This fully-illustrated history of the world's best comic strip art, including Hy Eisman's The Katzenjammer Kids, which debuted in 1897, Charles Schultz's Peanuts (1950), Peyo's Smurfs (1958), Steve Ditko's Spiderman (1962), Jack Kirby's Black Panther (1966) or Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes (1985), or Chris Ware and his ACME Novelty Library (1993). The comics presented here have imagined fantastical worlds that have attracted generation after generation of devoted fans. A critical reference, this book is also a nostalgic celebration of the characters that have accompanied readers from their first forays into reading, through adolescence and throughout adulthood-from Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to Tintin and Little Nemo, from the superhero franchises to postmodern works such as Art Speigelman's Maus or the underground comics of Robert Crumb. Featuring 125 American and European artists, this is a gorgeous retrospective on one of the most richly creative forms of reading pleasure.