Mutt and Jeff — 1908-08-17

Six panels follow the hapless Mutt to a railroad track, where he throws himself down to end his losing streak at the races. Each panel escalates the gag: Mutt dramatic on the rails, a locomotive bearing down ("Here she comes — how sweet it is to die"), and the train passing harmlessly overhead on an elevated track. Ejected and baffled, Mutt is back on his feet, bankroll intact at $310. Fisher's brisk cross-hatching, expressive speech balloons, and a recurring antihero punter made *Mutt and Jeff* the first successful daily newspaper comic strip — five days a week from 1907 onward — and a direct ancestor of the comic book format that would crystallize thirty years later.