Awkward Word Balloon Placement in Early Comics
by Jeet Heer
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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Herriman's Major Ozone, Sept. 29, 1906
As an addendum to my McManus notebook, I’ve been collecting examples of reverse-order word ballooning, that’s to say the tendency of early cartoonists to occasionally have word balloons read from right to left rather than the reading protocol that’s easier in English (from left to right).
A few examples of what I’m talking about:
George Herriman, Major Ozone, Sept. 29, 1906:
Major Ozone: “What! And shut out that fine fresh air? Never, Captain, Never!!”
Captain: “Major, you’d better close your door – it may storm tonight.”
