Billy Bounce was a comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 published erratically by noted illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 W.W. Denslow (1901-1902; 1906) and later C.W. Kahles (1902-1905) between 1901 and 1906. The strip centers on the actions of the title character, a ball

Ball

A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...

-shaped boy who is capable either of bouncing long distances or actual flight. It is noted as one of the earliest comic strips in which the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 has superpowers

Superpower (ability)

Superpower is a popular culture term for a fictional superhuman ability. When a character possesses multiple such abilities, the terms super powers or simply powers are used...

.

As was common in comic strips of the era, such as Little Nemo in Slumberland, which came shortly after 'Billy Bounce', the strip dealt with otherworldly situations and often had recurring characters, including the King of the Pollywogs, Fuzzy White and Prunes the Pieman.

In September of 1906, Denslow published a single novel based on Billy's adventures, titled simply 'Billy Bounce'. Denslow provided illustrations and the text was written by Dudley A. Bragdon. It was published by G.W. Dillingham Co. in New York.