throwaway panel

noun

A panel in the top row of a Sunday strip, intended to be inessential so it can be removed to save space.

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Meanings

nounthrowaway panel (plural throwaway panels)

plural throwaway panels

  1. comicsA panel in the top row of a Sunday strip, intended to be inessential so it can be removed to save space.

    The long throwaway panel at the top shows the type of scale and atmosphere one can evoke with a bit more room.

    2001 September 17, Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 35
    2 more examples

    The throwaway panel cannot contain any information vital to the main narrative of the strip. To test this page, skip the throwaway panel when reading; nothing is lost.

    2020 January 15, Walt Kelly, Pogo: The Complete Daily & Sunday Comic Strips Vol. 6: Clean as a Weasel, Fantagraphics Books, →ISBN, page 333

    Some of Schulz's throwaway panels are very interesting. They gave him a place to experiment or doodle or just play around, as with the above drawing of Peppermint Patty as a weed.

    2025 October 7, Mark Evanier, The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time, Abrams, →ISBN, page 236
Cite this entry
APA

throwaway panel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throwaway%20panel

MLA

“throwaway panel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throwaway%20panel. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “throwaway panel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throwaway%20panel.

Source: throwaway panel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.