From the exhibition
The Adventures of Patsy—While You Wait
· January 21, 1943
A four-panel daily strip in which Mr. Wiggs assigns Patsy household chores while he steps out. The humor unfolds through visual gags and character reaction: Patsy enlists friends to install a new washing machine, leading to escalating chaos. The strip employs the conventions established by newspaper comics—recurring characters, speech balloons, sequential panels advancing a brief narrative arc. By the 1940s, the daily comic strip had become America's primary venue for visual storytelling, establishing the visual grammar that would define comic books: economical panel layout, expressive linework, and sight gags that drive plot. Strips like this one trained readers in the language of sequential art.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain
