Petey Dink

C.A. Voight's *Petey Dink* comic strip depicts a military recruit learning the practical logistics of uniform wear. The strip's humor hinges on the collision between civilian custom and military protocol: a soldier's wristwatch—once a woman's fashion accessory—must be worn under the cuff to appear respectable in uniform. The four-panel sequence uses speech balloons, varied panel composition, and sequential visual narrative to deliver its gag. Newspaper comic strips of this era, appearing daily and Sunday across the country, established the fundamental grammar of comics: recurring characters, panel-to-panel progression, and word-image integration that would define the medium.