Check out this article about how Google now plans to digitize historical newspapers and put them online. This is great news! I posted a letter I wrote to them here a number of months ago requesting that they do this… so now I take full credit for this idea! Seriously, though, this is thrilling news for comics fans… now I just hope that they do it right, and focus on scanning original newspapers rather than relying solely on microfilm and microfiche reproductions.

Here is an example of a comics page in one of the example papers they have posted. Obviously, one can’t be too picky about what gets digitized… much of the time there is only going to be one option for source material.

It appears a number of issues of the St. Petersburg Times have been added, comics and all.

I haven’t figured out a good way to search through this stuff for comics yet, although I’m sure the service will improve with time. The scans leave a lot to be desired… these appear most likely to have been reproduced from microfilm.

Hopefully they will include multiple copies of particular dates in their archives, so missing pages, varying quality and varying editions will be accounted for.

It is buggy right now, and there is clearly a lot to be desired, but this is still huge news for fans of classic newspaper comics.

• Animated stereoscopic images
  from MAKE Magazine
• GOOD MINNESOTAN EPISODE 2
  from file under other
• The last push
  from Mattias Inks
• Google Claims User Content In Multiple Products
  from Slashdot
• *Pulps* *a batch of misc covers*
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• A Brisk Autumn Brings Illustration Adventures
  from CRY of the TETHERED HAWK
• Interview: Jay Lynch Pt. 1
  from The Daily Cross Hatch
• True Enough: the science, history and economics of self-deception
  from Boing Boing
• Rejecting The Minnesota Iceman
  from Cryptomundo
• Standing Pat: The St. James Infirmary Blues Appendix
  from Honey, Where You Been So Long?
• Poe’s “The Raven,” translated into 50s hipster argot
  from Boing Boing
• GABY AND THE GORILLA
  from Gorilla Men
• Add cowbell and Christopher Walken to any song
  from Boing Boing
• Vintage Ad: ABBA Action Figures
  from Martin Klasch
• The 6 Most (Certifiably) Insane Tales of Rock Star Behavior
  from Cracked: All Posts
• A School Bewitched – pt.1
  from Michael Sporn Animation – Splog
• Process: excerpt from vol. 5, page 43
  from radiomaru.lj
• A GOOD CARTOONIST CAN ADAPT TO DIFFERENT STYLES AND MAINTAIN HIS SIGNATURE
  from John K Stuff
• Sept. 10, 2008: The Accidental Batgirl
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal
• Comic Art Gallery of Midwest Comic Book Association MCBA at ComicArtFans.com :: Original Comic Art
  from comicartfans.com
• THE BOSWELL SISTERS: Heebie, jeebies
  from CB VOCAL GROUPS
• Directory Assistance
  from Raymond Scott
• Excerpts from Elson-Gray’s Primer & Book One Readers, 1930 editions
  from I’m Learning To Share!
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  from Boing Boing
• Yo!
  from PUNY blog
• Cream City Conversations with Danno
  from CREAM CITY COMICS
• WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program alternating weekly with Surface Noise from Sep 9, 2008
  from WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program alte
• Lying In The Gutters – 9-9-2008
  from Lying In The Gutters
• *The Century Magazine ~ Oct/1904*
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• All-Star Batman’s bad language
  from THE BEAT
• Homemade Notepads
  from CRAFT Magazine
• Land o’ the links
  from THE BEAT
• Security research vid shows “virus” infecting e-voting machines
  from Boing Boing
• 6 Real-Life Vigilantes Crazier Than Batman
  from Cracked: All Posts
• Pin Moments 2
  from Michael Sporn Animation – Splog
• *Clara Elsene Peck* 1883 ~ 1968 *
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Sept. 9, 2008: Lupine suicide… don’t do it!
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal
• Water bears survive open space
  from Boing Boing
• *a* Yankee in London’ blog takes the From Hell chapter…
  from The Fate of the Artist
• Rowling wins fair use suit
  from THE BEAT
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  from Boing Boing
• Chuck Norris – Karate Kommandos
  from PCL LinkDump
• Today’s Bonus Video Link
  from news from me
• Boing Boing tv: John Hodgman, “More Information Than You Require"
  from Boing Boing
• Lying In The Gutters – 9-8-2008
  from Lying In The Gutters
• Google Launches Newspaper Digitization Project [Newspapers]
  from Lifehacker
• ALL-STAR BATMAN #10 recall
  from THE BEAT
• Rick Geary’s Lindbergh
  from THE BEAT
• Interview with Charles M. Schulz (via YouTube)
  from Fantagraphics Books – FriendFeed
• Today’s Video Link
  from news from me
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  from Boing Boing
• Main Street, Iowa
  from Shorpy :: History in HD – ShorpyBlog
• Soft drink and beer labels from Värnamo
  from PCL LinkDump
• Today’s Video Link
  from news from me
• Golden Age In Paper
  from The Ephemerist
• Poster Art: Vintage Tarzan
  from Martin Klasch
• CR Sunday Interview: John Pham
  from CR Briefings
• Ninth & U: 2008
  from Shorpy :: History in HD – ShorpyBlog
• Donation spotlights comic book dispute: Times Argus Online
  from timesargus.com
• Golden Age Comics Downloads
  from goldenagecomics.co.uk
• *i* just finished taping a radio spot with Dan Best
  from The Fate of the Artist
• Hoo-Hoo-HAs & a Hoka-Hoka HEY!
  from Larry Marder’s Beanworld
• PARISIAN NABONGA
  from Gorilla Men
• Squid beaks and materials science
  from Boing Boing
• 5 Real World Criminals Who Were Certified Super-Villains
  from Cracked: All Posts
• Interview: Nate Powell Pt. 4 [of 4]
  from The Daily Cross Hatch
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  from Boing Boing
• Go, Read: Little Ideological Annie
  from CR Briefings
• Vintage photos of the American Museum of Natural History
  from Boing Boing
• Bringing up Dennis Monday cartoon Day.
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• Clara Elsene Peck *Shakespeare’s Sweetheart ~ 1905*
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Your Saturday Bowl of WTF: Jasper and the Watermelons
  from ThadBlog
• Paperbacks *a handful of misc titles*
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
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  from Uncle Ernie’s Creature Ink
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  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Color Rhapsodies
  from Uncle John’s Crazy Town
• News of Yore 1926: Berryman Says Cartoons Here to Stay
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Sept. 8, 2008: Far too stuffy
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal

TODAY’S FEATURED LINK:

Allan Holtz at his fantastic Stripper’s Guide blog posts a review of the recent Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume 1 published by IDW that has an interesting anecdote. Apparently, Mr. Holtz had pursued an Annie reprint project like this one previously and been extrememly frustrated finding copies of the early strips… it is horriffic how close we came to losing these classic strips forever. That’s right… the early episodes of one of the most well-known and longest running strips in the US almost disappeared. Now just imagine how the lesser known strips are faring! I wish this sort of thing was atypical, but it sure isn’t… as I have ranted here before (and will again, I’m sure), comics history is disappearing, and most of it will be lost without preservation efforts. Fantagraphics has had a lot of trouble finding some of the strips for their Complete Peanuts reprints, for pete’s sake!

Here is what Mr. Holtz says:

It may come as a surprise to those who aren’t devoted fans of Little Orphan Annie, but this is an extraordinary collection for the simple fact that the book begins with the very first sequence of the strip. So what? Well, when Little Orphan Annie began it appeared in only one paper in the world, the New York Daily News. That alone would make the early strips rare, but compounding that rarity is that the Daily News was considered a trashy tabloid and so it was never collected and bound by libraries. If there are no libraries collecting the papers, and then later disposing them, there are no opportunities for collectors to amass runs of the original tearsheets. The only known run of the first months of the strip is in the Daily News’ own microfilm copies, and that microfilm, which I’ve had the opportunity to review, is an almost unbelievable mess.

I had the idea of publishing the early Annie strips several years ago and I hit this brick wall myself. Faced with the impossibility of finding these strips in anything vaguely approaching reproducible form I waved the white flag and gave up. Luckily Dean Mullaney and company were not so easily dismayed. They had the bright idea of checking the Harold Gray papers at Boston University and it turned out that the archive included an unexpected treasure — an almost complete run of the strip right from the beginning. So, putting aside a wee bit of jealousy, I’m thrilled that finally we have the opportunity to read the saga of that little orphan gal right from the start, including the pivotal early days in the orphanage that have been unseen since they were published over 80 years ago.

I’ve been reading some of the Pacific Comics Club facimile reprints of some of the old Annie Books recently, and they are highly entertaining… I’m looking forward to getting a copy of this book. Click the above image to read the rest of Mr. Holtz’s thoughtful review.

• Feds Fine University of Texas Lab for Chimp Escape and Death
  from Monkeys In The News
• Controversial Plastics Chemical Causes Problems in Monkey Brains
  from Monkeys In The News
• Wild Monkey Leads Tokyo Police On Chase
  from Monkeys In The News
• Thai Police Intercept Monkeys Bound To Cambodian Restaurants
  from Monkeys In The News
• At Arraignment Court in St. Paul
  from ACLU Blog: Because Freedom Can’t Blog Itself
• MAD About Star Wars: more than your average MAD anthology
  from Boing Boing
• Vintage Arcade & Souvenir Photo Collection
  from Little Hokum Rag
• Canada’s Cartoon Roots
  from John K Stuff
• Macropayments: Why I don’t take tips for my books
  from Boing Boing
• LHC will not destroy the universe in 5 days
  from Boing Boing
• Michael Moore’s next movie will be a free download
  from Boing Boing
• Design: More Vintage Japanese Matchbox Labels
  from Martin Klasch
• Stripper’s Guide Bookshelf: Little Orphan Annie Volume One
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Sept. 5, 2008: You’re no one till you sell in Bobby’s shop
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal
• Un conte d’andersen ici
  from Agence eureka
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  from Agence eureka
• Du suspens ,de l’aventure,…
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  from Agence eureka
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  from Agence eureka
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  from Agence eureka
• Grande construction
  from Agence eureka
• Bestioles
  from Agence eureka
• Un jeu de l’oie trouvé dans un "Marie-Claire" de…
  from Agence eureka
• Oi…
  from Agence eureka
• Singes ( 10 autres singes dans l’album )
  from Agence eureka
• Coquillages
  from Agence eureka
• Bestioles, coquillages et crustacés…..
  from Agence eureka
• Oceano
  from Agence eureka
• Natation, bains ,massage ,cure Keinpp etc……
  from Agence eureka
• Fun & Games: Jeu de massacre
  from Martin Klasch
• Poster Art: Sci-fi movie #5
  from Martin Klasch
• Vintage Photos: Gas & Bear
  from Martin Klasch
• Ephemera: Wacky Stuff at Flickr
  from Martin Klasch
• Cinderella Stamps
  from Stuff by wackystuff
• Cool Factor Five
  from Stuff by wackystuff
• YouTube’s Inconsistent Standards for Animation Art
  from Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation
• Retro-future: What will Your Next Car Look Like?
  from Martin Klasch
• Poster Art: Magyar Szalámi
  from Martin Klasch
• Flickr: Evil Incarnated
  from Martin Klasch
• Poster Art: Chinese Public Health
  from Martin Klasch
• EN BUSCA DEL PUEBLO ESCONDIDO
  from Viñetas

