From the exhibition
Mr. Newlywed Decides Napoleon Is Going to Be a Printer
· July 19, 1908

This Sunday comic strip follows a young couple and their toddler son, Napoleon, through domestic mishaps. The father's attempts to control his wife's parenting backfire when she lets the boy play with ink, resulting in ruined clothing. The strip's six-panel layout, recurring characters, and speech balloons exemplify the visual language that newspaper comics developed in the early 1900s. By this period, Sunday funnies had become major newspaper features, establishing conventions—sequential panels, thought balloons, and serial family situations—that would form the foundation of the comic book medium that emerged in the 1930s.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain