From the exhibition
Bringing Up Father — buf401204
· George McManus, King Features Syndicate, c. 1940s (dated 12-4 in strip)

Four panels follow Jiggs, the Irish-immigrant social climber, and his domestic orbit. In the first he relaxes in an armchair, savoring quiet since some nearby property sold. Panel two: shock at the name Mr. Chris Sendo, Mrs. Jiggs's new singing teacher. Panel three erupts in broad comic chaos — a flamboyant tenor performs while a frizzy-haired accompanist pounds the keys, musical notes scattering everywhere. Panel four: Jiggs, coat on, escapes out the door muttering that a lighthouse-keeper's daughter knows nothing about singing. McManus's line work — sleek Art Deco furniture, expressive rubber-limbed figures, bold speech balloons — exemplifies the Sunday-page draftsmanship that, from *Yellow Kid* onward, forged the visual grammar later collected into the first comic books.
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