Bill Watterson on how older comic strips worked

"Looking back, you'll see that some of the old strips are one-gag formulas, endlessly varied. Krazy Kat revolves around the tossing of the brick. Little Nemo was always a dream, and you know the kid is going to wake up in a heap at the bottom of his bed in every single strip. I find Herriman a lot more interesting than McCay, but both are working within a very limited construct. It's a very different approach to cartooning that what we do now. I would go insane working with limited formulas like theirs, but on the other hand, Herriman and McCay gave us something better than gags. Back then, the fun was in the getting there. The destination of each strip was the same, but every day you went there by a different road. Today, we want the strip over as soon as possible - 'Just hand me the punchline, please.' The fewer panels, words, and drawings, the better. I think Pogo was the last of the enjoy-the-ride strips. It's a shame. We've really lost what comics do best."