Joe and Asbestos

Ken Kling's *Joe and Asbestos* follows a young entrepreneur hustling to build his fortune through various schemes. This Sunday strip demonstrates the visual conventions that defined early newspaper comics: sequential panels with speech balloons, exaggerated character expressions, and rapid-fire gags. The narrative moves fluidly across the page, establishing a recurring cast—Joe, his older friend Asbestos, and supporting characters—whose interactions drive each week's story. By the 1920s, newspaper strips had become the primary venue for sequential art in America, employing the visual grammar later foundational to comic books: the panel grid, thought balloons, action lines, and expressive lettering that conveyed tone and emphasis.