See you in the funny papers

You remember how I asked, three weeks ago, whether anyone got the reference in the December 3rd Mutts?  Apparently no one tumbled to it, which must mean my Small but Faithful Readership has no comics historians.

The strip has finally made it to his Web site (the archives are always two weeks behind), so I’ll post the question again, but this time I’ll also point you to the answer.  I truly admire someone who’s so aware of where his art came from, and willing to engage in hommage à ses ancêtres.

So let’s try it again, with a new example:  What’s the reference in the first panel of the December 10th strip?

I Go Fnord.