Continuing our look at collecting through the years, here’s a history of the comic character in America by Richard D. Olson, Ph.D. We think you’ll find Olson’s insights both inspiring and enlightening.

The 1793 U.S. half cent was one of the first coins produced at the U.S. Mint and now would be considered one of the keys in any collection. Although its size, features, and denomination are unlike any coins minted today, it is still an American coin and has great historical significance. In every field of stature in which people collect, there are similar examples: e.g., automobiles, sports, stamps, and toys.

We have to remember that the term "toys" represents a genre as well as one specific form of that genre. Remember when you studied biology and had to learn similar headings for family, genus, and species. In its most general sense, the field of toys contains over 350 categories. One sub-heading would be comics, which at the more specific level contains political cartoons, newspaper comics, comic books, and over 100 other categories, and within these categories are titles or artists. It is very important that we realize that all of our diverse collecting interests come together under this generic category of "toys" and that we share a common field of interes

The 1842 comic book, "The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck," was probably the first comic book published in America. Like the 1793 half cent, it would be one of the keys in any comic book collection in spite of its unusual size and adult content. As in every field of collecting, the earliest known examples of an item rarely look anything like today’s products.

During the next 25 years, individual publications and cartoons in regularly published magazines continued to appear in a wide variety of sizes and formats. For example, Scribner’s began publication in 1870 and usually contained a few political cartoons. However, in 1877, the first issue was published of the English edition of the now-famous humor magazine, Puck. Judge followed in 1881, Life began in 1883, and several other humor magazines followed them. All of these magazines contained adult humor, illustrations, and cartoons.

The move from narrative to cartoon increased as the readership of magazines became more widespread. In a country where a surprisingly large number of people were either illiterate or immigrants from every country speaking their native tongues, the cartoons could be understood even if the language wasn’t clear.

Thomas Nast became famous for his cartoons criticizing the infamous Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall. Tweed reportedly told his henchmen, "Stop them damn pictures. I don’t care so much what the papers write about me. My constituents can’t read. But, damn it, they can see pictures." He even offered Nast $500,000 to go study art in Europe. Nast continued his cartoons for Harper’s Weekly and was credited as being one of the primary reasons for Tweed’s downfall.

Because of Scribner’s success with their adult magazine, they created a similar magazine for children. St. Nicholas, A Magazine for Children, began publication with the November, 1873 issue. It was the first magazine specifically marketed for children that also contained a few pages of cartoons, fantasy illustrations, and other humorous material. Beginning with the February, 1883, issue, Palmer Cox introduced his trademark verse and art fantasy feature, The Brownies. The Brownies were immensely popular, and became the first comic characters to successfully merchandise goods. By the end of the century, Brownies products were being sold in Europe as well as America, and the Brownies became the first magazine comic characters to achieve significant financial success.

Scribner’s decision to publish a smaller, age-oriented magazine for children has been a common theme throughout history. Companies have made fortunes by creating smaller or age-based versions of adult products. The excitement of a real fire truck became the basis of a toy fire truck. A man’s rifle translated into a small version for a boy. The mother’s house became a dollhouse for her daughter. In many cases, the smaller version prepared the child for using the adult version as they aged. Take a walk through Toys-R-Us and you will see this theme repeated in most of the merchandise.

Because of the financial success magazines were attributing to their illustrators, Joseph Pulitzer started a colored supplement for the Sunday edition of his paper, The NY World, which would contain illustrations and cartoons. R. F. Outcault, a popular cartoon artist at Truth Magazine, published his first cartoon in the magazine on March 4, 1893. He was hired by Pulitzer to draw for the NY World and was featured by 1894.

On February 17, 1895, Outcault’s first Yellow Kid cartoon appeared in the paper in black and white. On May 5, 1895, the Yellow Kid was published in color for the first time, and by the end of the year, the Yellow Kid had become the toast of the town. Because there is some confusion over the historical role of the Yellow Kid in the history of the comics, let me state explicitly that he was not the first comic character in America as many others had already appeared in magazines, and a few had even appeared in newspapers.

However, he was the first recurring character in the newspapers to become a superstar! For the first time, a newspaper comic character had demonstrated that he could sell papers and be used to merchandise a wide array of goods. New York City fell in love with the Yellow Kid, and the Yellow Kid permanently established the comics in the newspapers and the use of newspaper comic characters to market merchandise. In short, he was the first great newspaper comic character to achieve financial success. His fame was short-lived, however, and his last regular appearance in the papers was in 1898. It has been speculated that he was just to rough and mischievous for parents to let their children read his exploits.

In 1902, Outcault invented Buster Brown. This time he created an upper class boy who got in trouble with his pranks, was punished, and finished each Sunday’s page with a RESOLUTION panel stating that he would never be bad again. Parents liked this comic, and Buster Brown became the first nationally syndicated comic strip. Buster sold newspapers and products like never before, and his shoes are still for sale today.

Soon publishers were reprinting the Sunday pages full size on quality slick paper, cutting them in half, and binding them between hardboard covers. These 11" x17" oblong reprint comic books were even sold by Sears. Similar books in other sizes and formats followed, and the stage was set for the birth of the modern comic book in the 1930’s. For a more detailed discussion of all aspects of the history of the American Comic Book, please read the articles inThe Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.