Stepbrothers

Gene Carr's *Stepbrothers* exemplifies the Sunday newspaper comic strip at its peak—a six-panel narrative following two boys navigating family dynamics and childhood mischief. The strip demonstrates the visual vocabulary that shaped comics: sequential panels advancing a coherent story, speech balloons carrying character voice, and recurring protagonists whose personalities drive the humor. Carr's bold linework and figure work anchor scenes that move fluidly from domestic interior to street and crowd, building gags through spatial relationships and dialogue. By 1911, such strips populated Sunday editions nationwide, establishing the formal grammar and episodic character development that would define the medium for decades.