History ComicStrip / TheKatzenjammerKids

* AlternateContinuity: One of the most bizarre examples in comic history; while ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' and ''The Captain and the Kids'' featured the same principal cast of characters, they were technically considered separate series from each other and were actually ''competing'' with each other (under separate artists and syndication deals) for 60+ years. Both series would eventually introduce new characters distinct to their own series.

* AlternateContinuity: One of the most bizarre examples in comic history; while ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' and ''The Captain and the Kids'' featured the same main cast of characters, they were technically considered separate series from each other and were actually ''competing'' with each other (under separate artists and syndication deals) for 60+ years. Both series would eventually introduce new characters distinct to their own series.

[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top: Fritz, Der Captain, Hans, Mama.]]

[-[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top: Fritz, Der Captain, Hans, Mama.]]-]

In 1914, following a series of nasty legal battles, Dirks quit the Hearst organization (later Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate) and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of other artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, when it went into weekly reprints.

The Sunday "topper" for Dirks was ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' (drawn by Gus Mager), a parody of Literature/SherlockHolmes with monkeys while the Knerr strip had ''Dinglehoofer Und His Dog Adolph''. Adolph was replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Schnappsy"]] because [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler of some guy down in Germany]]. The Katzes themselves were briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' (Hans and Fritz became two Dutch boys named "Mike" and "Aleck") because of anti-German sentiment during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

In 1914, following a series of nasty legal battles, Dirks quit the Hearst organization (later Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate) and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, when it went into weekly reprints.

The Sunday "topper" for Dirks was ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' (drawn by Gus Mager), a parody of SherlockHolmes with monkeys while the Knerr strip had ''Dinglehoofer Und His Dog Adolph''. Adolph was replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Schnappsy"]] because [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler of some guy down in Germany]]. The Katzes themselves were briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' (Hans and Fritz became two Dutch boys named "Mike" and "Aleck") because of anti-German sentiment during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

In 1914, following a series of nasty legal battles, Dirks quit the Hearst organization (later Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate) and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, being run weekly in reprints to this day.

*** In the ''Katzenjamme Kids'' strip of November 18, 1906, written and drawn by Dirks, he visits his elder relatives in Zum Whiskerhoff, Germany, and his first name is given as Louie.

** The second was a series of Creator/{{MGM}} cartoons adapting ''The Captain and the Kids'', which ran for 15 shorts. It notably featured direction by greats such as Creator/FrizFreleng and [[Creator/HannaBarbera Bill Hanna]], and the voice talents of Creator/MelBlanc and Billy Bletcher.

* KarmicTrickster: Over the years, Hans and Fritz developed a very strong streak of this. While they remained mischief-makers who would prank, trick and mock just about everyone just because they thought it was funny, more and more it became clear that their ''worst'' pranks (and the ones they most often got away with) were done as revenge for unfair treatment or against unreasonable authority figures.

* TheDitz: Mama usually plays this role, being extremely gullible and sometimes showing near-{{Cloudcuckoolander}} levels of disconnect from reality... though she does have her moments of savvyness and will occasionally show that she does in fact have a brain.

* SmugSnake: Rollo Rhubarb, the self-proclaimed "boy genius" that was often bested by the Katzes.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first years of the strip were drawn in a completely different art style than the more cartoony approach that the strip would settle into. The Captain was also absent for the first five years (with an unnamed father figure being in his steed, and even he abruptly vanished from the comic before the Captain's introduction) and there were ''three'' Katzenjammer Kids instead of two.

* PrintLongRunners: To date, it is the longest-running newspaper comic in history--the original strip has run uninterrupted for ''109 years'' (not to mention the strip continues in reruns)!

In 1914, after a series of nasty legal battles, Dirks quit the Hearst organization (later Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate) and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, being run weekly in reprints to this day.

In 1914, after a series of nasty legal battles, Rudolph Dirks quit the Hearst organization (later Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate) and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, being run weekly in reprints to this day.

''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is a classic newspaper comic strip created by German-American cartoonist Rudolph Dirks. It is the longest-running newspaper comic in history, having run uninterrupted since 1897, when it debuted as a Sunday panel in William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Dirks was inspired in the German illustrated children's book ''Literature/MaxAndMoritz''.

The Sunday "topper" for Dirks was ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' (drawn by Gus Mager), a parody of SherlockHolmes with monkeys while the Knerr strip had ''Dinglehoofer Und His Dog Adolph''. Adolph was replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Schnappsy"]] because [[AdolfHitler of some guy down in Germany]]. The Katzes themselves were briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' (Hans and Fritz became two Dutch boys named "Mike" and "Aleck") because of anti-German sentiment during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

The Sunday "topper" for Dirks was ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' (drawn by Gus Mager), a parody of SherlockHolmes with monkeys while the Knerr strip had ''Dinglehoofer Und His Dog Adolph''. Adolph was replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Schnappsy"]] because [[AdolfHitler of some guy down in Germany]]. The Katzes themselves were briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' (Hans and Fritz became two Dutch boys named "Mike" and "Aleck") because of anti-German sentiment during WorldWarOne

The Sunday "topper" for Dirks was ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' (drawn by Gus Mager), a parody of SherlockHolmes with monkeys while the Knerr strip had ''Dinglehoofer Und His Dog Adolph''. Adolph was replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "Schnappsy"]] because [[AdolfHitler of some guy down in Germany]]. The Katzes themselves were briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' (Hans and Fritz became two Dutch boys named "Nip" and "Tuck") because of anti-German sentiment during WorldWarOne

* PrintLongRunners: To date, it is the longest-running newspaper comic in history--the original strip has run uninterrupted for ''118 years''!

* SundayStrip: ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' has been Sunday-only for the majority of its run, although there was a short-lived daily version (called ''The Katzies'' and featuring different artists) in the 1910s. ''The Captain and the Kids'' was also one of these, although it too had a brief daily run in the '30s.

'''''The Katzenjammer Kids''''' is a classic newspaper comic strip created by German-American cartoonist Rudolph Dirks. It is the longest-running newspaper comic in history, having run uninterrupted since 1897, when it debuted as a Sunday panel in William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Dirks was inspired in the German illustrated children's book ''Literature/MaxAndMoritz''.

In 1914, after a series of nasty legal battles, Rudolph Dirks quit the Hearst organization and started a new version of his comic, featuring his same characters but renamed ''The Captain and the Kids'' for the rival Pulitzer chain, eventually distributed by the United Feature Syndicate. Dirks would continue to draw ''The Captain and the Kids'' through the 1950s, after which his son John took over until that strip ended in 1979. Meanwhile, the original ''Katzenjammer Kids'' strip continued under the pen of Harold H. Knerr until 1949 and a succession of artists afterwards. Hy Eisman drew the strip until 2006, being run weekly in reprints to this day.

'''''The Katzenjammer Kids''''' is a classic newspaper comic strip created by German-American cartoonist Rudolph Dirks. It is the longest-running newspaper comic in history, having run uninterrupted since 1897, when it debuted as a Sunday panel in William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. Dirks was inspired in the German story ''Max and Moritz''.

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