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From the exhibition

Mr. Al Most by Gene Carr

· February 11, 1912

Mr. Al Most by Gene Carr
Gene Carr's *Mr. Al Most* follows a lanky, disaster-prone character through a series of physical comedies across six panels. In this strip, Al attempts a rescue that goes comically awry—he tumbles through rooms, collides with furniture, and ends up with his efforts completely bungled, though the intended victim is saved anyway. Carr employs the visual conventions that defined early newspaper comics: sequential panels with dialogue balloons, exaggerated body language, and sight gags that unfold across the page. The strip exemplifies how newspaper Sunday pages and dailies became the testing ground for the visual language that would shape the medium, establishing recurring characters and repeating gags as the basis for reader anticipation and loyalty.

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