The Influence of George Herriman’s “Krazy Kat”

Though perhaps not as enduring in our modern culture as other comics classics (despite notable reprinting enterprises), there is an argument to be made that the most important and influential comic strip in human history is “Krazy Kat” by George Herriman. #krazykat 1/10

The strip ran from 1913-1944 to success and notable international regard. As described by comics historian Stefan Kanfer, “Krazy Kat” captured the imagination of an impressive roster of cultural tastemakers of the time: 2/10

“A ballet inspired by the strip had been performed at Town Hall in midtown Manhattan; its composer described the title character as ‘Don Quixote and Parsifal rolled into one.’ The great jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke would soon record a song called ‘Krazy Kat.’” 3/10

“Other Herriman aficionados included Pablo Picasso, Charlie Chaplin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and H. L. Mencken, who clipped the Kat’s daily adventures and glued them to the wallpaper of his living room. While Woodrow Wilson occupied the White House, he never missed an episode.” 4/10

And then there’s E.E. Cummings who wrote a foreword for a collected edition of Krazy Kat that (in typical Cummings style) is either deeply profound or deeply confusing…and quite likely both: 5/10

“And now do we understand the meaning of democracy? If we don’t, a poet-painter called George Herriman most certainly cannot be blamed. Democracy, he tells us again and again and again, isn’t some ultraprogressive myth of a superbenevolent World As Should Be.” 6/10

“The meteoric burlesk melodrama of democracy is a struggle between society (Offissa Pupp) and the individual (Ignatz Mouse) over an ideal (our heroine) — a struggle from which, again and again and again, emerges one stupendous fact:” 7/10

“namely, that the ideal of democracy fulfills herself only if, and whenever, society fails to suppress the individual. Could anything possibly be clearer?” 8/10

Yet despite a hard-to-account-for erasure from the modern zeitgeist, Krazy Kat still looms large by reputation amongst modern comics creators. My personal favorite tribute comes in the form of a glossary entry at the back of Dylan Horrocks “Hicksville”: 9/10

“William Shakespeare (1564-1616) The ‘George Herriman’ of the stage.” 10/10