ComicBook Experience

From the exhibition

The Adventures of Kitty Cobb

· 1912

The Adventures of Kitty Cobb
James Montgomery Flagg's *Kitty Cobb* appeared as a serial picture-story in newspapers, following the conventions of early Sunday comic strips. Here Kitty, employed as a stenographer, navigates office politics as two men dictate letters simultaneously—a visual gag built on panel composition and character interaction rather than dialogue alone. Flagg's sharp cross-hatching and architectural framing of domestic and professional interiors were hallmarks of newspaper illustration at the turn of the century. The strip demonstrates how sequential art evolved from single cartoons into recurring narratives, establishing visual storytelling techniques—panel borders, character consistency, situational humor—that would define the comic strip form and eventually the comic book medium itself.

Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain