Schemes

This six-panel strip follows a salvage entrepreneur's plan to raise sunken ships using air bags. The sequence moves from initial conception in a bathtub, through investor enthusiasm, to the practical execution and triumphant results at sea. The comic employs the visual conventions established in newspaper strips of the era: distinct bordered panels, speech balloons advancing narrative, and a protagonist whose scheme unfolds across sequential images. The recurring character appears throughout, connecting panels through continuous action. The drawing style—bold lines, economical detail, and expressive figures—reflects the commercial newspaper illustration of the early 1900s, when Sunday pages and serialized strips provided the formal template that would define the emerging comic book medium.