For today, a quick example of yet another “Pre-YK Talkie”. I.e., multi-panel sequential cartoons, told via a combination of pictures plus in-panel dialogue/word balloons, in which the story would not be understood without either the pictures or the in-panel dialogue. Like Donald Trump making claims without evidence or bothering to do research, numerous respected “comics historians” for decades stated that this style of comic strip did not appear until R.F. Outcault “invented” it in the October 25, 2025 episode of the Yellow Kid. Our continuing series on Pre-YK Talkies, reveal just some of the many examples to be found, if one merely looks for them.

The above example, White-Bait, by William Heath, comes from issue 7 of the London published cartoon periodical, The Looking Glass. It was published on July 1st, 1830 — sixty-six years prior to the acclaimed Yellow Kid episode.

Click on the above picture to see a larger, more readable version.

P.S., none of this is to take away from Outcault or The Yellow Kid, both of which were great. Outcault himself never claimed to have invented “talking” comic strips. My purpose is to open up the entire history of pre-YK comic strips — “talking” and not — as being legitimate. The best way (in my opinion), to tear apart the argument that no pre-1896 comic strips were “real”, is to show that, yes, indeed, strips meeting the precise same definition did exist before Yellow Kid. And not just a few, rare, aberrations seen by no one. But multiple instances, popping up for decades, some of which were widely distributed and seen (such as some of the advertising strips we’ve already shown).

Doug Wheeler

PreYKStrips