How did The New Yorker shape the development of single-panel cartoons?

The New Yorker played a pivotal role in the evolution of the single-panel cartoon, primarily by acting as the chief innovator and popularizer of the one-line joke. By moving away from the "five-decker" dialogues and complex headings common in earlier publications like Punch, the magazine established a greater unity between text and image, mirroring the pithy, direct style emerging in contemporary tabloid journalism.1

This shift fundamentally changed the nature of the comedy-of-manners cartoon, which began to rely more on costume, setting, and situation rather than wordplay or class-based dialogue. The New Yorker also championed the "pictorial joke without words," pushing the boundaries of visual wit. Under the guidance of editors like Harold W. Ross, the magazine’s approach made social cartooning more vigorous and less diagrammatic. By targeting a sophisticated, highbrow audience, the magazine fostered a new era of social comedy that explored diverse subjects—from the managerial class and commercialized sports to the "comedy of the upwardly mobile"—while showcasing a vast diversity of artistic styles influenced by modern art.123