Polly and Her Pals — PO361209

Cliff Sterrett's *Polly and Her Pals* (launched 1912, *New York Evening Telegram*) is among the most formally inventive strips of the early newspaper comic era. This daily strip, titled "Money 'Mad,'" runs four panels: Polly's father Pa Perkins is scolded for his slovenly appearance as suitor Ken arrives; the family then confronts lounging Uncle Samuel, demanding he sit straight; Pa declares he will make himself a millionaire; and the strip closes with a defiant young character threatening to disinherit "th' hull lot" of them. Sterrett's angular linework, stacked diagonals, and expressive grotesque figures pushed newspaper strips toward near-abstraction. Such dailies were the direct precursor to the comic book: when syndicates reprinted strips in pamphlet form through the 1930s, the modern comic book format was born.