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.