Bringing Up Father — buf390210

Four horizontal panels follow Jiggs, the parvenu Irish-American social climber, and his family as they debate visiting a dieting neighbor named Mr. Starvin. The gag pivots on a running punchline: Starvin grew so weak on his diet that first his doctor bills mounted, then he was hospitalized, and finally — the payoff — "the cat dragged him out of bed." George McManus launched *Bringing Up Father* in 1913, and its clean ink line, dotted-pattern costumes, and tightly timed four-panel rhythm became a worldwide template. McManus's speech balloons, recurring cast, and episodic daily format were foundational architecture for the comic book form that assembled such strips into collected pamphlets through the 1930s.