Bringing Up Father — 1925-02-07

Four panels follow Jiggs, the round, vest-wearing Irish-American social climber, as he tries to broker peace between his imperious wife Maggie and their daughter. The women's quarrel spirals when each refuses to apologize; a man caught between them escapes the final panel muttering "Rats!!" McManus draws in a fluid, rounded line descended from turn-of-the-century newspaper cartooning, with expressive body language carrying as much weight as the speech balloons. Launched in 1913 for the New York American, Bringing Up Father was among the first daily strips with a fixed cast and continuous characterization — the recurring-character daily strip being the direct ancestor of the collected comic book format that would crystallize by the late 1930s.