The Yellow Kid
The Yellow Kid was the first successful comic strip character to achieve a popularity so great that he not only increased the sales of newspapers carrying him, but he was also the first to demonstrate that a comic strip character could be merchandised profitably. In fact, for these two reasons, the Yellow Kid and his creator, R. F. Outcault, are generally credited with permanently establishing the comic strip and making it a part of American society.

The comic first appeared in The New York World in February of 1895. At first the yellow kid was only a secondary character but latter became the focus of the strip after recieving a bright yellow shirt due to new techniques in paper dyeing. Because of the popularity of the comic, Outcault was soon lured by a higher salary to work for the New York Journal. The World, however, claimed ownership of the Yellow Kid and continued to publish the strip.

The two papers did everything they could to win the circulation battle. In fact, they seem to have published exciting stories about events that never occurred, and printed artists' drawings about scenes that didn't exist. Because of the furor over the Yellow Kid, the World and the Journal became widely known as "The Yellow Kid Papers." This was eventually shortened to "The Yellow Papers," which soon became "Yellow Journalism" when emotions increased even further over the Spanish-American War.