Comic strips are a uniquely American art form – to the visual arts what jazz is to music. Born out of the 1890s circulation wars between newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, comics have reflected, revealed and satirized the reality of America’s socio/cultural fabric.  Whether it’s the portrayal of family life, politics, technology, industrialization, or social class, readers continue to recognize their own lives.

LIFE IN THE COMICS is a McDaniel College production in association with Maryland Public Television.  A two-hour documentary, LIFE IN THE COMICS reveals how the ‘funny pages’ captured the essence of American culture and left a dynamic imprint from the 1890s to the present day. 

The LIFE IN THE COMICS documentary begins in the present, exploring work of some of today’s top comic strip artists who then become guides to an earlier generation of artists.  As the documentary travels across time with artists and historians, it interweaves past and present, telling funny and compelling stories of the artists and their creations.