This was active for a hundred years? Wow!
Time travel is a more reasonable explanation.
After making a splash in the early 1990s, Tom Artis took a time
machine back to the 1890s and continued to hone his craft in a time
when there were no comic-books, but instead mostly single-panel illustrations.

I just noticed what you're referring to. Typo in the title corrected.
But at least it made for some good time-travel humor.