Mutt and Jeff

Bud Fisher's *Mutt and Jeff* — launched in the *San Francisco Chronicle* in 1907 — was among the first daily comic strips to feature a continuous cast and serial storyline, key steps toward the modern comic book. This strip follows the tall, scheming Mutt and his short companion Jeff as they exploit 'Little Jeffries' and a military general for a free restaurant meal, played out across a tight row of vertical panels. Fisher's draftsmanship is economical: speech balloons carry quick, punchy dialogue; body language does the comic heavy lifting. The strip's recurring characters, daily publication schedule, and gag-with-continuity structure directly influenced the syndicated newspaper page format that comic book publishers would repackage into bound form by the 1930s.