The Kin-der-Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World were early newspaper comics by painter Lyonel Feininger and published by the Chicago Sunday Tribune during 1906–07.
Similar in form to Little Nemo and the later Sunday editions of Krazy Kat, most of Feininger's comics occupied a full-page and were rendered in color. The Kin-der-Kids were published in Tribune papers beginning April 29, 1906. Feininger's second feature, Wee Willie Winkie's World, was published concurrently with The Kin-der-Kids from August 19, 1906, until The Kin-der-Kidss cancellation on November 18, 1906. Wee Willie Winkie's World ended three months later, on February 17, 1907. The series' short existences have been attributed to several causes, including Feininger being unable to produce two strips of finely detailed artwork on a weekly schedule, and personal conflict between Feininger and his publishers.[1]
Much like The New York Herald's Little Nemo, Tribune publishers envisioned The Kin-der-kids as a relatively sophisticated alternative to the comical, and at times violent, antics of Happy Hooligan and The Katzenjammer Kids, comic strips published in newspapers owned by Hearst and Pulitzer.[2]
The Kin-der-Kids featured an ongoing story about the three Kin-der brothers who, along with their dog and a mechanical boy, sailed in the family's antique bathtub to explore the world. The story implies that the Kin-ders sailed for a specific reason: early on they receive a note – unseen to the reader – from Mysterious Pete which contains instructions for their journey. These instructions and the purpose of their journey remain indeterminate for the life of the comic.
The primary cast of The Kin-der-Kids were introduced to Tribune readers before the commencement of the comic strip's regular publication. On April 29, 1906, the Tribune published a special "All About the Tribune's New Comic Supplement" section. The cover featured a caricature of "Uncle" Feininger suspending the cast marionette-like on strings. The "New Comic Supplement" introduction also included a page of color portraits of the characters, and inside the supplement were prose biographies of the characters.
The cast introduced in this publication are:
Unlike The Kin-der-Kids, Wee Willie Winkie's World was not a continuing adventure. Each comic strip features the eponymous protagonist observing the surreal countryside around his grandfather's home. He interacts with the inanimate objects around him which have anthropomorphic qualities. Instead of speech balloon spaces, the comic strip uses captions that accompany the images.
When Wee Willie Winkie's World ceased publication in 1907, it proved to be the last comic strip Feininger would create, although he would later use similar designs for his wooden landscape sculptures (photographs of which were released in a 1965 book City at the Edge of the World.) Despite the strips' short lives, they are praised by later comics enthusiasts. The Kin-der-Kidss "full-fledged, frankly suspenseful week-to-week continuity", writes cartooning historian Bill Blackbeard, was a "real innovation for the time" when even Winsor McCay's Little Nemo had not yet developed into ongoing stories.[3] The artwork is lauded as well, and has been called "exquisitely drawn" in Time.[4]
Art Spiegelman, editor of Raw and author of Maus, praises the Kin-der-Kids as Feininger's crowning achievement:
In 1994, the entirety of Feininger's comics were collected in a single volume by Kitchen Sink Press: The Comic Strip Art of Lyonel Feininger. In 1999, The Comics Journal included The Kin-der-Kids in its "Top 100 Comics list".
In 2011 Sunday Press Books published the book: Forgotten Fantasy: Sunday Comics 1900-1915, ISBN, collecting the complete The Kin-der-Kids and the complete Wee Willie Winkie's World.