Outbursts of Everett True

A single-panel gag strip by Ben Batsford featuring the eponymous Everett True, a rotund, bowler-hatted character prone to explosive reactions. Here, True confronts a stranger outside a bar, vehemently swearing off alcohol while gesticulating wildly. The composition stacks multiple figures vertically—the bystander at the bar entrance, True center-stage, and a prone figure at his feet—creating comic chaos through exaggeration and physical comedy. The strip exemplifies early newspaper humor's reliance on caricature, speech balloons, and situational irony. *Outbursts of Everett True* ran in daily newspapers, pioneering the recurring-character format that would establish the visual and narrative conventions of American comic strips and, eventually, comic books.