Polly and Her Pals — PO350108

Cliff Sterrett's *Polly and Her Pals* (King Features, launched 1912) runs four panels here under the gag title "Thanks for the Buggy Ride!" Polly and a rotund elder—likely Pa Perkins—drag a bundled, goggle-wearing figure outdoors in winter; Polly insists they must "run around the block to stimulate our circulation," while her companion groans he can barely roll his eyes. The final panels show them hauling the stiff figure at speed. Sterrett pioneered geometrically bold Sunday-page design; his dailies, tighter in scope, showcase the crisp ink line and recurring cast that made newspaper strips the direct ancestor of the comic book—proving that serialized characters, speech balloons, and panel-to-panel continuity were fully formed decades before the first stapled pamphlet appeared.