Bringing Up Father — 1918-07-25

Four panels, daily strip format: a stout man in an armchair complains he cannot stand the household noise and vows to assert himself; he strides to the next room barking commands — 'Stop that noise,' then 'Shut up — come right here!!' — only to retreat in the final panel, pointing out the door at a small cat, bellowing 'Git out of here — I'll show you who's boss.' The punchline collapses his bluster perfectly. McManus's draftsmanship is confident — rounded figures, bold outlines, economical backgrounds. *Bringing Up Father*, syndicated from 1913, followed social-climbing Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie; by 1918 it ran in hundreds of papers worldwide. Such daily strips were the direct ancestor of the comic book, establishing the panel grid, speech balloon, and recurring cast that defined the medium.