Petey Dink

C. A. Voight's *Petey Dink* strip demonstrates the visual storytelling conventions that emerged in early newspaper comics. The four-panel layout moves sequentially through a misunderstanding about the word "trap," using speech balloons to convey dialogue and thought. Recurring characters like Petey and his adult acquaintances anchor the humor in everyday situations. The pen-and-ink style, economical linework, and clear panel borders were standard in dailies and Sunday strips of this era—the very format that would establish the visual grammar adopted by comic books in the 1930s and beyond. Newspaper comics of this period created the foundational language of the medium: panels, balloons, character continuity, and sight gags rendered through sequential art.