Happy 144th birthday, Richard F. Outcault!
Today in 1863, the very first Sunday comic artist was born.
Yes, we should all take pause today to acknowledge Richard Felton Outcault, who drew the world’s first color comic strip, "Origin of a New Species," in The New York World‘s Sunday edition.
His first regular strip was "Hogan’s Alley," but he later became known for Buster Brown and The Yellow Kid. Where would we be without your first brave steps, Mr. Outcault? I’m not sure I would want to live in a Peanuts-less world, even if I were (perish the thought) ignorant to their very existence. We must all thank Outcault for paving the way. He died in 1928 having made his mark. In color.
He also more-or-less invented modern merchandising – he licensed possiblky hundreds of "Buster Brown" products – including such natural tie-ins as shaving mugs – of which "Buster Brown Shoes" still, i believe, survive.
"Here's Buster Brown/He lives in a shoe/There's his dog Tige (woof!)/He lives in there too."–Buster Brown Shoes jingle I remember from the late '60s-early '70s.