Gabe, by Frueh

A Sunday comic strip featuring Gabe, a recurring character in working-class domestic scenarios. The six-panel sequence follows a slapstick Christmas narrative: a father hides his outfit to surprise the boys, attempts to disguise himself with flour and other materials, and creates comic chaos when his costume falls apart. The strip employs the visual conventions that defined early newspaper comics—sequential panels, speech balloons, exaggerated physical comedy, and recurring characters. By 1911, such strips had become standard features in Sunday papers, establishing the visual grammar and narrative structures that would become foundational to the comic book medium. The domestic setting and family-centered humor were typical of strips aimed at general newspaper audiences.