Bringing Up Father — buf420111f

George McManus's *Bringing Up Father* ran from 1913 until his death in 1954, making Jiggs and Maggie among the longest-lived characters in American comics. This Sunday page follows Jiggs as Maggie commandeers a trailer trip that balloons from one trailer to two, then piles him with endless luggage while he schemes to save himself a few trips up the stairs. McManus's art is unmistakable: thick, sinuous brushwork, ornate Art Nouveau furniture rendered with architectural precision, and exaggerated body language that telegraphs every gag before the balloon confirms it. Sunday pages like this one—syndicated to hundreds of papers simultaneously—established the weekly rhythm, recurring cast, and panel-to-panel visual grammar that early comic-book publishers would directly reprint and then imitate.