The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead

This Sunday comic strip follows a young girl named Polly through a series of dreamlike episodes triggered by her afternoon naps. Each panel presents a discrete fantasy scenario—a tea party, a magical forest adventure, encounters with fantastic creatures—connected by the recurring device of Polly falling asleep and waking. The strip demonstrates early mastery of sequential narrative: multiple panels per row, speech balloons advancing plot, and visual gags that depend on reading left to right. The artwork combines domestic interior scenes with elaborate outdoor fantasies, using detailed pen-and-ink technique typical of newspaper Sunday pages. By the early 1900s, such strips had become standard features in major dailies, establishing the visual and narrative conventions that would define comic books.