Spareribs and Gravy in the Woof-Nuff Hospital

George McManus's comic strip follows two canine characters through a hospital scenario, using visual gags and physical comedy typical of early newspaper comics. The strip demonstrates the panel structure and speech balloons that became foundational to comic language: action flows across the page, expressions drive humor, and recurring characters build reader familiarity. By 1912, Sunday comic sections were essential newspaper features, drawing readers and establishing the visual grammar that would define twentieth-century comics. McManus employs anthropomorphic animals—a common device allowing artists to explore human situations through exaggerated, consequence-free physical action.