Bringing Up Father — buf390801

Three daily-format panels follow Jiggs, the Irish-immigrant social climber, as he shows off a new suit to his imperious wife Maggie — then tumbles down a staircase amid a shower of stars — and is caught out by Maggie visiting her in-laws, saved only because he had telephoned ahead. George McManus launched *Bringing Up Father* in 1913 for King Features Syndicate, running it until his death in 1954. McManus's draftsmanship — sinuous Art Nouveau furniture, immaculate black-and-white spotted patterns, expressive slapstick — set a visual standard for newspaper strips. Those syndicated dailies and Sunday pages, reprinted in collected pamphlets from the 1890s onward, are the direct precursor to the comic book as a format.