Little Arthur

James McNeill Whistler's etching presents a young figure in dark clothing, rendered in fine linear hatching characteristic of 19th-century printmaking. Though titled *Little Arthur*, this work predates the newspaper comic strip by decades. Whistler's mastery of line and tonal variation through etching technique influenced later illustrators who would develop visual storytelling methods—panel borders, sequential narrative, and expressive linework—foundational to comics' visual grammar. This print exemplifies the artistic traditions from which comic art emerged.