George Herriman (1880–1944), in 1910, was the first black to achieve fame as a syndicated cartoonist. On July 26, 1910, the prototype of Ignatz Mouse hit the prototype of Krazy Kat with a brick. The strip “Krazy Kat” was extremely popular, especially among intellectuals in the 1920s, and continued with somewhat diminished success until July 25, 1944. Herriman was born in New Orleans in a family classified as black; the family moved to Los Angeles to escape racial labeling. Some of his friends called him “The Greek,” but he never openly divulged his background.