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Will-yum was a relatively obscure comic strip even in its own day. It ran for 13 years, but was never in a very large number of newspapers. The character of Will-yum first appeared in a number of creator Dave Gerard's magazine cartoons, and was eventally turned into a syndicated strip by the National News Syndicate. It unfortunately wasn't unique enough to survive among the many strips featuring young boys getting into trouble.

In this strip, we have a common device cartoonists use when they run out of ideas: put themselves into their strips to converse with their characters. I think every cartoonist has done it at some point, and some do it so often they count as a recurring character. It's even the whole idea behind the Brenda Starr movie (which is so goofy and self-aware and I love it).

It seems to work here, though. I think the joke could've worked if Will-yum had been speaking to about any adult, but it may not have been as interesting to look at that way. I'm always up for great looking, deceptively simple artwork as well. It's a shame this strip never reached a very wide audience.