Sunday Comic Section — St. Louis Republic

This Sunday newspaper page from the St. Louis Republic demonstrates the visual variety and commercial integration that defined early 1900s comic sections. The page mixes sequential comic strips with illustrated advertisements and editorial content, a standard format for Sunday papers competing for readers. The layout establishes conventions still recognizable today: distinct panels with narrative progression, hand-lettered dialogue, and recurring characters. By 1903, newspaper comics had become essential to circulation, as publishers recognized their drawing power. The Sunday funnies provided artists and cartoonists a weekly platform to develop visual storytelling techniques—panel borders, perspective, and expressive linework—that would form the foundation of modern comic books when reprinted in collected form.