Bobby Make-Believe

A Sunday newspaper comic strip in which young Bobby and his companions engage in imaginative play, pretending a toy train engine is real. The strip demonstrates the visual conventions that emerged from early newspaper comics: sequential panels advancing a narrative, speech balloons for dialogue, and recurring child characters in everyday scenarios. The humor derives from the children's theatrical roleplay and the escalating chaos of their game. Such strips appeared in Sunday papers alongside daily serials, establishing the visual grammar—panel borders, expressive linework, sight gags—that would become foundational to comic book storytelling.