Patrick McDonnell

Patrick McDonnell launched the strip called 'Mutts' in 1994, a few months before Bill Watterson discontinued his 'Calvin and Hobbes' strip. 'Mutts' contained so much quality that it easily took over the vacancy left by Watterson's popular strip.

With 'Mutts', McDonnell not only succeeded in doing a newspaper comic in the tradition of 'Krazy Kat' and 'Peanuts', but also is a genius in spoofing modern art and pop-culture. In its short existence, 'Mutts' earned its rank among true "classics".

McDonnell, a 1979 graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, started as an illustrator for several magazines, from The New York Times to Sports Illustrated to Reader's Digest. As a cartoon historian, he also co-authored the book "Krazy Kat: The Art of George Herriman" (Abrams 1986).