I never had the chance to see Kilbain's work (other than the cats) I'm too young and it either wasn't  in the Minneapolis Star Tribune when I was a kid or I didn't notice it. There was a local cartoonist named Gideon (I think that was his name)  who had a very Kilbain / Larson style.

There's a lot of "begats" in comics. Doosbury inspires Bloom County which inspires Liberty Meadows. 

What's the quote? " A good artist borrows, a great one steals"? 

John Mietus: You've heard of Charles Addams, Roger. The Addams Family? And I guarantee you that you've seen Gahan Wilson's stuff, even if you don't
know the name -- he's done cartoons for Playboy, National Lampoon, the
New Yorker... all the magazines that pay big money for single panel full
page color cartoons.

Thanks for the info.  I shall have to investigate further.