Men Behind the Cardboard Who Please Public

This Sunday newspaper feature presents portraits and biographical sketches of prominent comic and political cartoonists of the early twentieth century. The layout—combining photography with text and illustration—reflects the growing celebrity of newspaper artists whose work reached millions daily. By 1913, comic strips had become a fixture of Sunday editions, their panel sequences and recurring characters establishing visual conventions that would define sequential art. These cartoonists were the architects of modern comics: they pioneered the use of speech balloons, expressive line work, and narrative pacing across panels. The newspaper Sunday page was the primary medium through which comics reached mass audiences before the emergence of comic books.