Hans Jürgen Press (1926–2002) was a German illustrator and writer of children's books. Many of his books contain stories and puzzles in which the reader searches the illustrations for clues to the mystery.
Press was imprisoned in Algeria, England and the USA during World War II. He moved to Hamburg in 1944 and attended the Hochschule für Bildende Künste.
In 1953 he began to illustrate for "sternchen", the children's supplement of German magazine stern. He invented "Der kleine Herr Jakob", a little man with moustache and bowler hat who never talked but whose comic strips were commented in verse. The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang was a combination of story and illustration which appeared in weekly chapters, the solution to this week's riddle was given the next week.
Press was one of the inventors of the "Wimmelbild", a genre of illustration deliberately overcrowded with detail, to pleasure children on their search for a certain item. He also wrote and illustrated books about science and numerous puzzle and play books for children.
His son, Julian Press, is also an author and illustrator.
The Black Hand Gang, Black Hand Society or the Black Hand are also names given to the Serbian secret society formed and active in the 1910s. Their most spectacular mission was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria in June 1914, sparking the events which led to the First World War.[1]