Simon Simple Becomes a 'Jiu Jitsu' Expert

This comic strip follows Simon Simple, a hapless protagonist, as he attempts to learn jiu jitsu from an instructor. The narrative arc moves from his initial overconfidence through a series of physical mishaps—throws, falls, and collisions—that land him in increasingly chaotic situations. By the strip's end, Simon has inadvertently mastered the martial art through sheer accident, subduing a group of opponents through blind luck. The strip demonstrates the visual grammar emerging in early newspaper comics: sequential panels with speech balloons, exaggerated expressions, and kinetic line work conveying motion and impact. Published in the Los Angeles Sunday Herald, this comic exemplifies how Sunday newspaper supplements became the primary venue for developing sequential narrative art in the early twentieth century, establishing conventions that would define the medium for decades.