The Katzenjammer Kids
Dirks took time off from his "Journal" work to serve his country in the Spanish–American War and on other occasions. In 1912, he requested a year's leave to tour Europe with his wife. The request led to a rupture with the "Journal". After a lengthy and notorious legal battle, the federal courts ruled that Dirks had the right to continue to draw his characters for a rival newspaper chain but that the "Journal" retained the right to the title "The Katzenjammer Kids". Dirks thereupon began drawing a comic strip titled "Hans and Fritz" for the "World", beginning in 1914. Anti-German sentiment during World War I led to the strip being renamed "The Captain and the Kids". The "Journal" chose H. H. Knerr to continue "The Katzenjammer Kids", and he and his successors have carried it on to the present day. "The Captain and the Kids" was distributed by United Feature Syndicate while King Features Syndicate handled "The Katzenjammer Kids".