Smitty: A Costume Party Game

This Sunday strip sequence demonstrates the visual storytelling conventions that shaped early comic narratives. Across four panels, a costume party escalates into a parlor game: characters draw fortunes from a bag that predict romantic outcomes. The strip employs the fundamental grammar of sequential comics—panel borders, speech balloons, and recurring characters—to build narrative momentum and comedic timing. Smitty, the recurring protagonist, anchors the action as social situations unfold through dialogue and physical comedy. The dense crosshatching and ink work reflect the newspaper Sunday page aesthetic, where strips like this bridged entertainment and the emerging visual language that would define the comic book medium itself.