From the exhibition
The Newlyweds
· March 3, 1912

George McManus's *The Newlyweds* follows a young married couple navigating domestic life through humor and physical comedy. This strip exemplifies the Sunday newspaper format: six panels arranged in two rows, each advancing a simple narrative. A child plays with a water hose while the wife attempts household tasks, leading to escalating chaos and the husband's exasperated reaction. McManus employs clear sequential panels, expressive linework, and speech balloons to convey action and character emotion—visual techniques that became foundational to comic storytelling. Running from 1904 onward, *The Newlyweds* appeared in newspapers nationwide, helping establish the comic strip as a distinct art form between illustration and narrative cartooning.
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