The Katzenjammer Kids debuted in William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal Sunday edition on December 12, 1897. The plot was simple, the kids would pull a prank on one of the adults and in the last panel they received their comeuppance. Usually a spanking.

The strip proved to be so popular that the creator, Rudolph Dirks working with artist Harold H. Kneer, left the Hearst papers and took a nearly identical idea across town. The new strip eventually came to be known as The Captain and the Kids.

Fans who love odd facts will gladly relate that the translation of Katzenjammer really means “Wailing cats” in German. Or that it can also mean “hangover” in slang. But if you really want to test these detail-loving friends, ask them to tell you about the inspiration for The Katzenjammer Kids, Max and Moritz.

Every culture around the world develops myths and stories that are particular to that society. In 1865 a book appeared among German-speaking people that featured two little boys who had a hard time staying out of trouble.

Max and Moritz (A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks) was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch. Using verse and illustration it delivered on the title. They committed seven pranks and often paid a very terrible consequence for their action.

First, they “accidently” kill the chickens that belong to a widow. Next, as she is cooking them, they put a fishing pole down her chimney and steal the delicious chickens.

Next they encounter a tailor that everyone loves. Sawing though a small bridge outside his house they make animal noises on the other side. Effectively drawing him out to fall through the hole in the bridge. As he is swept downriver, a pair of geese pick the tailor up and he flies to safety.

Through the village the twin terrors of Max and Moritz run. They take on the Teacher, the Uncle, and The Baker and for their seventh and final trick, the Farmer.

Along the way they occasionally get their comeuppance. But it is the Farmer who finishes the problem for the village. After the two boys cut into his grain sacks, he decides to fill these empty sacks with Max and Moritz.

Dumping them into the mill, he grinds them into feed and gives their remains to some ducks. After people find out what has happened, they are just happy to have the problem of the terrible two solved.

A violent and ugly tale, but par for the course in 1865. A time where death and an early grave from vengeance or stupidity was not unknown.

Looking to teach about the foolishness of pranks as well as the danger of performing them, parents would read the book to their children. The title quickly moved into the shorthand of the culture. Even today the original images of Max and Moritz, as illustrated by Busch, are easily recognizable in central Europe.

Rudolph Dirks, the creator of the Katzenjammer Kids, spent his first seven years in Germany.  His family first moved to Chicago and when he got older, Dirks moved to New York City. It was there that he experienced success with The Katzenjammer Kids. It is believed that he had created the strip at the request of an editor who was familiar with the story of Max and Moritz.

Even if this isn’t true, Dirks was more than familiar with Max and Moritz. A tremendous artist on his own, he was instrumental in solidifying the stylistic details in the medium of comic strips. He may not have been the first to actually use word balloons, but he deployed them with an expertise that set standards which are still in place today. He also excelled at creating an original supporting crew for the boys.

After a lawsuit with Hearst, Dirks created a second version of the concept. Both versions of the strip, The Katzenjammer Kids and The Captain and the Kids went on to become two of the longest running strips in comic history. Today The Captain and the Kids is drawn by Hy Eisman and still appears in newspapers regularly.