Frank Henry Willard (September 21, 1893 – January 11, 1958) was an American
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
best known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip ''
Moon Mullins
''Moon Mullins'' is an American comic strip which had a run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923, to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Tribune Media Services, Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of ...
'' which ran from 1923 to 1991, working alongside assistant
Ferd Johnson
Ferdinand Johnson (December 18, 1905 – October 14, 1996), usually cited as Ferd Johnson, was an American cartoonist, best known for his 68-year stint on the ''Moon Mullins'' comic strip.
Biography
Johnson was born December 18, 1905, in Sp ...
. He sometimes went by the nickname Dok Willard.
Early years
As a youth, Willard dropped out of several schools. In addition to jobs at county fairs, he worked in a
mental institution
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...
. In 1909, he moved with his family to
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. He went to Union Academy, where he illustrated the ''Reflector'' yearbook in 1912. After attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago in 1913, he was a cartoonist with the '' Chicago Herald'' (1914–18), where he drew the Sunday comic strips ''Tom, Dick and Harry'' and ''Mister and Mrs. Pippen''/''Mrs. Pippin's Husband'' and a daily comic strip which used various titles. At the ''Herald'', he got to know cartoonists E. C. Segar and
Billy DeBeck
William Morgan DeBeck (April 15, 1890 – November 11, 1942) was an American cartoonist. He is most famous as the creator of the comic strip ''Barney Google'', later retitled ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith''. The strip was especially pop ...
, of
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Barney Google fame respectively.
WWI
Entering the U.S. Army in 1917, Willard served with the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
in France (1918–19). "Our unit built roads and did no fighting," he said. Unemployed on his return, he was given a place to stay by DeBeck and worked briefly on DeBeck's Barney Google and Snuffy Smith in 1920. Through DeBeck's influence, he landed a job that year in the
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...
bullpen where he did just "about everything but carry water for the elephants." He next wrote and drew ''The Outta Luck Club'' for King Features (1919–23), where he also substituted for cartoonist Jean Knott on his ''Penny Ante'' poker panel.
''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
George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''.
Biography
B ...
' ''
Bringing Up Father
''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000.
The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or '' ...
''. 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.Harvey, Robert C. ''The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History''. University Press of Mississippi, 1994. /ref>
''Moon'' merchandising
''Moon Mullins'' quickly became popular after it was launched as a daily on June 19, 1923. A few months later, Ferd Johnson signed on as Willard's assistant, eventually doing a great deal of the work. The success of the strip enabled Willard to spend much time on his
avocation
An avocation is an activity that someone engages in as a hobby outside their main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside their workplaces w ...
, golf. Johnson recalled, "We'd go to Florida and follow the golf guys all the way to Maine." With Florida as a home base, Willard worked out of hotel rooms in Los Angeles, North Carolina, Maine and Wisconsin. At least one summer, the two mailed in their comic strips from Mexico.
Meanwhile, the strip expanded to 250 newspapers, a radio program, a
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with Milton Bradley Company, his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased ...
game, two Big Little Books and a comic book. Willard and Johnson also did the topper strip ''Kitty Higgins''. Characters in toppers sometimes turned up in the main strip, such as Kitty Higgins joining the cast of ''Moon Mullins'' and Herby appearing in '' Smitty''.
Frank Willard was one of the first members of the
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
, joining two weeks after it was founded in 1932. With his health declining, Willard had little to do with the strip in his last years. After Willard's death in 1958, Johnson continued ''Moon Mullins'' until 1991, when it came to an end.