With Trump Flu lurking out there, seeing new things can be tricky. Fortunately, there's lots and lots of old things to dig into, eh?
One of the oldest figures in comics was Buster Brown, the 'younger child' of R.F. Outcault, the father of the Yellow Kid. Buster had great longevity. Debuting in 1902, the newspaper strip lasted for 20 years. But, if you know the name Buster Brown (and his dog Tige), it's probably not from the old newspaper comics. Only two years after he premiered, the Brown Shoe Company hooked up with Buster for an association that lasted into the '90s.
In the 1940s & '50s, Buster got into comic books, like pretty much everybody else. They were primarily promotional comics for shoe stores, similar to Bob's Big Boy comics, like those we saw for Li'l Genius not too long ago...
Unlike Big Boy, Buster Brown enjoyed popular stardom outside of the free comics. And not just in the regular comics from Dell. Buster was the star of a series of live-action film shorts, a Broadway play, a radio series, and a tv series. And, of course, many years of commercials for the shoes.
And it surely didn't hurt his popularity that those comic books could actually be a lot of fun. And a bit delightfully deranged.
From just over 60 years ago, here's Out Of This World -
Alas, both writer and artists are unknown.
One of the oldest figures in comics was Buster Brown, the 'younger child' of R.F. Outcault, the father of the Yellow Kid. Buster had great longevity. Debuting in 1902, the newspaper strip lasted for 20 years. But, if you know the name Buster Brown (and his dog Tige), it's probably not from the old newspaper comics. Only two years after he premiered, the Brown Shoe Company hooked up with Buster for an association that lasted into the '90s.
In the 1940s & '50s, Buster got into comic books, like pretty much everybody else. They were primarily promotional comics for shoe stores, similar to Bob's Big Boy comics, like those we saw for Li'l Genius not too long ago...
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| (Contrary to rumours, Buster did not grow up to be Captain Kangaroo) |
Unlike Big Boy, Buster Brown enjoyed popular stardom outside of the free comics. And not just in the regular comics from Dell. Buster was the star of a series of live-action film shorts, a Broadway play, a radio series, and a tv series. And, of course, many years of commercials for the shoes.
And it surely didn't hurt his popularity that those comic books could actually be a lot of fun. And a bit delightfully deranged.
From just over 60 years ago, here's Out Of This World -
Alas, both writer and artists are unknown.
page art from Buster Brown in "Out Of This World" (1959)
