From the exhibition
Mamma's Angel Child Discovers the Only Sure Cure
· 1909

This Sunday comic strip from the Chicago Tribune demonstrates the visual storytelling conventions that emerged in early newspaper comics. The six-panel layout follows a continuous narrative: a mother struggles to quiet a crying infant, attempts various remedies, and finally resorts to laughter as the solution. The strip employs speech balloons, sequential panel progression, and exaggerated physical comedy—visual devices that became foundational to the medium. Recurring domestic characters and slapstick humor were staples of Sunday newspaper pages, which functioned as the direct precursor to the comic book format. Such strips were printed in color and occupied premium space, making them major attractions for newspaper circulation during the medium's formative years.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain