Some early " Moritzian " comic strips was heavily influenced by Busch in plot and narrative style . Tootle and Bootle ( 1896 ) , borrowed so much content from Max and Moritz that it was described as a pirate edition . The true " Moritzian " recreation is The Katzenjammer Kids by German artist Rudolph Dirks , published in the New York Journal from 1897 . It was published though William Randolph Hearst 's suggestion that a pair of siblings following the pattern of " Max and Moritz " should be created . The Katzenjammer Kids is regarded as one of the oldest , continuous comic strips .