Brad Anderson is best known for creating the comic strip "Marmaduke" in 1954, which he continued to draw until his death. According to Anderson, "During the time, I was drawing various types of dogs in my magazine cartoons, I was also trying to develop a dog character specifically for eventual newspaper syndication [...] you couldn't see the eyes of my shaggy dogs, so as I thought more about it I decided I wanted a dog where I could have an expressive face". Anderson, who said that he drew on Laurel and Hardy routines for his ideas, received the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for "Marmaduke" in 1978.