TODAY’S FEATURED LINK:

Random Semi-Conscious Musings brings us a photo gallery of who all the carticatures are in the Disney cartoon Mother Goose Goes Hollywood with comparison photos. I knew some, I didn’t know some, and I had some wrong. Click the above caricature of someone who is not Buster Keaton to see them all.

• The Mask of Madame Rowley
  from The Virtual Dime Museum
• Newsarama.com : TALKING TO ROGER LANGRIDGE
  from Newsarama.com
• Twisted Classsics: The Work of Posy Simmonds – 9/1/2008…
  from Publisher’s Weekly
• Funny Business – Entrepreneur.com
  from entrepreneur.com
• Yo Gabba Gabba Season 2 revealed!
  from PUNY blog
• OTBP: Holy Shit
  from CR Briefings
• George Petty 1894 ~ 1975
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Design: Natural Forms
  from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
• FOTOS DE UN ALMANAQUE JAPONES DE LOS AÑOS 30
  from Viñetas
• JAM TONIGHT IN MINNEAPOLIS! (Thursday September 4th)
  from CONSPIRE!
• Dan Clowes’ cover for Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories
  from Boing Boing
• Canadian Animation – The Beginning
  from John K Stuff
• Save the Superman House
  from The Ephemerist
• A PublIc ServIce
  from news from me
• Trailers From Hell: Dirty Duck
  from Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation
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  from Boing Boing
• HOWTO build your own A-bomb
  from Boing Boing
• Mr. G sends us a present while he’s away.
  from Neil Gaiman’s Journal
• Jim Borgman Takes Voluntary Severance
  from CR Briefings
• Animators Hook Up Trailer For Change-Bots
  from Cold Hard Flash: Flash Animation News
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  from THE BEAT
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  from THE BEAT
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  from Cryptomundo
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  from BibliOdyssey
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  from Boing Boing
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  from Boing Boing
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  from Boing Boing
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  from Boing Boing
• Bill Melendez 1916-2008
  from Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation
• Make canned monstrosities
  from Boing Boing
• Hidden Treasures, or: Boody.
  from FLOG! Entries
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  from Boing Boing
• ENSLAVED BY A GIANT GORILLA ON HER WEDDING NIGHT!
  from Gorilla Men
• Interview With An Extraordinary Gentleman
  from Blog of Revelations
• Bill Melendez 1916-2008
  from Mike Lynch Cartoons
• Bill Melendez 1917-2008
  from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
• Bill Melendez Remembered
  from ThadBlog
• News of Yore 1922: A Day With Tillie’s Creator
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Sept. 4, 2008: Specialists
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal
• Bill Melendez, R.I.P.
  from news from me
• Flying Pizza Kitty
  from Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog
• New studio!
  from Scary Terry’s World
• Lovecraft had 2 stories published in Astounding Stories
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Astounding Stories
  from Golden Age Comic Book Stories
• Design: Two Disney Concept Artists
  from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
• Sept. 3, 2008: Returnable
  from Journalista – the news weblog of The Comics Journal
• Lying In The Gutters – 9-2-2008
  from Lying In The Gutters
• Jason Lutes interview with The Wall Street Journal
  from Drawn and Quarterly
• WB Cartoon Credit Weirdness
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Making an animated cartoon: Ward Kimball
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Back from the dead with “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood”
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Mighty Hunters
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Happy Hallowe’en
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Censored Cartoons suck
  from Random semiconscious musings
• Monkey Mugs Woman For Egg Tarts At Hong Kong Bus Stop
  from Monkeys In The News
• Guns Magazine 1955 CHESTER GOULD DICK TRACY
  from (Category: Newspaper Comics )
• Disaster Diorama Papercraft
  from Neatorama
• Harper’s Weekly for September 2, 2008
  from Boing Boing