Buster Brown & Yellow Kid
January 14, 1863 - Richard Outcault, Creator of the "Sunday" Comic Strip was born.
Richard Outcault, the artist whose comics were the first to appear in color 1894 in the "New York World", was born on this day in 1863. A pioneering force in the world of illustration and comics, Outcault would bring the use of color, word balloons, and multiple panels to the forefront of the art of drawing comics.
Outcault previously worked as an illustrator for Thomas Edison. At the height of the New York paper-wars of the Glitter Era, Outcault would be recruited by Joseph Pulitzer to draw comics and illustrations for the"New York World" newspaper. He would later be lured away by William Randolph Hearst to do the same at the "New York Journal".
In 1895 his comic "Hogan's Alley" would debut as the first color comic on the front page of a newspaper. The color would be yellow, and featured the primary character of a bald-headed boy in a nightshirt who became known as "Yellow Kid". This character would give rise to the pejorative term"Yellow Journalism". The Yellow Kid comics would also be one of the first examples of cross-merchandising in media. Retailers vied to have references to a variety of products emblazoned on the front of Yellow Kid's nightshirt.
After defecting to Hearst's "New York Journal" Outcault would continue to draw Yellow Kid and created the endearing character of "Buster Brown" and his dog Tige. The likeness of Buster and his dog would later be licensed as the logo for another iconoclastic American product - Buster Brown Shoes!
Quote for ToDay:
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. - Sun Tzufrom "The Art of War"
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