Summary

Manhattan, 1953. Hal Rapp's Tall Paul, one of America's most popular comic strips, is now a Broadway musical, infuriating Rapp's longtime rival Sam Fizer, creator of the once-beloved boxing strip Mug O'Malley. Adding insult to injury is the casting of Misty Winters, Fizer's wife, as one of Rapp's hillbilly gals sashaying across the Great White Way. Then Fizer is found dead, his apparent suicide actually an obvious homicide—with all evidence pointing to Rapp.

Starr Syndicate has distribution deals with both cartoonists, which added fuel to the fire between them, but Jack and Maggie believe Rapp's been framed. Between loan sharks, jealous husbands, bitter artists, and Fizer's widow—who has taken a romantic interest in Jack—there are more colorful characters with murderous motives than in a month of Sunday funnies...