From Wikipedia:
May 5th is National Cartoonist Day, a world-wide celebration of cartoonists and their work. The National Cartoonist Society declared the date in the 1990s to promote support for the cartooning industry, and to recognize the impact they have had on society. The establishment of the Day was ‘spearheaded by co-chairpersons Polly Keener and Ken Alvine of the National Cartoonists Day Committee.’
National Cartoonist Day honors those who create both the print comics and animated cartoons.
The date of May 5th was chosen to recognize the first appearance (in color) of the mischievous cartoon character “The Yellow Kid” in the New York World newspaper on May 5, 1895. The character was created by comic strip artist Richard F. Outcault, and was featured in his cartoon titled “At the Circus in Hogan’s Alley“.
The First-Ever Color Cartoon (1895): Richard Outcault creates a single-panel color cartoon for the New York Sunday World, with the main character called The Yellow Kid (or Mickey Dugan).
First Comic Strip with a Continuing Story (1905): Cartoonist Winsor McCay creates “Little Nemo in Slumberland” for the New York Herald; it has a story that continues each week, which is unusual for this time.
Richard Felten Outcault (January 14, 1863 – September 25, 1928) was an American cartoonist who was a native of Lancaster, OH. Early in his career, he developed all the technical drawings for Thomas Edison. He is best known for creating the series The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown, and is considered a key pioneer of the modern comic strip and known as the father of the comic strip. (This mural is located in Lancaster on the south side of the building, facing Wheeling Street.)
Tomorrow night is our MSCA monthly dinner gathering at Garibaldi’s Pizza. We’ll be at the U of M location from 6-8pm. The meeting is free and open to the public, but bring a few bucks to order off the menu, something to draw with/on, and if you’re not old enough to drive yourself to the event bring along a parent with you. We’ll have some freebies available to take home with you.
And since we’re celebrating comics in print today, and getting together for dinner tomorrow- show up a bit earlier if you’d like to help assemble our latest “The Good, The Bad, And The Sketchy” zine. This is our 12th issue which has a food/beverage “snacky” theme.
And if you’d like to hear more more about what else is going to be happening with the MSCA in May (and beyond) be sure to listen to the latest episode of the Drawing Funny podcast. You can listen to it on Spotify, Apple and most podcasting platforms- or by going to the show’s website at www.drunnyfunny.com.
And you can also join the MSCA’s mailing list by contacting president Kevin L. Williams at midsouthcartoonists(at)gmail(dot)com and keep updated on all of our group’s news.
Created in 1987, the Mid-South Cartoonists Association (MSCA) is a non-profit organization comprised of professional cartoonists, aspiring cartoonists, and cartooning enthusiasts. Our mission is to promote cartooning as art and bring together cartooning professionals, aspiring professionals and cartooning fans of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. If you’d like to join us, it’s pretty simple- just show up and introduce yourself.
If you’d like to up your game and join the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) you can click HERE, or talk to our own Greg Cravens. He’s the NCS’s Membership Chairman and can help you with your membership application and which level would be best for you.
Hope you can stop by Garibaldi’s or one of our other upcoming events!