Steve Cottle
Encyclopedia
Steve Cottle, Jr. dedicated to the preservation of vintage comic strip
s, is also known as Mr. ilovecomix. In 2008, he founded the I Love Comix Archive and began to recruit vintage comic strip collectors as contributors, noting, "This is a collaborative effort to save and digitize old newspaper comics."
By filling in the gaps in runs of strips with a variety of contributors, the I Love Comix Archive already stands as the major online database displaying both familiar and obscure newspaper comic strips of the 20th century. Cottle is constantly adding comic strips, and by 2011, he had acquired more than 130,000 images, including Sunday strip
s, daily strip
s and newspaper clippings with biographical information about cartoonist
s, plus 174 ads featuring comic strips.
A resident of Birmingham, Alabama
, Cottle stated his mission in March 2009:
, a paid digital photo sharing site. To cover the costs of SmugMug, Cottle asks for donations. This site enables Cottle to display the comic strips in slide shows, full resolution, original publication date information and a variety of sizes: small, medium, large, XL, X2, X3, original. The functions make it possible to read one daily strip after another in quick succession (as fast as one second or less) by simply positioning the cursor on one button and clicking when ready.
Cottle aims to bring comic strip collectors together, as he noted:
Cottle determined that strips in the Archive would have a cut-off point at 1990 since strips after that time are still publicly available. The Archives' Gallery is arranged with alphabetical sub-categories. The "C" sub-category, for example, begins with The Captain and the Kids and Captain Midnight
. Color strips in the Gallery include:
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s, is also known as Mr. ilovecomix. In 2008, he founded the I Love Comix Archive and began to recruit vintage comic strip collectors as contributors, noting, "This is a collaborative effort to save and digitize old newspaper comics."
By filling in the gaps in runs of strips with a variety of contributors, the I Love Comix Archive already stands as the major online database displaying both familiar and obscure newspaper comic strips of the 20th century. Cottle is constantly adding comic strips, and by 2011, he had acquired more than 130,000 images, including Sunday strip
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
s, daily strip
Daily strip
A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays....
s and newspaper clippings with biographical information about cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
s, plus 174 ads featuring comic strips.
A resident of Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Cottle stated his mission in March 2009:
- I have opened up the ilovecomix archive site to anyone who wants to add their newspaper images to the archive. The archive was designed to help save our collection for others to view it and provide a very nice image hosting site.
Vintage variety
On June 4, 2009, Cottle moved his Archive to SmugMugSmugmug
SmugMug is a paid digital photo sharing website.- History :Chris MacAskill and Don MacAskill started the original company to build a new video game-oriented web service in February 2002. By August 2002, though, their focus shifted...
, a paid digital photo sharing site. To cover the costs of SmugMug, Cottle asks for donations. This site enables Cottle to display the comic strips in slide shows, full resolution, original publication date information and a variety of sizes: small, medium, large, XL, X2, X3, original. The functions make it possible to read one daily strip after another in quick succession (as fast as one second or less) by simply positioning the cursor on one button and clicking when ready.
Cottle aims to bring comic strip collectors together, as he noted:
- I started my site over a year ago, and it has grown so big now that I am currently trying to recruit vintage comic collectors to help me with the project. I love vintage comics, and I want all of the old stuff to be preserved for future generations to come to love forever. I also want to eventually add bio info on the strips as well as on the artists.
Cottle determined that strips in the Archive would have a cut-off point at 1990 since strips after that time are still publicly available. The Archives' Gallery is arranged with alphabetical sub-categories. The "C" sub-category, for example, begins with The Captain and the Kids and Captain Midnight
Captain Midnight
Captain Midnight is a U.S. adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M...
. Color strips in the Gallery include:
- Alley OopAlley OopAlley Oop is a syndicated comic strip, created in 1932 by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the popular and influential strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association...
- Barney GoogleBarney Google and Snuffy SmithBarney Google and Snuffy Smith, originally Barney Google, is a long-running American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck . Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a huge international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries...
- Boots and Her BuddiesBoots and Her BuddiesBoots and Her Buddies is an American comic strip by Edgar Everett Martin. Syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association, it ran from 1924 to 1969. Some newspapers ran the strip under the shortened title Boots...
- Buck RogersBuck RogersAnthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
- The Bungle Family
- Dick TracyDick TracyDick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
- Flash GordonFlash GordonFlash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
- Freckles and His FriendsFreckles and His FriendsFreckles and his Friends was a popular American comic strip set in the peaceful small town of Shadyside where young Freckles McGoosey and his friends live...
- Fritzi RitzFritzi RitzFritzi Ritz was an American comic strip created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. It eventually evolved into the popular Nancy by Ernie Bushmiller....
- Gasoline AlleyGasoline AlleyGasoline Alley is a comic strip created by Frank King and currently distributed by Tribune Media Services. First published November 24, 1918, it is the second longest running comic strip in the US and has received critical accolades for its influential innovations...
- Li'l AbnerLi'l AbnerLi'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...
- Little NemoLittle NemoLittle Nemo is the main fictional character in a series of weekly comic strips by Winsor McCay that appeared in the New York Herald and William Randolph Hearst's New York American newspapers from October 15, 1905 – April 23, 1911 and April 30, 1911 – July 26, 1914; respectively.The...
- Moon MullinsMoon MullinsMoon Mullins, created by cartoonist Frank Willard , was a popular American comic strip which had a long run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923 to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of diverse lowbrow characters who...
- Pogo
- Smilin' JackThe Adventures of Smilin' JackThe Adventures of Smilin' Jack was an aviation comic strip that first appeared October 1, 1933 in the Chicago Tribune and ended April 1, 1973....
- TarzanTarzan (comics)Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...
- Terry and the PiratesTerry and the Pirates (comic strip)Terry and the Pirates was an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, had admired Caniff’s work on the children's adventure strip Dickie Dare and hired him to create the new adventure strip,...
- Tillie the ToilerTillie the ToilerTillie the Toiler was a newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Russ Westover who initially worked on his concept of a flapper character in a strip he titled Rose of the Office...
- Toots and CasperToots and CasperToots and Casper was a long-run family comic strip by Jimmy Murphy, distributed to newspapers for 37 years by King Features Syndicate, resulting in many merchandising tie-ins, including books, dolls, paper dolls, pins, bisque nodders and comic books....
- Winnie WinkleWinnie WinkleWinnie Winkle was an American comic strip which appeared over a 76-year span . Created by Martin Branner, who wrote the strip for over 40 years, Winnie Winkle was one of the first comic strips about working women. It was titled Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner until 1943...
- The Yellow KidThe Yellow KidThe Yellow Kid emerged as the lead character in Hogan's Alley, drawn by Richard F. Outcault, which became one of the first Sunday supplement comic strips in an American newspaper, although its graphical layout had already been thoroughly established in political and other, purely-for-entertainment...
See also
- Allan HoltzAllan HoltzAllan Holtz is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels...
- Bill BlackbeardBill BlackbeardWilliam Elsworth Blackbeard , better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art from American newspapers...
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & MuseumBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & MuseumThe Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, a research library of American comic art, is affiliated with the Ohio State University library system in Columbus, Ohio...
- Fred Waring Cartoon Collection
- List of newspaper comic strips
- Michigan State University Comic Art Collection