Frank Willard - Moon Mullins

Moon Mullins

In 1923, Joseph Patterson of the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate wanted a lowlife strip to compete with Barney Google. The curious chain of events that brought Willard, Patterson and Moon Mullins together began because Willard and other King Features cartoonists had to show their planned panels in advance to the King editor, who usually rejected Willard's ideas. Willard was angry, but he exploded when he saw some of his gags surface in George McManus' Bringing Up Father. As Willard's assistant Ferd Johnson recalled:

The editor was feeding Willard's ideas to the Syndicate's big star. Later Willard and McManus were very good friends, but at the time, Willard got so damn sore that he went and had a couple of drinks and then went after the editor. He found the guy sitting in his chair, and he let him have one that knocked him onto the floor. Willard knew he'd get fired for that—and he did. But the story got around, and when Captain Patterson, who was looking for a tough guy strip, heard about it, he said, "That's my man." He called Willard in. And that's how Moon got its start.