Singh, Jeff :: Richard F. Outcault

Buster Brown Sunday September 1912 by Richard R. Outcault

Artist: Richard Outcault (All)

9 Comments - 1,204 Views - 3 Likes

Buster Brown Sunday September 1912 by Richard R. Outcault Comic Art

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Previous Item:
Judge MagazineIllustration 1900 by Richard F. Outcault

Artwork Details

Title:	Buster Brown Sunday September 1912 by Richard R. Outcault
Artist:	Richard Outcault (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,204
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Comments:	9
Added to Site:	9/27/2020
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Fun but morbid Buster Brown with a hanging gag which would never see the light of day if thought up in current times. Buster also catches heck, is spanked and tied up in this one. There is so much wrong here but was in keeping with social norms at the time it was printed.

Buster Brown was a comic strip created by Richard F. Outcault in 1902 and it ran for almost 20 years. It featured a young boy who dressed in Victorian garb and was always getting in trouble for his tricks and mischievousness. There were frequent spankings with hands, brushes and other items. They often ended with a text panel and a bit of lesson. I found many of these panels quite enlightened and insightful for the era in which they were created in.

Until recently, these Sundays were quite scarce and they continue to be rare but the estate has been releasing them for the past few years so they are starting to find their way into more collections. I have only ever seen two of these in person prior to the ones you see here. I have yet to see these too as they are on the way still.

A bit more history

Richard F. Outcault was a pioneer in early comics. Although not the absolute first comic strip he was the first to popularize sequential art and his Yellow Kid feature was a huge financial success prompting newspapers to start to include more comic strips. Yellow Kid began in 1894 and Outcault was frustrated as the marketing and merchandising of his character was very profitable but he saw little of this. In 1902 he created Buster Brown and it was an immediate hit out performing Yellow Kid. By 1904 he was merchandising clothing and toys including the Buster Brown shoes. It is reported that in 1904 he was making $75,000 per year from the merchandising. That is somewhere between $2 and $15 million dollars per year in 2020 dollars depending on how you analyze it. When he took the strip away from the Herald where he created it to a Hearst paper, he sued to get the Herald to stop publishing the strip with different artists. This is considered among the first court case for creator rights like this. He lost in that the Herald was granted the rights to the title Buster Brown but not the character likeness. So, Outcault continued to create the series but stopped using the title. Outcault started his professional career painting advertisements for Edison light bulbs but went on to huge success in newspaper comics. He retired in 1921 and continued to paint for the remaining decade of his life.

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About the Owner

	Jeff Singh ( 7 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	November 2004
Last Login:	September 2025
Website:	http://www.art4comics.com
Country:	CANADA
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Jeff's Classifieds Jeff's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About JeffSingh

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Comments on this Artwork

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Davide G.
Member Since 2009

Posted on 9/27/2020

An irresistible little rascal from more than a hundred years ago :) Congrats on this museum piece, Jeff!

CIRO SCOGNAMIGLIO
Member Since 2009

Posted on 9/27/2020

Another museum piece!

Brett B
Member Since 2004

Posted on 9/27/2020

A faked suicide...being chased with a baseball bat...wow, pretty wild work from nearly 100 years ago!

Ben Friedman
Member Since 2006

Posted on 9/27/2020

Oh, wow, you won this? I was following closely - crazy morbid strip. A historic gem. Congrats!

Comic Art Channel
Member Since 2018

Posted on 9/27/2020

Have seen these popping up and didn't know much. Leave it to you to educate me, Jeff! Very interesting piece and a great time capsule.

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

Posted on 9/28/2020

This is beautiful. I've always loved the Buster Brown strips, and this has to be the the one that stands out more than any other I've ever seen, due to all the horryfying things depicted on it. An incredible snapshot of century old history!

Lee Benaka
Member Since 2004

Posted on 9/28/2020

This is defintely a memorable Buster Brown, so, so dark. But I love it! And your other recent Buster Brown pick-up is lovely as well. Big congrats Jeff!

George Hagenauer
Member Since 2005

Posted on 9/28/2020

Congratulations have wanted an Outcault sunday for years but had to settle on just a topper.

artless artmore
Member Since 2013

Posted on 9/29/2020

Fun and fascinating piece! Thanks for the insightful commentary as well. Hearst seems to have played an outsized role in fostering creators of seminal newpaper comics.

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