Bringing Up Father — 1925-03-12

Four panels track a domestic standoff: Jiggs, in his checked suit, refuses a night out with a Count; Maggie, stout and sharp-tongued in her polka-dot skirt, calls him a social coward and phones to cancel; Jiggs slinks home rather than endure aristocratic company; Maggie delivers the punchline — the Count had planned to drag them to Dinty Moore's, Jiggs's beloved tavern. McManus's line work is fluid and economical, his figures instantly readable. Launched in 1913, *Bringing Up Father* was among the first daily strips to sustain recurring characters across years, helping establish the visual grammar — sequential panels, integrated speech balloons, consistent design — that newspaper syndicates exported worldwide and that publishers would soon collect into the first comic books.