For a child growing up before the internet and Sunday morning cartoons, comics were everything. One of the most important moments for baby boomers growing up were the Sunday newspaper comic strips.

Comics have been running in American newspapers since the 1890s, when they were marketed to urban audiences who didn't necessarily speak English. The longest-running strip, The Katzenjammer Kids, ...

“People still read the newspaper, so those books were essentially being advertised by the comic strips every day.” For the writer and cartoonist Jeff Kinney, the daily strips — and the books ...