"Krazy Kat" by George Herriman

Reading many comics, I have grown a love for them. When I was in elementary school, they provided us a child-version newspaper and I would always search for a cartoon page. Although I did not have any specific reasons why I loved to read them, I assume that I liked them because of the interaction between simple characters and their storylines. Looking back on these child-version cartoons, they were very sarcastic and contained a lot of satires about politics or social issues. I did not realize this when I was a child, but I enjoyed to watch the sequential images. Now reading cartoons as a college student, I can see the artists’ settings, characterizations, philosophies, and messages, which makes me consider that cartoons are very attractive art. Recently, I read an old cartoon named Krazy Kat, by George Herriman. I was so amazed by his work because it does not only contain a genetic simple slapstick comedy, but also character settings which are very detailed. Krazy Kat had been stripped from 1913 to 1944, which was roughly about thirty years. The story is very simple; a carefree and simple-minded cat, Krazy, likes a mouse named Ignatz, but Ignatz does not like Krazy back so he would rather always throw bricks at Krazy. There is also a third character, Officer Bull Pupp, who would always protect Krazy from Ignatz and end up falling in love with Krazy. Reading and watching the characters’ actions, I have enjoyed the stories they take part of because they are very simple, generic, and old-fashioned. Furthermore, I can see George Herriman’s creativity through the combination of simplicity, innocent playfulness, and poetic language. The Krazy Kat is widely considered as a serious cartoon and has attracted a number of fans and manias for more than 80 years. Many of today’s cartoon or comics artists regard him as a genius and are mainly influenced and inspired by his works due to the elements I have mentioned so far.