Richard Felton Outcault was born in Lancaster, Ohio. His parents spelled their last name Outcalt but Richard changed the spelling after spending time in Paris. Outcault studied at the McMicken University's School of Design and first worked painting electrical light displays for Edison Laboratories.
Often credited as the inventor of the comic strip, Outcault began work at the New York World in 1894, where he created Down in Hogan's Alley, one of the first series of cartoons with a regular cast of characters. The Yellow Kid debuted in that series when the newspaper's printing staff used a new yellow ink; testing it on one character's shirt. Soon Outcault brought The Yellow Kid to William Randolph Hearst's New York Morning Journal, though legally his Hogan's Alley title had to remain with the New York World and continued production with George Luks as artist. He also created the strip Buster Brown for the New York Herald and eventually transferred it to Hearst's New York American. This led to a law suit between Outcault and the Herald for artistic rights to Buster Brown, marking one of the earliest claims to creators rights. Ultimately, the Herald retained rights to Buster Brown but Outcault could continue to use the characters without the name.
