrative. This approach broke away from traditional comic storytelling conventions and had a lasting influence on later experimental comics and animation.
  • Unconventional Language and Dialogue: Herriman developed a unique style of writing for the characters, often playing with language, puns, and nonsensical dialogue. This gave the characters a sense of personality and whimsy while allowing Herriman to explore deeper themes of longing, confusion, and social dynamics.
  • Complex Themes: Despite the simple premise, "Krazy Kat" explored themes of unrequited love, personal identity, and emotional conflict. Krazy’s obsession with Ignatz is presented as pure and innocent, despite being repeatedly thwarted, and the relationship between the characters was often used as a metaphor for the complexities of love and human emotion.

Cultural Impact

"Krazy Kat" was groundbreaking for its time and is still regarded as one of the most important comic strips in the history of the medium. Though it wasn’t a massive commercial success during its original run, its influence on other creators and its eventual critical recognition cemented its place in the pantheon of great comics.

Herriman's work was lauded for its visual and narrative experimentation, and many later cartoonists cited him as a major influence. Walt Disney, Charles Schulz, and Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes) all admired Herriman's ability to convey complex ideas through simple drawings and the subtle use of humor and absurdity.

Herriman’s Artistic Style

Herriman’s art style evolved over the years, but he was particularly known for:

  • Dynamic Use of Color: In the early days of Krazy Kat, Herriman's work was primarily black and white, but as color printing technology evolved, he adapted his art to the color format. His use of color was expressive and often enhanced the surreal quality of the strip.
  • Playful and Distorted Character Designs: Krazy Kat, Ignatz, and Officer Pupp were all drawn in ways that conveyed personality through their very shapes. Krazy was often shown with round, simplified features, while Ignatz was drawn with sharp angles and a more menacing form.
  • Fluid Panel Layouts: Herriman often bent or manipulated the shape of his comic panels, adding an extra layer of unpredictability to the visual storytelling. His layouts were often fluid and varied, complementing the absurd and dreamlike nature of the strip.

Later Years and Legacy

Although "Krazy Kat" enjoyed some success, it wasn’t a mainstream hit during its original publication, and Herriman struggled with financial issues throughout his career. However, the strip garnered increasing critical acclaim over the years, and by the time of Herriman’s death in 1944, Krazy Kat was widely recognized as one of the most important comic strips in history.

After Herriman's death, his legacy continued to grow. In the decades following his passing, Krazy Kat was rediscovered by a new generation of readers and critics. The strip was praised for its philosophical depth, visual experimentation, and the way it addressed themes of human emotion and relationships.

Herriman's work also found an audience outside of traditional comic fans, influencing the development of both independent comics and graphic novels. His willingness to break conventional norms in storytelling and art paved the way for future generations of cartoonists to experiment and push boundaries in their own work.

Posthumous Recognition

Herriman's contributions to the comic medium were finally recognized by broader mainstream institutions. In 1973, he was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. His influence continues to resonate, with Krazy Kat often cited as one of the most innovative and groundbreaking comic strips of all time.

Collections of Krazy Kat have been published in numerous formats, and the strip has appeared in retrospectives about the evolution of American comics. Herriman's innovative approach to art and storytelling, as well as his ability to convey complex themes in a simple, accessible form, continues to inspire contemporary comic creators and artists.

George Herriman’s legacy as a cartoonist and creator of Krazy Kat is enduring, thanks to his unique blend of surrealism, humor, and deep emotional complexity. Though he was not widely recognized during his lifetime, his influence on the world of comics is undeniable. Herriman’s ability to fuse art and storytelling in ways that were playful, profound, and ahead of their time has ensured that Krazy Kat remains one of the most beloved and respected comic strips in history.

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