Mr. Skygack, from Mars

An early newspaper comic strip featuring an alien correspondent visiting Earth to file wireless observations. The strip employs the visual conventions that would become standard in comics: sequential panels, speech balloons, and a recurring character in absurd situations. Mr. Skygack's encounter with a sneezing Earthling—mistaking the nasal disturbance for a sign of intellectual struggle—typifies the strip's humor based on cross-cultural misunderstanding. Strips like this, published in daily and Sunday newspapers, established the visual language and character-driven narratives that would later form the foundation of the comic book medium.