How the Student Got Some Bock Beer

By K. Pommerhanz of Munich, this six-panel comic strip follows a student's escalating scheme to obtain bock beer from a reluctant innkeeper. The narrative unfolds through sequential panels with speech balloons, demonstrating the visual grammar emerging in early newspaper comics: clear panel progression, action flowing left to right, and dialogue advancing the gag. The student attempts deception, impersonation, and increasingly absurd methods—climbing the building, disguising himself—each rejected until he finally appears as a legitimate customer with legitimate means. Pommerhanz's line work captures both the architecture and physical comedy through dynamic poses and expressions. This strip exemplifies how immigrant cartoonists contributed to American newspaper humor while drawing on European comic traditions and sensibilities.