John T. Raymond in Bartley Campbell's Comedy 'Risks'

This theatrical advertisement showcases actor John T. Raymond in the role of an Insurance Agent, promoting Campbell's comedy at New Institute Hall. The engraving captures Raymond in period business dress—bowler hat, pinstriped suit, bow tie—clutching contract papers that spill from his pocket. Though theatrical rather than comic strip, such promotional images prefigure the visual storytelling conventions emerging in newspapers: focused character portraiture, costume as comedy, and text anchoring narrative. Theater publicity and the illustrated press shared aesthetic language in the 1870s, both training audiences to read sequential images and dialogue. Raymond's exaggerated pose and scattered papers telegraph the character's comic predicament through pose alone—a visual economy that would become fundamental to comic strips.