The Gumps

Sidney Smith's *The Gumps* ran in the Chicago Tribune and pioneered the narrative comic strip format. Unlike earlier gag-based strips, *The Gumps* told continuous family stories across weeks and months, establishing conventions still used today: recurring characters, sequential panels advancing plot, and dialogue balloons carrying character voice. The strip follows Andy Gump's domestic life—schemes, squabbles, and small victories—rendered in Smith's clean line work. This Sunday page displays the full-color format that made newspaper comics cultural fixtures. *The Gumps* demonstrated that strips could sustain reader investment through character development and ongoing situations, directly influencing how comic books would later structure serialized narratives.