Rudolph Dirks

Rudolph Dirks
Rudolph Dirks' self-portrait
Born	(1877-02-26)February 26, 1877 Heide, Schleswig-Holstein Province, Germany
Died	April 20, 1968(1968-04-20) (aged 91) New York City
Nationality	German-American
Area(s)	Cartoonist
Notable works	The Katzenjammer Kids

Rudolph Dirks (February 26, 1877 – April 20, 1968) was one of the earliest and most noted comic strip artists, well known for The Katzenjammer Kids (later known as The Captain and the Kids).

Dirks was born in Heide, Germany to Johannes and Margaretha Dirks. When he was seven years old, his father, a woodcarver, moved the family to Chicago, Illinois. After having sold various cartoons to local magazines Rudolph moved to New York City and found work as a cartoonist. His younger brother Gus soon followed his brother's example. He held several jobs as an illustrator, culminating in a position with William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal.

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 und 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.

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.