Bud Fisher

Harry Conway Bud Fisher was an American cartoonist who created Mutt and Jeff, the first successful daily comic strip in the United States.

Fishers comic strip was very similar to A. Piker Clerk, which cartoonist Clare Briggs ... had done in the very same daily format for The Chicago American in 1903. But tho Fisher was born in Chicago, its unknown whether or not he ever saw the Briggs strip, so lets give him the benefit of the doubt and say he had an idea. Despite the Briggs primacy, A. Mutt is considered the first daily strip because its the one that sparked a trend in that direction, which continues to this day.

Source: Wikipedia