The Yellow Kid

Checker Press is releasing two ongoing turn-of-the-century comic collection, one is Little Nemo In Slumberland, which has already been released and is superior to most all the other Nemo reprints except the large Sunday Pressedition, and the other being The Yellow Kid. R. F. Outcault's The Yellow Kid dates back to 1894 and is often considered the first American comic strip. This early comic, originally nicknamed Hogan's Alley, became popular in the New York World newspaper and is credited for helping start the phrase "yellow journalism" because of its critical observations on New York and United States culture during the time. It is also famous for being the first strip to be printed in color for mass production and also one of the first cartoons to use "word balloons" to contain dialogue. The Yellow Kid (pictured below) was a snaggle-toothed bald child who commented on the happenings in Hogan's Alley, which was filled with equally strange characters.



For a closer look at the collections, Checker Press owner Mark Thompson gave a great interview with newsarama about the release of both the Nemo and Yellow Kid Books. Though The Yellow Kid is considered more primitive and less acclaimed than Little Nemo, it is essential to the development of comics and I urge all comic historians to read up on such an important achievement to the medium.

-Jon