Bringing Up Father

Six panels follow Mr. Jiggs and a visiting musician who has hauled over a full-size double bass. Asked what Jiggs would like to hear, Jiggs requests something "one about that high" — gesturing low — prompting a soulful zum-zum passage. The final gag: asked whether he could play like that, Jiggs deadpans, "I don't know — I never tried." George McManus launched *Bringing Up Father* in 1913, running it daily and Sunday for over four decades. McManus's crisp ink line, expressive silhouettes, and confident panel-to-panel rhythm exemplify the newspaper comic strip's role as the direct ancestor of the comic book — the recurring cast, speech balloons, and sequential art grammar all originated on these syndicated pages.