The "Mad Dog" Fallacy

Albert Payson Terhune's Sunday feature combines narrative text with sequential illustration to debunk the widespread panic over rabid dogs in suburban neighborhoods. The layout—full-page article format with integrated cartoon panels showing children fleeing a harmless dog—typifies early-twentieth-century newspaper comics that blended journalism, humor, and visual storytelling. Terhune uses recurring characters and action sequences across panels to advance his argument, employing the visual grammar of speech balloons and sequential art that newspapers were establishing as the language of comics. The piece reflects how Sunday supplements served both entertainment and educational purposes, using the emerging medium's narrative flexibility to address public concerns through reasoned argument and sight gags.