Origins American newspaper strips, 1895–1981
The Yellow Kid
Richard F. Outcault · New York World, then New York Journal, 1895–1898
Mickey Dugan is a bald, jug-eared slum kid in an oversized yellow nightshirt, and his remarks are printed on the shirt itself. He lives in Hogan's Alley, a crowded New York tenement world drawn in chaotic panoramic scenes, and he was such a hit that Pulitzer and Hearst fought over him, with both papers running a version at once.
The Yellow Kid is where the American newspaper comic really begins, and the circulation war around him is often credited with giving us the phrase "yellow journalism". Not bad for a child whose main talent is standing in the middle of things.
