Study of a Standing Man

This ink sketch by Francis Augustus Lathrop demonstrates the figure drawing that preceded sequential comic art. The careful cross-hatching and anatomical observation reflect late nineteenth-century illustration practice. While this is a single figure study rather than a comic strip, such drawings reveal the technical foundation underlying early newspaper comics. Artists of this era—working in dailies and Sunday supplements—developed the visual vocabulary that would become comics: panel composition, character consistency, and gesture-driven narrative. Lathrop's attention to clothing detail and posture anticipates how cartoonists would soon use physical stance to convey personality and action across multiple panels.