One of the great patron/publishers of comic strips was Joseph Medill Patterson, founder of the New York Daily News and creator of the tabloid press format. In 1934 Patterson hired Caniff to create a new adventure strip. A 1947 Time magazine profile of Caniff explained the origin of Terry and the most famous supporting character in the strip’s run, the Dragon Lady, this way:

Patterson... stared coldly at Caniff and asked: "Ever do anything on the Orient?" Caniff hadn't. "You know," Joe Patterson mused, "adventure can still happen out there. There could be a beautiful lady pirate, the kind men fall for." In a few days Caniff was back with samples and 50 proposed titles; Patterson circled ‘Terry’ and scribbled beside it ‘and the Pirates.’

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