ComicBook Experience

From the exhibition

Sunday Comic Section

· August 3, 1902

Sunday Comic Section
This Sunday newspaper section exemplifies the comic strip format that emerged in American dailies during the 1890s. The page combines illustrated stories, text narratives, and sequential art panels—visual forms that would crystallize into the modern comic book. By 1902, Sunday color comics had become a major circulation driver for papers nationwide. Artists working in this period established the visual vocabulary: word balloons, panel borders, recurring characters across episodes, and varied perspective to pace narrative action. The newspaper Sunday funnies served as the primary venue for comics until the 1930s, when collected reprints and original comic books began appearing as standalone publications.

Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain