Nobody Loves a Fat Man

This comic strip from the American Press Association uses sequential panels and speech balloons to develop a single gag across six frames. A stout man attempts gardening in spring, but a series of mishaps—a broken wheelbarrow, collapsing plants, physical abuse from onlookers—escalates his misfortune. The strip employs exaggerated caricature and slapstick humor typical of early newspaper comics. By 1909, daily and Sunday strips had become standard features in American papers, establishing the visual vocabulary of modern comics: panel progression, character continuity, and dialogue balloons. Artists working in this period pioneered the grammar that would define the medium for generations.