Raeburn van Buren - "Little Annie Rooney" daily - May 8 1934

Most of the Little Annie Rooney strips that I have - or see - are from the mid-50s to early '60s, but it was a long-running strip that started in 1927.

This example, from almost exactly 88 years ago to the day, shows how dramatically van Buren's cartooning style changed (when compared to the '50s version). I think it betrays a slight awkwardness or indecision in how he approached the medium. The first two panels are almost big-foot style (especially the background details), and the characters are much more stiffly drawn than later van Buren. Panel 3 is a whole different story, he seems much more comfortable drawing the child characters, and his drawing of the net and backgrounds is skilled and realistic in contrast to the first two panels.

What other cartoonist had such a complete transformation of style over a 30-plus year run on the same strip???