Alice Thinks the Copper a Fine Jumper

This Sunday strip follows Alice through a sequence of escalating physical comedy. A policeman's exaggerated leap across panels drives the narrative forward—a gag dependent on comics' unique ability to show action across sequential frames. The strip demonstrates early newspaper comic conventions: large, readable panels; hand-lettered dialogue balloons; and a cast of recurring characters. Artists working in newspapers during this period—roughly 1895–1910—pioneered the visual language that would define comics: establishing shot, close-up, action sequence, and reaction. These Sunday pages and dailies formed the direct ancestor of the modern comic book, introducing readers to the grammar of panel layout, timing through sequence, and character-driven humor that persists today.