Buster Brown

Buster Brown is a mischievous, well-dressed young boy created by cartoonist R. F. Outcault, who debuted in newspaper comic strips in 1902 before being collected in book form by Cupples & Leon. He was typically accompanied by his dog Tige, getting into scrapes and resolving to behave better.

Few characters can claim roots as deep as Buster Brown, who burst onto the page in 1903 — making him one of the true pioneers of the Platinum Age, born before comic books as we know them even existed. Created by R. F. Outcault for Kaufmann & Strauss Co., Buster is a genuine piece of comics history, a mischievous young figure whose adventures launched a legacy that, remarkably, echoes across a publishing span stretching all the way to 2021. His catalog includes a key collector's issue, and his pages have been graced by an extraordinary roll call of classic characters — Goofy, Little Orphan Annie, The Phantom, Betty Boop, and Smilin' Jack among them — testifying to just how central he was to the early popular culture that gave rise to the entire medium. For anyone serious about understanding where comics came from, Buster Brown isn't just worth knowing; he's essential.