Happy Hooligan — St. Louis Republic, July 31, 1904

Six panels follow Montmorency, brother of F. Opper's perpetual tramp Happy Hooligan, as he sets off for Europe — bumbling through dockside farewells, a confrontation with a policeman, and a pratfall exit. Opper's line is loose and kinetic: rubbery figures, expressive silhouettes, speech balloons anchored tight to each speaker. The strip ran in Hearst papers beginning 1900 and became one of the first true recurring-character comic strips in American print. Sunday pages like this one — full color, multiple panels, a named cast returning week after week — were the structural and commercial prototype from which the comic book format directly descended. Frederick Burr Opper, a veteran of Puck magazine, brought professional illustration discipline to a form still improvising its own rules.