Penny Ante: The Fellow Who Tears Up His Hand

Jean Knott's *Penny Ante* strip exemplifies the Sunday newspaper comic page format that emerged in the early twentieth century. The strip's narrative unfolds across panels using speech balloons and sequential action: a card game escalates when one player, frustrated with losing hands, literally destroys his cards. The exaggerated facial expressions and physical comedy typical of the era drive the humor. By 1917, newspaper comics had established visual conventions—panel borders, expressive caricature, and recurring character types—that would become foundational to the medium. Daily and Sunday strips populated American newspapers and comic sections, reaching mass audiences and establishing the visual grammar later adopted by comic books.