Clare A. Briggs (1875 – 1930)

Briggs was best known for his later comic strips When a Feller Needs a Friend, Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling ? , The Days of Real Sport, and Mr. and Mrs.

His longest-lasting and most famous comic was Mr. and Mrs.

"Mr." was Joe Green, and "Mrs." was his wife, Vi. They also had a young son named Roscoe. Joe and Vi argued a lot. They weren't as bad as Leroy and Loretta Lockhorn, but their relationship was characterized more by mutual antagonism than affection. Neither was especially good-looking, or appealing in any other way. They were middle-aged and dumpy, and seldom made clever or interesting remarks, unless you count their barbs at each other. Roscoe was de-emphasized except in the early years, and virtually disappeared as the series went on.


Clare Briggs was a pioneer of American newspaper comics, best-known for his features 'A. Piker Clerk', 'Mr and Mrs' and 'When A Feller Needs A Friend'. Born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, as the son of a farm machinery salesman, Briggs left his rural home in Lincoln, Nebraska, as a young man to try his luck at cartooning.