The Katzenjammer Kids
The circulation war between the "Journal" and Joseph Pulitzer's "New York World" was raging. The "World" had a huge success with the full-color Sunday feature, "Down in Hogan's Alley", better known as the "Yellow Kid", starting in 1895. Editor Rudolph Block asked Dirks to develop a Sunday comic based on Wilhelm Busch's cautionary tale, "Max and Moritz". When Dirks submitted his sketches, Block dubbed them "The Katzenjammer Kids", and the first strip appeared on December 12, 1897. Gus Dirks assisted his brother with "The Katzenjammer Kids" during the first few years until his suicide on June 10, 1902.