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Eric: The Yellow Kid From Deliverance
(From Todd and Penguin. Click on the thumbnail for full sized Chee!)
It took me until this strip to 'get' this Todd and Penguin run. I mean, I understood it, and I thought it was well executed, but it was something that just passed me by. "Oh, a Peanuts thing. Oh, a Calvin and Hobbes thing. Neat."
But the Yellow Kid being in the cave? That made me sit up and take notice.
For one thing, it shows some recognition of the fact that comics didn't start with Peanuts. There are many, many, many worlds of comics that Penguin could visit on this trip, and most of them predate the Garfield era by a long shot.
For another, it creates something. A mood, beyond melancholy. It makes me actively interested to see what shows up tomorrow.
And for a third, it creeps me out. But the Yellow Kid has always done that to me. I've always seen him and gotten totally skeeved, and running into him in a cave with his shirt detailing he's been expecting you? Excellent way to promote skeevage.
Of course, the fact that the Yellow Kid is firmly in the Public Domain makes it all the easier to use him in this. It'd be harder for Wright to use Li'l Abner or Pogo here instead, except as a cameo. They're still under full copyright protection, and parody only goes so far. Something like the Greystone Inn run of a few years ago, where some of the absolute classics of comics came through for one or two panel appearances would be as far as you could go. The Yellow Kid, on the other hand? Hell, any of us could do a Yellow Kid comic now.
Wright's got me interested where this trip is going. And that's a cool thing indeed.
Posted by Eric Burns-White at April 12, 2005 12:29 PM
Comments
Comment from: The Gneech posted at April 12, 2005 12:51 PM
How about "The Katzenjammer Kannibals?"
-The Gneech
Comment from: Miles Gloriosus posted at April 12, 2005 1:08 PM
I had to look up the word 'skeeved.' Because sometimes, context just isn't enough.
Seriously, though... that kid is creepy.
Comment from: Dave Van Domelen posted at April 12, 2005 1:32 PM
Is it just me, or is he missing an arm?
Comment from: RoboYuji posted at April 12, 2005 1:38 PM
The penguin's head is in front of it.
Comment from: xaandria posted at April 12, 2005 1:45 PM
Yeesh that kid gives me the heebie jeebies. I didn't know who he was at first (woe to my generation) and so I went to do some research..."skeeved" would sum it up nicely. Except even the picture of him with a KNIFE the size of his TORSO (link goes to the picture) wasn't quite as creepy as Wright's depiction. *shiver*
Comment from: Tangent posted at April 12, 2005 2:10 PM
But who's the Yellow Kid?
It has me flummoxed and my roommate who remembers Terry and the Pirates, Pogo, and Lil Abner (he grew up in Maine in the 70/80s which was a lot like growing up anywhere else in the 30/40s) can't place him.
I suppose he might have been a Sunday Comic as they were in color...
Comment from: EsotericWombat posted at April 12, 2005 2:48 PM
Tangent: The reason you don't remember the Yellow Kid is because its been out of print for decades. The Yellow Kid was the first ever newspaper comic strip; the term Yellow Press is a reference to the shady dealings involved with its acquisition
Comment from: PatMan posted at April 12, 2005 2:49 PM
The Yellow Kid was the first color comic strip. He was named such because he wore a yellow shirt, which was, at first the only bit of color in the strip. It debuted around 1900, give or take a few years.
Interestingly, Bill Griffith of Zippy once said that the Yellow Kid was NOT the first color comic strip, but failed to elaborate on that point. And I've been too lazy to follow up on that. So there, no you are as perplexed as I am.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at April 12, 2005 2:56 PM
Hully gee! Find out more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Kid
It's worth noting that the debate about whether the Yellow Kid was the first color comic strip or not centers more on the transition of the comic strip from editorial cartoons to what we would consider comic strips -- there were earlier color editorial cartoons, for example. The Yellow Kid was among if not the first comic strip to gain widespread popularity -- and as was mentioned elsewhere became a focal point of the war between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.
Comment from: Alun Clewe posted at April 12, 2005 4:15 PM
Don Markstein's Toonopedia has more information on the Yellow Kid's debatable firstness. See the article on the Yellow Kid "himself", of course, but see also the articles on Jimmy Swinnerton, The Katzenjammer Kids, and The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, among others.
Comment from: PatMan posted at April 12, 2005 7:05 PM
Thanks for the info! Who woulda thunk to check Wikipedia for obscure information? The way Eric described it seems to be what Griffith was implying, kind of like the whole debate over when the first "comic" was.
Comment from: Kristofer Straub posted at April 12, 2005 10:08 PM
Reminds me of a very old Mad Magazine, I think it was, where some satirized character enters a cave, and finds an ancient Hitler lookalike, who says "looking for a place to hide? This is a good place!"
Comment from: Shadowydreamer posted at April 13, 2005 12:15 AM
David Wright once again has me with no idea of where he's going but enjoying the ride. ^_^
Comment from: Prodigal posted at April 13, 2005 2:34 AM
And today, we get IGNATZ! I am all a'squee with old-comic-fan joy.
Comment from: JackSlack posted at April 13, 2005 10:12 AM
Alright, I want to start reading Todd and Penguin now. I'm drawn in.
Question for the faithful: Where should I begin reading?
Comment from: Tangent posted at April 13, 2005 1:28 PM
At the beginning, my friend. At the beginning.
It's well worth it. Especially with Holly. :D
The thing is... starting at the beginning will give you a fuller understanding of the characters involved and let some of the storylines become a part of the greater whole. While Todd and Penguin isn't a full-blown storyline/plot comic, there is an ongoing story lurking there. One that is quite a bit of fun at that :)
Rob
Comment from: Shadowydreamer posted at April 13, 2005 1:51 PM
And don't listen to David W. gripe about how "horrible" his art is at the start. It's not the best art ever, but it's not BAD either. :)
Comment from: gwalla posted at April 13, 2005 3:12 PM
"Yellow journalism" actually refers to the journalistic practices of the papers who printed The Yellow Kid (neither Hearst nor Pulitzer was inclined to let facts get in the way of a good story). Not to the acquisition of the strip itself.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at April 13, 2005 3:28 PM
gwalla -- but one of the theories of the term's derivation was that they referred to "those Yellow Kid newspapers," and it gradually got distilled down.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at April 13, 2005 4:56 PM
To be fair, not everyone is in agreement to the origin of the phrase "yellow press" (sometimes "yellow journalism"). Some people subscribe to the Yellow Kid theory; others say it was a snide comment on the quality of the paper stock such newspapers were printed on (namely, that it turned yellow very quickly).
I would say, though, that the debate over its exact place in history makes the Yellow Kid more prominent than if everyone agreed - you pay more attention to something important and debatable compared to something that's just important.
Comment from: Julio Dvulture posted at April 13, 2005 7:45 PM
Funny: the other blog i read about comics (Comics Should Be Good), had just made a mention to Yellow Kid being the Stone Age of comics. Is interesting how some topics remain forgotten for a lot of time and then lots of people at the same time. (the links goes to the article).
Comment from: alpaca2500 posted at April 13, 2005 11:02 PM
oh man... i went to my local comic book store today, and i saw a huge "the yellow kid" book on the shelf... marke down like 60%. i didnt get it, but i may if it's still there next time.
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