Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo: The Bogey Man

This Sunday newspaper strip demonstrates the innovative visual format that defined early comic narrative: six panels arranged in a grid with speech balloons advancing a sequential story. Old Man Muffaroo warns Little Lady Lovekins of the Bogey Man; when she hears a strange sound, a peculiar creature emerges from the forest. The creature—a grotesque figure with bulbous features—kidnaps the girl and carries her away. The final panels show Lovekins and Muffaroo confined behind a barred door, imprisoned in the creature's dwelling. The strip's title references its central visual conceit: inverted perspective and impossible landscapes. By 1904, the Sunday comics page had become a laboratory for experimental panel layouts and continuous action, establishing the visual grammar that would become foundational to American comics.