Behave Yourself!

This Sunday comic demonstrates the visual sophistication of 1920s newspaper strips. Multiple panels and insets guide readers through escalating gentlemanly mishaps—from etiquette advice to comic disasters at a boat, billiard hall, and dinner party. The artist uses speech balloons, varied panel sizes, and recurring "Eddie Kett Says" wisdom boxes to build narrative momentum. By the mid-1920s, newspaper comics had evolved into a distinct medium with standardized layouts and character-driven humor, establishing conventions that would shape comic books. The strip's format—combining instruction with slapstick—reflects how dailies and Sunday pages functioned as both entertainment and social commentary, reaching millions of readers and creating the visual grammar that comics inherited.