Mickey Dugan, more known under the name of The Yellow Kid , “the child in French yellow”, is one of the first characters of American Cartoon. It was animated by Richard Felton Outcault of 1894 to 1896 in the series Hogan' S Alley , then of 1896 to 1898 in McFadden' S Row off Flats . George Luks also illustrated Hogan' S Alley of 1896 to 1898.

An extremely popular series

First publication of Hogan' S Alley , in black and white, dated June 2nd 1894 in Truth Magazine , appearing within the framework of a drawing of a showing half-page of the children making of the silly things and illustrating a text, then, in the same context, the New York World on February 17th, 1895. The drawing is dominated by a little boy equipped in yellow, which quickly becomes an extremely popular character, causing the trade of derivative products (soap with the whiskey) and pushing the American press barons to engage of new draftsmen so that they create new characters.

In 1896, Outcault is engaged by William Randolph Hearst to illustrate the cover of the New York Journal American . The series, famous McFadden' S Row off Flats takes a more vulgar turn then. On its side, the New York World engages George Luks to continue Hogan' S Alley . Starting from October 25th, 1896, 18 of the stories of Outcault are told in the shape of cartoon, contributing to popularize the form. In 1898, the two series cease.

The myth of the first cartoon

Although Arthur Burdett Frost or Charles Saalburgh had already published cartoons in the country, the success of the Yellow Kid makes that the series was regarded by the first researchers of the years 1960 not only as the first American Cartoon and the first strip of press of Sunday but also like the first cartoon in the absolute. One sees there also often the precursor of the use of the Phylactère as a cartoon, whereas Mickey Dugan is expressed, except on October 25th, 1896 (and there within a framework very precise rhetoric), always on his clothing and that the other uses of the phylactère are above all the humorous counterpoints to the text.

These designs, made null and void as of as of the beginning of the year 1970 by work of David Kunzle, then more still by research of Thierry Groensteen at the end of the years 1980, are however still today rather majority, and explain why in 1996 of many institutions (American Post office, Belgian Center of the cartoon) and scientific bodies ( History , etc) celebrated the centenary of the cartoon. However, the Yellow Kid , by its popularity, allowed the development of other cartoons, and popularized the use of the phylactère. Thierry Smolderen considers that the series “inserted the magazines in the era of the audio-visual”. Its name was given to the price allotted once every two years at the time of the Festival of cartoon of Lucques (Italy).

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