Katzenjammer Kids — 1902-07-20

"Can Uncle Heinie Make Noise Like a Parrot Yet?" Six panels follow a raucous seaside prank: the Kids surprise a sailor Uncle Heinie with squawking parrot imitations, then disguise themselves in his clothes, leaving him baffled and furious. Speech balloons render thick German-immigrant dialect — *"Vy you don't laugh like a polly, yet?"* — while the page crackles with broad physical comedy and crowd reaction. Rudolph Dirks launched *The Katzenjammer Kids* in 1897 for Hearst's *New York Journal*, directly adapting Wilhelm Busch's German picture stories. Its locked panel grid, expressive balloon lettering, and recurring cast became foundational grammar for every comic strip and, eventually, the comic book that grew from collected Sunday pages.