From the exhibition
Bill Hustle Finds Time to Solve the Puzzle
· 1908

This newspaper comic strip follows Bill Hustle, an energetic character racing against the clock to reach his office on time. The six-panel layout demonstrates the visual conventions emerging in early-1900s newspaper comics: sequential panels, speech balloons, and a continuous narrative arc tracking cause and effect. Bill's frantic automobile journey—speeding past pedestrians, nearly colliding with onlookers—builds toward a punchline about solving a business puzzle through sheer momentum rather than method. The strip employs exaggerated motion lines and silhouetted figures typical of the period's cartooning style, where humor derived from physical comedy and the absurdity of modern commercial life. Such strips populated Sunday supplements and daily editions, establishing the visual grammar and character-driven storytelling that would become foundational to comic books.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain