Polly and Her Pals — 1922-11-25

In this daily strip, Ashur — Polly's slang-slinging father — settles in to hear piano secrets, only to watch a fast-talking salesman pitch an electric player piano while a third figure pounds out demonstrative chaos on the keys. The gag resolves with a burst of minstrel-style song and Ashur none the wiser. Sterrett's draftsmanship is already crackling with kinetic line work and expressive distortion — hallmarks of his later Cubist-inflected style. *Polly and Her Pals* launched in 1912 and became one of the most visually inventive strips of the syndicate era. These daily newspaper strips — alongside Sunday pages by McManus, McCay, and Herriman — were the direct forebears of the comic book, establishing panel sequencing, speech balloons, and recurring cast as the medium's core grammar.