''Mr. Skygack, from Mars'' was a comic strip by the American cartoonist A.D. Condo. It appeared in the '' Chicago Day Book'', a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

working-class newspaper, from October 2, 1907, to April 1911 in about 400 comic strips and single panels. Like much of Condo's work in this period, the ''Mr. Skygack'' feature was syndicated and appeared in many other papers, including ''

The Seattle Star ''The Seattle Star'' was a daily newspaper that ran from February 25, 1899, to August 13, 1947. It was owned by E. W. Scripps and in 1920 was transferred to Scripps McRae League of Newspapers (later Scripps-Canfield League), after a falling-o ...

'', ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'', '' The Spokane Press'', ''

The Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...

'', ''

The Tacoma Times ''The Tacoma Times'' was a newspaper published in Tacoma, Washington from 1903 to 1949. It was founded by E. W. Scripps, with editorial personnel taken from ''the Seattle Star''.The Duluth Daily Star''. The comic followed the titular Mr. Skygack, a

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pr ...

, on his mission to study humans. Mr. Skygack's comical misunderstandings of Earthly affairs gave Condo the opportunity to comment on and criticize social norms. Skygack subsequently appeared in Condo's ethnic-humor comic strip '' Osgar und Adolf''. Masquerade attendee dressed as

''Mr. Skygack, from Mars'' is considered the first science fiction comic,''Mr. Skygak, From Mars''
at the Filson Historical Society, by Michael Veach; published 28 September 2010; retrieved 9 December 2013 featuring the first extraterrestrial character in comics history. It also gave rise to the first recorded sci-fi cosplay when a Mr. William Fell was reported wearing a Mr. Skygack costume to a 1908 masquerade.

References

External links

''Mr. Skygack, from Mars''
at Barnacle Press

at ''

Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endo ...

'' American comic strips 1907 comics debuts 1911 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1907 Science fiction comics Gag-a-day comics Satirical comics Skygack Skygack Skygack Fiction set on Mars Fictional anthropologists {{comic-strip-stub