Penny Ante: The Bluffer Caught

Jean Knott's *Penny Ante* comic strip exemplifies the newspaper humor strips that formed the foundation of American comics. This Sunday page shows a card game setup with multiple characters in sequential panels, using speech balloons to advance a simple gag about deception at poker. The strip's visual economy—clear line work, expressive faces, and direct panel progression—demonstrates the visual language newspapers developed in the 1910s. Such strips, distributed nationally through syndication, established the recurring-character formula and narrative rhythm that would define comic books. *Penny Ante* captures the everyday social humor that dominated the comics pages alongside more elaborate adventure strips.