The Goats, the Male, and the Mule Traders

This six-panel strip follows a dealer negotiating the sale of a male goat to a trader. The narrative progresses through dialogue and physical comedy: the dealer claims the animal is young and valuable; the trader expresses doubt; a handshake seals the deal; the goat then attacks both men in escalating violence across the final panels. The strip demonstrates early comic sequential storytelling—recurring characters, speech balloons advancing plot, and escalating visual gags. The heavy black silhouetting of the dealer's figure contrasts with detailed line work in the surrounding action, a technique common in newspaper Sunday comics of the early 1900s that helped strips reproduce clearly in print.