Bringing Up Father — April 20, 1925

Four panels track Jiggs, McManus's eternally henpecked Irish-American social climber, through a spring-fever gag: he complains that his drowsiness makes him dream he is working, resolves to consult "the wide awake guy in this town," walks to Doctor Smith's office — only to be told the doctor cannot see anyone, and to discover why: the doctor himself is fast asleep at his desk. McManus's line work is fluid and economical, his speech balloons cleanly integrated into each composition. *Bringing Up Father*, launched in 1913, ran continuously for decades and was among the first strips syndicated internationally, its recurring cast and weekly rhythm helping establish the conventions — panel sequence, character continuity, punchline final frame — that newspaper comics handed directly to the comic book format.