More from Aesop's Fables (1884):

This is a follow-up to an earlier post.  Here's another chapter from this amazing 1884 children's volume, with superb (and mildly nightmarish!) art by Edmund H. Garrett.

The Union Pictorial Primer (1866): The modern comic book layout in progress

Froggie and His Friends, from Our Young Folks--June, 1873.

Scanned, and retouched, by me from my copy of Our Young Folks--An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls (June, 1873).  Awesome, cartoon-style artwork, but whose?

Lee

Montages--examples from 1880, 1887, and 1890

I call these "montages."  If there's an actual, official name for them, I'd love to know.  Anyway, I've been encountering them constantly in magazines of the late 19th century, and they're so tantalizingly close to 20th-century comic book layouts, I want to call them comics.  Certainly, they'd be at home in a modern Sunday comics section.

Observe the way that text and art intertwine--interact, even--in these.  A bridge between early comic strips and modern comic magazines?

From 1887 issues of The Youth's Companion, an 1880 issue of Golden Hours, and the Feb., 1890 issue of Wide Awake.  Coolest of all is the third Youth's Companion piece, "The Pussy and the Turtle," which looks (and reads) like Dr. Suess!

Scans by me from magazines in my overflowing collection:

The Youth's Companion, Oct. 29, 1887 (above).

The Youth's Companion, Oct. 6, 1887 (above).

The Youth's Companion, June 16, 1887 (above).

The Youth's Companion, May 12, 1887 (above).  How close to a comic book page can something get?  

Golden Hours, October, 1880 (above).  Situated in the middle of a short story.  Note the bulletin board motif!  It features characters and scenes from the text. 

Wide Awake, Feb., 1890 (above).  This cries out to be converted to modern comic book format! 

Lee

Near-comic page: Bertie and His Sled (1875, 1884)

Today, we have a near-comic page called Bertie and His Sled, scanned by me from Sunshine for Little Children (The Sunshine Press, Philadelphia,1884).  This had previously appeared in 1875 as a three-paged feature in The Nursery.  Note that the panels are arranged top to bottom in three rows; reading from left to right throws the tale out of order.  Printed full-page and in three sections for your near-comic page reading pleasure:

Lee

1883 picture serial--Through Spain on Donkey-Back, Part 1 (W.P. Bodfish)

"Through Spain on Donkey-Back" was a multi-part "picture serial" that appeared in the children's periodical Wide Awake, beginning with the April, 1883 issue.  Drawn by one W.P. Bodfish, it looks and functions so much like a modern comic book feature, I can't see what else it could be considered.

Below: Feb., 1883 back cover Wide Awake ad for "Through Spain on Donkey-Back":

Lee