Smitty — Sign of Good Times

This strip follows the office boy Smitty and his interactions with coworkers and supervisors. The narrative unfolds across six panels using the visual conventions that define newspaper comics: distinct sequential frames, speech balloons conveying dialogue, and recurring characters in a workplace setting. Smitty's boss announces the office is relocating, prompting the titular character to request two signs—one reading "Out to Lunch" and another "Gone for the Day." The strip employs sight gags and character reaction to land its humor, relying on the reader's familiarity with Smitty's established personality. This format exemplifies the daily newspaper strip that became foundational to comic art, establishing panel layout, word-image integration, and serialized character development as core grammar for the medium.