Splinters

This Sunday strip by Steinigans follows two dogs as they attempt to bury a bone, only to find their efforts thwarted by a locked door and eventually a housemaid's discovery. The narrative unfolds across six panels using speech balloons and sequential action to move the story forward. The comic employs physical comedy and character reaction—the dogs' frustration contrasts with the maid's exasperation at the mess—to drive humor. By 1912, such strips had become standard features in American newspapers, establishing the visual vocabulary of comics: bordered panels, dialogue balloons, and recurring characters whose antics readers followed daily. This format directly influenced the development of comic books, which would emerge as a commercial medium by reprinting and collecting newspaper strips.