Mr. Titus Wad Almost Rode Cyclone Out at the Rodeo

A newspaper comic strip drawn by Gale, featuring Mr. Titus Wad's attempt to ride a bucking horse called Cyclone at a rodeo. The three-panel strip uses speech balloons and sequential action to show Wad's confident plan to mount the unrideable horse, then his explosive failure as the animal bucks him skyward. The comic employs slapstick and exaggerated motion lines typical of early newspaper comics, with onlookers reacting to the chaos. By 1913, such comic strips were standard features in Sunday and daily papers, establishing the visual conventions—panels, balloons, recurring characters—that would form the foundation of the modern comic book.