This wonderful illustration, drawn by John Dirks, the son of Rudolph Dirks, was published in a special edition of the Italian comic magazine "Martin Mystere," in conjunction with the 1997 Turin Book Fair.  I am grateful to Alredo Castelli, the creator of Martin Mystere for making this available to me.  That's "Martin" and his sidekick "Java" looking on from behind the bushes.

The magazine contains a great 20-page story centered around the theme that the long-lost "third" Katzenjammer Kid (assigned the name of "Kurt") is still alive and the central figure of a mysterious adventure story--"Che Fine Ha Fatto Kurt Katzenjammer?" (Whatever Happened to Kurt Katzenjammer?).

John Dirks assisted his father for many years on "The Captain and the Kids," taking over completely in 1958 and continuing this "alternative" version of the Katzenjammer Kids until it was terminated by United Feature Syndicate in 1979.  Clearly, Mr. Dirks has not lost his touch.

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