The document discusses the history and development of early comic strips in the United States in the late 19th century. It notes that the first full-color comic strip appeared in 1894 in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World newspaper. Rival newspaper the New York Morning Journal then launched its own color Sunday comic supplement two years later under William Randolph Hearst. The Morning Journal also debuted the "Yellow Kid" strip in 1896, featuring the first recurring comic character in the US. The passage then discusses how Rudolph Dirks' 1897 "Katzenjammer Kids" strip established conventions like speech bubbles and recurring characters that became standard for comic strips. It concludes by explaining how newspaper syndication helped spread comic strips nationally in the early 20th century