Splinters

A Sunday newspaper comic strip following a dog's misadventures as it hides bones throughout a house, creating domestic chaos. The strip demonstrates the visual conventions that defined early comics: sequential panels, speech balloons, a recurring animal protagonist, and sight gags built on property destruction. By the 1910s, such strips appeared in newspapers nationwide, establishing the narrative and design principles that would shape the emerging comic book medium. The format—multiple panels per page, escalating visual jokes, and the dog's wordless perspective—became foundational grammar for comics storytelling.