From the exhibition
How Would You Like to Be John?
· July 24, 1904

This Sunday comic strip uses a recurring domestic scenario—a wife fantasizing about transforming her husband into various professions and social types. Across six panels, she imagines John as a wealthy gentleman, a railway conductor, a military officer, and other aspirational roles, each resulting in comic misadventure. The strip's visual grammar—sequential panels, speech balloons, exaggerated facial expressions, and caricatured figures—exemplifies the newspaper comic form that emerged in the 1890s. Such strips became the foundation of modern comics, establishing conventions for narrative flow, character development, and visual comedy that shaped the medium for generations.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain