Smitty — Fowl Play

This Sunday strip from *Smitty* showcases the visual economy of early newspaper comics. Four panels progress through a domestic scene: a man serves lunch to a woman, she protests eating fowl, he coaxes her with flattery, and chaos erupts as chickens escape the kitchen. The strip employs the formal grammar of sequential art—bordered panels, speech balloons, and recurring characters—that became foundational to comic book storytelling. *Smitty* ran as both daily and Sunday strips, reaching millions of readers and establishing the recurring-character format that would define the medium. The cartoonist's crisp linework and physical comedy rely on visual timing rather than elaborate detail, a technique essential to newspaper production schedules.