The Duchess Finds the Moon Isn't Made of Green Cheese

This six-panel comic strip demonstrates the visual conventions that defined early newspaper comics: recurring characters (the Duchess and child), sequential narrative across panels, speech balloons advancing dialogue, and visual gags tied to folkloric humor. The strip plays on the centuries-old notion that the moon is made of green cheese—a superstition the Duchess cheerfully defends until proven wrong. The artist employs bold crosshatching and expressive line work typical of the period, using panel progression to control pacing and build comic timing. Strips like this, published in Sunday newspapers and dailies, established the grammar of comic storytelling and directly influenced the development of the comic book as a medium.