Bringing Up Father — buf371104

Four horizontal panels follow a formal dinner where a long-winded master of ceremonies delivers a florid introduction — intelligence, generosity, leadership — while guests mutter that he pulls "the same bolony speech at every dinner." The crowd wonders aloud who he's praising; the honoree himself asks "Wuz that me he wuz talkin' about?" then deflates the ceremony by giving his home address as the punchline. George McManus drew *Bringing Up Father* for King Features Syndicate, building it around Irish-immigrant social climber Jiggs — a man of sudden wealth but unchanged habits. McManus's clean contour lines, tuxedoed crowds, and economical speech-balloon timing were widely influential, demonstrating how daily newspaper strips refined the visual grammar — sequential panels, recurring cast, comedic payoff on the final beat — that would directly underpin the comic-book format.