From the exhibition
Billy Bounce Takes the Bunch Tobogganing
· December 21, 1902

This Sunday comic strip follows Billy Bounce and his crew on a winter toboggan adventure, told across four panels of escalating chaos. The narrative unfolds through sequential art: initial planning gives way to a tumultuous ride downhill, culminating in a crash that scatters the group. Speech balloons carry dialogue and reaction throughout. The strip exemplifies early newspaper comics' visual language—recurring characters, panel-to-panel storytelling, and slapstick humor designed for mass entertainment. By the early 1900s, Sunday color strips became major newspaper attractions, establishing conventions that would define the medium: the comic strip became the crucible where sequential narrative, character consistency, and visual gags merged into a distinctly American art form.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain