Polly and Her Pals — February 24, 1922

Six panels track a rapid-fire debt dispute between Pa, seated in his armchair, and a stout female relative — possibly Aunt — who arrives demanding a dime. Each character counters with a prior obligation: the taxi fare, the laundry C.O.D., the allowance advance, the borrowed-back dollar. The ledger spirals until Pa simply hands over a ten and declares they start fresh. Sterrett's draftsmanship is precise and loose simultaneously — crosshatched chairs, expressive silhouettes, speech balloons that drive panel rhythm. *Polly and Her Pals*, syndicated from 1912, was among the earliest daily strips to develop a stable cast of recurring domestic characters, the very model that newspaper syndicates standardized and that anthology reprints would soon repackage as the first comic books.