Polly and Her Pals — November 16, 1922

Four daily panels by Cliff Sterrett track a domestic negotiation: Pa is asked whether he has bought a ticket to Aunt Maggie's piano recital; he dodges, then apologizes to Maggie herself, pledging to be there "in spirit." The final panel delivers the punchline literally — Pa's ghost materializes in the front row. Sterrett's linework is dense and inventive, his figures built from exaggerated curves and cross-hatching, the speech balloons integrated naturally into each composition. *Polly and Her Pals*, launched in 1912 for the Hearst syndicate, is among the earliest strips to develop a consistent ensemble cast across years of continuity. Sterrett later pushed the strip toward near-abstract background design, making him one of the most visually adventurous cartoonists working in American newspapers during this foundational period of the medium.