William Marriner

William Marriner's first work appeared in the magazine Puck in the late 1890s. It stood out for its particularly loose and lush drawing style. Eventually, he specialized in kid cartoons. From 1902 until 1905, he worked for the Philadelphia Enquirer, the New York World and the McClure Syndicate. His first comic was 'Foolish Ferdinand', followed by 'Mary and Her Little Lamb' and 'Sambo and His Funny Noises'. From 1905 until 1908, his popular 'Wags, the Dog that Adopted a Man' appeared, about a pet hater who tries to get rid of a pup that has fixated on him.

Marriner's personal life was not as idyllic as the world he depicted in his cartoons: he drank a lot, and during these spells, his wife would take his son and move away until he became sober. During one of these drinking sprees, he was said to have sworn to a neighbor to burn the house and the entire village if she did not return. That same night, Marriner died in a fire that consumed his home.