Polly and Her Pals

Four panels track a domestic financial comedy: a stout, frizzy-haired woman (Polly's mother, Carrie) has apparently overdrawn the family bank account again, prompting a visit to the door where creditors—rendered as angular, comically sinister callers—demand their "dough." Carrie's deadpan resolution is to mail them a check immediately, punctuated by a final "PLOP" as something (or someone) collapses. Sterrett's draftsmanship is notably sophisticated: bold ink contrasts, fluid figure work, and expressive silhouettes compress physical comedy into tight panel rhythms. *Polly and Her Pals*, launched by Hearst's King Features in 1912, was among the first daily strips to develop a true ensemble cast across years of continuity. Sterrett later pushed the strip toward near-abstract Art Deco design, making it one of the most visually inventive newspaper comics of the 1920s.