Happy Hooligan — 1901-07-01

Four panels track Happy Hooligan—his tin-can hat perched on an oversized head—reading a newspaper story about a millionaire who rewards a stranger for crossing a crowded street. Spotting a well-dressed gentleman, Happy cheerfully escorts him through traffic, horses, and pedestrians, expecting his fortune. The final panel lands him at a police station, dragged there by a cop: the gentleman wanted no such help. Opper's loose, energetic brushwork and exaggerated silhouettes make the gag land in pure image before a word is read. Syndicated in Hearst papers from 1900, *Happy Hooligan* was among the first strips built on a recurring loser-hero whose optimism guarantees catastrophe—a narrative engine that would drive American comics for the next century.