The Goat Getters: Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and How a Bunch of Raucous Cartoonists Reinvented Comics

The origin story of modern comics artists, from sports cartoonists to their eventual place as commentators on contemporary society.

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A rip-roaring and exhaustively researched new take on the origin of the
comic strip by one of the leading cartoon storytellers of our time.

With
more than 500 period cartoons, The Goat Getters illustrates how comics were
developed by such luminaries as Rube Goldberg, Tad Dorgan, and George Herriman
in the sports and lurid crime pages of the daily newspaper. This wild bunch of
West Coast-based cartoonists established the dynamic anatomy and bold, tough
style that continue to influence comics today, as well as their own goofy slang
that enriched the popular lexicon.

The Goat Getters also captures early
twentieth century-history through the lens of the newspaper comics: the landmark
1910 boxing match in Reno, Nevada between Jim Jeffries, the "Great White
Hope," and Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion;
the nationwide race riots that followed; the San Francisco graft trials that
culminated in the shooting of the Federal Prosecutor; and the trial of Harry
Thaw for the murder of architect Stanford White, a crime of passion that
centered on Thaw's wife, show-girl Evelyn Nesbitt Thaw-all were
venerated or vilified by Nell Brinkley, Jimmy Swinnerton,