Passage I

“Krazy Kat” Comics

[1]

The most widely acclaimed comic strip of all time is probably George Herriman's “Krazy Kat" and Herriman was a staff artist for William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. Hearst was convinced that comic strips were the key to luring readers away from Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Therefore, he hired the most talented and innovative comic strip artists he could find. Between 1907 and 1910, George Herriman developed several strips for Hearst. One of them "The Family Upstairs," included an inch-tall mini-strip across the bottom about a cat and a mouse who lived in the house's woodwork. After three years, this mini-strip blossomed into "Krazy Kat," the first comic strip to obtain true cult status.

[2]

[1] On the surface it's premise was simple. [2] Ignatz Mouse devoted his life to bombarding Krazy Kat with bricks. [3] Krazy Kat, blinded by love, believed this to be an expression of affection. [4] Inevitable Mouse succeeded in his efforts “to Krease that Kat's bean with a brick." [5] Ignatz was then arrested and jailed by Offissa Pupp, who was, in turn, in love with, Krazy Kat. [6] “Krazy Kat" featured Ignatz Mouse, Krazy Kat, and Offissa Pupp. (9)

[3]

The stories take place in a surreal landscape. In the background, strangely shaped stone monoliths and aberrant alien plants mutate from panel to panel. They appear and disappear as though they controlled their own fates. While the characters seem destined to endlessly reenact the same scenario. But the strip was able to transcend the limitations of its genre: it spoke lyrically of the human condition. (11)

[4]

“Krazy Kat" didn't capture the public's imagination immediately, but Hearst loved the strip and ignored his editor's advice to cancel it. Instead, he moved it to the arts and drama section, where it attracted a devoted following. A following included President Woodrow Wilson and the poet e. e. cummings. "His life is warped with fancy, woofed with dreams," Offissa Pupp said of the Kat. The strip was too.