American Heritage examines the turn-of-the-20th century transformation of the comic strip, marked by Rudolph Dirks’ The Katzenjammer Kids, which debuted in the New York Journal on Dec. 12, 1897:
In the first five years, Dirks created the blueprint for all future comic strips. He did not invent word balloons or sequential panels, but he was the first cartoonist to use them both regularly; he also made standard the recurring cast of characters and ongoing narrative. “Because of him,” wrote the cultural historian Richard Marschall, “the comics told tales, not just jokes.” His design sense was perfectly suited for the crowded newspaper page. He quickly scrapped excess detail and clutter in favor of simple lines and bold fields of black that guided the reader through his panels. In Dirks’s strips, Americans first encountered the symbols that now form an unquestioned part of comics syntax: Straight lines indicate motion, beads of sweat mean fear or exertion, footprints show movement, stars equal pain.
King Features continues to syndicate The Katzenjammer Kids, considered the world’s longest-running comic strip.
