Smitty — Coincidence

This strip from *Smitty* demonstrates the visual storytelling conventions that defined newspaper comics. The four-panel layout moves readers left to right through a domestic mishap: a servant drops a valued picture, bystanders rush to help, and the discovery that the frame held a portrait of Mary becomes the punchline. Speech balloons, expressive linework, and sequential action frames became the grammar of comics during the newspaper era, when Sunday pages and daily strips reached millions of readers. *Smitty*, featuring a young office boy and his working-class entanglements, was among the popular recurring-character strips that proved comics could sustain audience interest across hundreds of installments.