The simplistic and often repetitive nature of the Newspaper Comic can be a valuable tool to have an overarching commentary on society and the way that the average person lives their life outside of the comic realm. By analyzing strips like Gasoline Alley and Crazy Cat, two seemingly silly and simple comics, you are led to realize they have much more to say than slapstick humor, a knock on the head, or a false nickel. Comics like these generally have much more to say than their styles and humor would lead you to believe. While Gasoline Alley has a more experimental illustrative aspect to it at times as opposed to many of its counterparts, the concept is still in tact, and the style stays generally subdued. While the characters are simple and vague the subject matter can tend to lean more on the adult or mature side. The comic is for children, but at its core is much more deep and reflective than at first glance.
This technique of almost fooling the reader into thinking more deeply than expected was explored as well in Understanding Comics, and is one of the comic techniques that has truly stood the test of time, with even modern comics utilizing this idea in their stories. Calvin and Hobbes, as well as Peanuts comes to mid. Two wildly popular comics, with both children and adults, who's art styles are quite simple indeed, but both explore greater meaning and deeper thought. Calvin and Hobbes having a direct reference to the old greats of comic history, intentionally emulating their work.
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