Bringing Up Father — 1925-04-04

Four panels follow Jiggs, McManus's perpetually overdressed social climber, as he spots a *Waiters Wanted — Suits Furnished* sign and reasons that taking the job will land him a dress suit for a ball he cannot otherwise afford. He negotiates with the maître d', cheerfully announces the salary is no object, collects the tail-coat, and strides off pleased with himself. McManus's line is elegant and economical — cross-hatched backgrounds, expressive silhouettes, speech balloons that carry the entire comic load. Launched in 1913, *Bringing Up Father* ran in King Features syndication for decades, reaching millions of readers whose daily newspaper was, in effect, the first mass-distributed comic format — the direct ancestor of the comic book page.