Smitty—Following Suit

A four-panel strip featuring Smitty, an office boy character, imitating his boss's physical mannerisms. The gag escalates from observation to slapstick: Smitty watches the portly boss struggle into his suit, then mimics his contorted movements with exaggerated elasticity, prompting coworkers' laughter. The strip employs the visual grammar of newspaper comics—sequential panels, speech balloons, and a recurring protagonist in workplace settings—that defined the daily strip format. Smitty strips appeared in American newspapers throughout the interwar period, establishing the office boy as a stock comedic character and demonstrating how physical comedy translated effectively to the small sequential frame.