Richard F. Outcault facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richard Outcault |
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| Born | January 14, 1863 Lancaster, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | September 25, 1928 (aged 65) Flushing, New York, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
Richard Felton Outcault (born January 14, 1863 – died September 25, 1928) was an American cartoonist. He is famous for creating the comic strips The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown. Many people see him as a very important person in the early days of modern comic strips.
Contents
Life of a Cartoon Pioneer
Richard Outcault was born on January 14, 1863, in Lancaster, Ohio. His parents were Catherine Davis and Jesse P. Outcalt. Richard later added the letter 'u' to his last name.
He studied design at McMicken University in Cincinnati from 1878 to 1881. After finishing school, he worked as a commercial painter.
Early Art Career
Outcault painted special electric light displays for Edison Laboratories. This was for a big event in Cincinnati in 1888. This job led him to work full-time with Thomas Edison in West Orange, New Jersey. He made mechanical drawings and illustrations there.
Edison chose him to be the official artist for the company's traveling show in 1889–90. This included helping set up Edison's exhibits in Paris, France. While in Paris, Outcault also studied art. This is when he added the 'u' to his last name.
In 1890, Outcault came back to the U.S. He got married and moved to Flushing in New York City. He drew technical pictures for magazines like Street Railway Journal. He also drew for humor magazines such as Puck and Life.
The Yellow Kid Comic Strip
Newspapers started publishing cartoons in the late 1800s. The New York World newspaper began printing a color Sunday humor section in 1893. The editor, Morrill Goddard, asked Outcault to work for the World.
Outcault's first cartoon for the paper came out on September 16, 1894. It was a full-page comic strip. His early comics often showed African Americans or Irish immigrants living in city tenements.
A character with big ears and a bald head first appeared in one of Outcault's cartoons in 1894. This character, Mickey Dugan, started appearing in the World in January 1895. He first appeared in color on May 5, 1895, in a cartoon called "At the Circus in Hogan's Alley".
Mickey's gown appeared in bright yellow in a comic on January 5, 1896. He soon became the main character of the strip. People started calling him The Yellow Kid. By May, his words began appearing right on his yellow gown.
This comic strip became very popular. It helped the World newspaper sell many more copies. The Yellow Kid was also used to sell many different products. Its huge success made other newspapers want to publish similar comic strips. This is why The Yellow Kid is seen as a very important step in how comic strips became popular.
Newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst bought the New York Morning Journal. He hired many staff from the World, including Outcault. Hearst's new color comic section was called The American Humorist. It started on October 18, 1896.
The World newspaper kept publishing its own version of Hogan's Alley with a different artist. Both newspapers used the Yellow Kid to advertise themselves. Soon, the term "yellow journalism" was created. This term described the exciting and sometimes exaggerated news style of these papers.
On October 25, 1896, a Yellow Kid comic used speech balloons for the first time. This helped make the comic strip style we know today. Comics historian Bill Blackbeard said this made it "the first definitive comic strip in history."
The Yellow Kid's popularity slowly faded. The last strip appeared on January 23, 1898. Outcault then worked as an editor for Hearst's New York Evening Journal. He also created other strips, like Casey’s Corner.
Buster Brown and His Dog Tige
Outcault introduced Buster Brown in the New York Herald on May 4, 1902. Buster Brown was a mischievous, rich boy who wore fancy clothes. He also had a loyal pit-bull terrier named Tige.
This new comic strip and its characters became even more popular than the Yellow Kid. Outcault allowed many companies to use Buster Brown's name for their products. For example, the Brown Shoe Company sold Buster Brown children's shoes. In 1904, Outcault sold advertising licenses to 200 companies.
Outcault later left the Herald and went back to work for William Randolph Hearst. He continued to draw Buster Brown for Hearst's newspapers. He experimented with using multiple panels and speech balloons in his comics. While he wasn't the very first to use these, his use helped set the standard for how comics would be made.
There was a legal disagreement about who owned the Buster Brown character. The court decided that the Herald owned the Buster Brown name and the comics they published. However, the characters themselves were not owned by the newspaper. This meant Outcault could continue drawing the characters, but he couldn't use the Buster Brown name for his new strips.
Outcault continued drawing the untitled Buster Brown strip until 1921. He spent more time on merchandising and less on drawing. He even set up an advertising agency to handle all the product deals.
Richard Outcault retired from newspapers. He spent the last ten years of his life painting. He passed away on September 25, 1928, in Flushing, New York.
Outcault's Family Life
Richard Outcault married Mary Jane Martin on Christmas Day in 1890. She was the granddaughter of a banker from Lancaster. They had two children together.
His Lasting Impact
- Comics historian R. C. Harvey believed that Outcault was one of the "great cartoonists."
- Outcault was added to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008. This is a special honor for people who have made a big impact on comics.
- Lancaster High School in Ohio gives an award named after R. F. Outcault every year. It goes to journalism students.
See also
In Spanish: Richard Felton Outcault para niños
