Salesman Sam: 'Mistaken Identity'

Salesman Sam, a recurring character in early newspaper comics, stars in this four-panel strip where a case of mistaken identity drives the gag. Sam's encounter with a horse leads to slapstick confusion as other characters mistake him for someone else. The strip employs the visual conventions that defined 1920s comic dailies: sequential panels with speech balloons, exaggerated expressions, and quick narrative resolution. Newspaper strips like this were the primary venue for comics before the comic book format emerged in the 1930s, establishing the visual language and character-driven humor that would anchor the medium.