From the exhibition
Herr Spiegleburger Meets Ait a Waterloo
· March 18, 1906

A six-panel Sunday comic following the misadventures of a portly gentleman at a public bath. The narrative flows from left to right across two tiers, depicting Spiegleburger's encounter with fellow bathers in escalating comic chaos. The strip employs the visual conventions pioneered in newspaper comics: sequential panels with dialogue balloons advancing the story, exaggerated character proportions for comedic effect, and physical humor as primary gag structure. Early 1900s newspaper comics relied on these recurring characters and domestic situations to build readership, establishing the visual language that would define the medium for decades.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain