George McManus, Bringing Up Father American Tour Sunday Page - Brooklyn, 6 January 1940

It is hard to fill in the boxes for pieces such as this. It is generally assumed by most everyone that Zeke Zekley ghosted extensively for McManus during this period. Yet it seems that this common knowledge was largely forwarded by Mr. Zekley, who outlived McManus by decades and had every reason to promote his own role in drafting this classic strip, without the other likely participant being around to tell his tales. It was reported at the end of the 1930s decade that George McManus himself claimed to have spent two weeks drawing a single panel at the opening of the Time's Square page (December 31, 1939, one week before this Sunday page was published). Years later Zekley claimed complete credit for drawing the very same panel. Of course, some employers have also been known to take full credit for the work of their employees. If there is any objective proof as to who did what and how frequently, I would love to see it. Until then, I will just give all the credit to McManus -- didn't Walt get to claim Mickey as his own?

In any event, this page is one of my handful of favorites from the American tour sequence of BUF, which lasted from the end of 1939 into 1940. It has wonderful panels crowded with activity and fabulous views of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.