Review of "The Katzenjammer Kids: Early Strips in Full Color," by Rudolph Dirks

 Review of

The Katzenjammer Kids: Early Strips in Full Color, by Rudolph Dirks ISBN 0486230058

Three out of five stars

Exaggerated behavior, exaggerated punishment

 The Katzenjammer Kids was a comic strip that started in December of 1897 and featured two very unruly children named Hans and Fritz. The dialog was a form of pidgin English. For example, on page 14 there is the dialog balloon, “Dot’s just like a woman! She had to go und tell!” Hans and Fritz are very bad, doing things like cutting the bottom off a hot air balloon so only the sides of the basket go up, cutting the legs of a chair so that it collapses and putting a cat in a large bowl of dough.

 They never get away with it and their punishment is extreme. They are frequently kicked by an adult in their backsides and most of the two-page short stories end with them getting a major spanking that sometimes includes a stout board.

 This is definitely humor that is based on an ethnic cliché and is very dated. From the name and the dialog, it is clear that the family is German, and the cliché was that German parents were extremely strict and quick to implement strong corporal punishment. Therefore, this book must be read as a history lesson regarding what was considered acceptable humor at the start of the twentieth century.