Our Antediluvian Ancestors

This Sunday comic strip uses evolutionary regression as satire on municipal bureaucracy. Sequential panels depict city officials devolving into increasingly primitive forms—from walking upright through various stages of ape-like behavior—to mock the "Cliffville administration" and public spending. The strip employs the visual grammar that defines early newspaper comics: distinct panels with speech balloons, recurring characters (the Judge, city officials), and escalating visual gags that build across the page. The artist uses exaggeration and physical comedy to critique government waste, a common theme in early 20th-century newspaper humor. This strip exemplifies how Sunday newspaper comics combined satirical social commentary with slapstick visual storytelling.