From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
comic strip \com"ic strip`\ (k[o^]m"[i^]k str[i^]p), n.
a brief sequence of drawings, usually with characters drawn
only sketchily, as in a cartoon, with dialog written in
"balloons" over a character's head, and depicting a fictional
and usually comical incident; -- also called a cartoon.
Each comic strip contains typically from four to six panels
arranged horizontally, but widely varying arrangements are
published. In modern newspapers, weekly comic strips are in
color, and daily strips are usually in black and white. In
some, the story depicted may be serialized and continuous,
carried over from day to day or week to week. Stories of
adventure, drama, mystery or an otherwise non-comical nature
depicted in the same style are also called comic strips.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
comic strip
n 1: a sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or
comic book [syn: comic strip, cartoon strip, strip,
funnies]