Cartoonists at the Theatre: Turn to the Right, 1916
We have one more cartoonist-illustrated theater giveaway for April Fools’ Month, advertising the travelling comedic play Turn to the Right, showing at Garrick Theatre in Philadelphia during the Christmas Season. (An internet search shows this play was at that theater during Christmas 1916, so unless it played there in other years on Christmas as well, [...]
Melville B. Raymond’s “Buster Brown” 1905 promotional comic, Part 3
We continue with our April Fools’ Month extracts from the 1905 promotional giveaway magazine, “Mr. Melville B. Raymond’s Buster Brown”, used to advertise upcoming performances of the touring musical stage play. Above & below, two more Buster Brown Sunday comic strips by Richard Felton Outcault, reprinted in the pamphlet. Click on the above & below [...]
Buster Brown Crashes His Own Stage Play, 1905
For today’s April Fools’ Month entry, we have some more extracts scanned from the 1905 promotional giveaway magazine, “Mr. Melville B. Raymond’s Buster Brown”, used to advertise upcoming performances of the touring musical stage play. Above, a self-referential Buster Brown comic strip by his creator, Richard Felton Outcault, poking fun at the Buster Brown stage [...]
Melville B. Raymond’s 1905 “Buster Brown” Musical, Part 1
What would April Fools’ Month be, without its chief prankster, Buster Brown? Buster’s creator, Richard Felton Outcault, turned Buster into one of the earliest mega-merchandised comics characters. Today’s posting is extracted from one of the rarer Buster Brown giveaway comics (and one still not found in the Overstreet listings — I discovered its existence years [...]
Buster Brown’s Lesson in Chemistry: Tigwissel Tuesdays # 22
This week’s comic swipe at science, comes courtesy of writer/artist Richard Felton Outcault, and his creation, Buster Brown. Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and read their captions. “Yep! It Exploded!” appeared first in the New York Herald Sunday comics section, and then was reprinted in the 1916 [...]
Buster Gets Up to See the Sunrise
I’d initially planned to run one of Buster Brown‘s typically nasty pranks for Mother’s Day, as I’ve done the past two years. But while searching, I came across this even more appropriate story, instead. So, extracted from the 1910 to 1911 collection, Buster Brown’s Fun and Nonsense, is Buster Gets Up to See the Sunrise [...]
Watchin’ Shows # 531
Here are a few fun, historically important pages by pioneering cartoonist and Yellow Kid and Buster Brown creator, Richard Felton Outcault. http://potrzebie.blogspot.com/search/label/outcault Here’s a look at Miss Liberty, the Revolutionary War era heroine who turned up unexpectedly in DC’s Tomahawk. http://sacomics.blogspot.com/2011/12/tomahawk-81.html Not comics really but here’s a rare 1962 book by [...]
Happy End of World! (May 21, 2025)
Happy End of World! As predicted by preacher Harold Camping (who, luckier than most of us, is now experiencing his personal Second-End-Of-the-World!) Harold’s world previously ended on his predicted Judgement Date of September 6, 1994. We can only guess that Camping got that date mixed up with the day the world truly ended for his alternative self in one [...]
Annual Buster Brown’s Pranks for Mother’s Day
Hey kids! Now that you’ve (assumably) done something nice for Mom this morning, and lulled her into a state of contentment, expecting nothing but good from her angels for at least the current 24 hours - this is the best time to surprise her with how spectacularly creative you can be with your pranks! To aid you in this noble [...]
Pre-YK Talkies: More Advertising Strips
Resuming our series on Pre-YK “Talking” Comic Strips (sequential cartoons wherein the story is conveyed via pictures combined with in-panel dialogue, published prior to the supposed “invention” of same format in the October 25th, 1896 episode of The Yellow Kid), we return with some more examples found amongst Victorian Age cartoon advertising strips. Above, the [...]
