Richard F. Outcault

Richard Outcault

Richard Felton Outcault (January 14, 1863 - September 25, 1928) was an American comic strip writer-artist. He was the creator of the series The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown, and he is considered the inventor of the modern comic strip.

Early life

Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Outcault was 15 years old when he went to Cincinnati and enrolled in the McMicken University’s School of Design where he studied for three years.

Career

After graduation, Outcault was employed by Thomas Edison as a technical illustrator, going to Paris as the official artist for Edison’s traveling exhibit of electric lighting. In 1890, he moved to New York City, where he joined Electrical World (a magazine owned by one of Edison’s friends) and became a regular contributor to Truth magazine, Judge and Life.^[1]

Buster Brown

The Yellow Kid

After he signed on with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, Pulitzer placed Outcault's comics in a color supplement, using a single-panel color cartoon on the front page called Hogan's Alley, depicting an event in a fictional slum. A character in the panel, The Yellow Kid, gave rise to the phrase "yellow journalism." Hogan's Alley debuted May 5, 1895.^[2]

In October 1896, Outcault defected to William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. The result of a lawsuit awarded the title "Hogan's Alley" to the World and "The Yellow Kid" to the Journal.

In 1902, Outcault introduced Buster Brown, a mischievous boy dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy style, and his dog Tige. The strip and characters were very popular, and Outcault eventually licensed the name for a number of consumer products, notably Buster Brown shoes.

In the Journal, Outcault began experimenting with using multiple panels and speech balloons. Although he was not the first to use either technique, his use of them created the standard by which comics were measured.

Death

Richard F. Outcault died in 1928 in Flushing, New York. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Awards

Outcault was a 2008 Judges' Choice inductee into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wallace, Derek. Virtue vol. 1, no. 14. July 18, 2005.
2. ^ Horn, Maurice. World Encyclopedia of Comics. Chelsea House, 1976.
3. ^ Comic-Con: "The 2008 Eisner Awards: Eisner Hall of Fame Nominees Announced"

External links

• Buster Brown
• The Life and Times of Buster Brown

Persondata
Name	Outcault, Richard F.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 14, 1863
Place of birth
Date of death	September 25, 1928
Place of death