From the archives: Comics

The most obscure pun in Asterix; the first comic strip character; the Scrabble-like game using comics instead of letters; and the comic that can be read upside-down.

Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The French comic book Asterix and Cleopatra contains what is perhaps the most obscure pun in that series’ history.


Ally Sloper
Charles H. Ross / Public domain

In 1867, Ally Sloper became the first reoccurring comic book character in history.


Scroubabble is a French game modelled after Scrabble – but using comic book panes instead of letters.


Gustave Verbeek
Gustave Verbeek [public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo, first published in 1903, was an ambigram comic: it could be read upside down.

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