Bringing Up Father — buf420419f

George McManus launched *Bringing Up Father* in 1913, and by 1942 it was syndicated to hundreds of papers worldwide. This Sunday page follows Jiggs—the newly-rich Irish-American laborer—as he storms through the house demanding respect as breadwinner, only to be routed, panel by panel, by a frying pan and his wife Maggie's withering authority over their dog Hector. McManus's draftsmanship is unmistakable: Art Nouveau curlicues framing doorways, figures rendered in crisp ink line with expressive silhouette, and speech balloons shaped to breath and emphasis. The strip's nine-panel grid, recurring cast, and visual shorthand for domestic conflict directly seeded the comic-book format that would standardize those same conventions within the decade.