Petting Patty

A flapper-era Sunday strip following the romantic escapades of Patty, a young woman navigating automobile dates and social encounters. This four-panel sequence demonstrates the visual conventions that became standard in newspaper comics: distinct rectangular panels with speech balloons advancing a humorous narrative, recurring character types, and sequential gags building to a punchline. The strip's rapid-fire dialogue and physical comedy reflect the Jazz Age vernacular and dating culture of the 1920s. By the late 1920s, strips like this appeared in thousands of newspapers nationwide, establishing the visual language and narrative structures that would form the foundation of American comic books.