Alphonse and Gaston Take a Run Across the Ocean

This Sunday comic strip follows two French characters through six sequential panels as their ocean liner encounters rough seas. The narrative unfolds through speech balloons and sight gags: passengers lose their footing, furniture slides across decks, and the protagonists tumble through a cascade of water. The strip exemplifies early newspaper comics' visual storytelling—multiple panels advancing a single comedic scenario, recurring characters in familiar situations, and physical humor rendered through dynamic linework. Published in the Sunday papers that preceded the comic book format, such strips established the medium's basic vocabulary: panel borders, word-picture integration, and character-driven continuity that would define comics for generations.