Richard Felton Outcault
Richard Felton Outcault (January 14, 1863-September 25, 1928) was an American comic strip scriptwriter, sketcher and painter in the early 20th century. Popularly known as R.F. Outcault, he is considered the inventor of the modern comic strip and credited for making comic strips part of American society. Starting out as a technical illustrator for Thomas Edison, Outcault wrote articles for humor magazines, which spawned his career in creating comic strips. His genius was demonstrated through 2 popular cartoons, The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown. These popular cartoon characters led to a line of products, toys, and even shoes (Buster Brown).
Life
Richard Felton Outcault was born on January 14, 1863 in Lancaster, Ohio, the sons of Jesse and Catherine Outcault. He demonstrated artistic talent at a young age, and in 1878 at only fifteen years of age, he began studying art at the School of Design at McMicken University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He died on September 25th, 1928 in Flushing, New York.
Work
Outcault began his career in 1881 as a painter for the Hall Safe and Lock Company. In 1888, Thomas Edison hired Outcault to produce sophisticated tehnical illustrations for the Edison Laboratories this electric light display fof the Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Middle Atlantic States in Cincinnati, Ohio. Edison was so impressed with the quality of Outcault's work, that Edison hired him to work in his West Orange, New Jersey facilities.
as humoristic sketcher for the magazines Judge and Life, but soon joined Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Pulitzer used Outcault's comics in an experimental 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. The color yellow was picked because it was difficult to print at the time.
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, most 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.
Publications
- Outcault, Richard Felton.1995.R.F. Outcault's the Yellow Kid: A Centennial Celebration of the Kid Who Started the Comics. Kitchen Sink Press. ISBN 0878163794 ISBN 978-0878163793
- Outcault, Richard Felton.1977.Buster Brown: An Original Compilation, First Collection in Full Continuity of a Complete Year from the Sunday Strip.Hyperion Pr. ISBN 088355660X ISBN 978-0883556603.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Campbell, W. Joseph. 2003. Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies. Praeger Paperback. ISBN 0275981134
- Who2 biography of R.F. Outcault [1]
External links
Credits
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