Rudolph Dirks started "The Katzenjammer Kids" for the Hearst paper the "New York Journal" in December 1897. After some legal tussles he left in 1914 and Harold Knerr drew the cartoon for the next 35 years. Dirks started a rival cartoon called "The Captain and The Kids" using the same characters except that the hair color on the boys was switched one for the other.
These two versions of the same cartoon competed against each other until "The Captain and The Kids" was discontinued some 60 years later in 1979. "The Katzenjammer Kids" however, lasted until January 1, 2006, but but the 'reruns' are still in syndication, making it the oldest comic strip still in syndication and the longest-running ever.
Rudolph Dirks was the first guy to habitually use the speech balloon to contain a characters' dialogue.
the back cover of "Mad" magazine #52, way back in 1959.
https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/192529-where-are-the-mad-magazine-collectors/page/9/
http://dessins-animes.com/das/3363/name/captain_andthe_kids
http://cartoonconceptdesign.blogspot.com/2012/06/mgm-model-sheets-part-1.html
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/charles-thorsons-captain-and-the-kids-model-sheets-64964.html
http://cartoonconceptdesign.blogspot.com/2012_06_24_archive.html
"uber alles in Detroit" hilarious!
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