Chester The Lobster

Created in 1988 by Mark Bursic, Chester the Lobster was an editorial cartoon that ran weekly in the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Student Newspaper, The Advocate. The comic strip is a very early, and possibly first ever, example of digitally produced artwork in a printed news publication. Topics for the comic focused on student life at Pitt’s Johnstown campus and current events. The strip was published from 1988 until 1990. Mark’s production of Chester was an early step in the digital transformation of the student newspaper. By 1991 the entire production of the newspaper was done using six networked computers and a laser printer; a harbinger to the desktop publishing revolution that was soon to computerize newsrooms around the world.