Origin
Morris “Muddy” Davis was a soldier with the United States Army during The Vietnam War. He was part of platoon nicknamed The Junkyard Dogs. While out on a mission, they were attacked by the Vietcong, and their newest member, Joe, shielded them all from a grenade. This blew his skin off revealing him to be Unit Beta, a specially designed robot soldier sent into the field by President Nixon to evaluate the war.
When they were attacked a second time, Muddy was seemingly the sole survivor, including Joe. To honor his robot pal, Muddy based a newspaper comic strip on him, satirizing the unrealistic expectations of soldiers.
Creation
Muddy debuted as a fictional character in a comic strip that he was also the credited writer for within Geiger (2021) #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. He turns out to be real in Geiger (2021) #6 when Junkyard Joe has a flashback memory of him.
Major Story Arc
Return of Joe
While grieving his wife, Muddy announced his retirement from writing and illustrating the Junkyard Joe strip. The newspaper credited him as Junkyard Joe’s creator, getting the attention of the actual Joe, who had also mysteriously survived the Vietnam War. Confusing Muddy as his actual creator, Joe sought him out.
Once reunited, Joe showed his appreciation helping the now elderly Joe around the house with chores. Muddy did his best to make him comfortable and keep him hidden. Muddy wouldn’t be able to keep Joe secret for too long. His new neighbors, the Munn kids (Grace, Emily, and Will), happened to see Joe through his windows and made quick friends with the cartoonist and robot. They also ended up on the radar of The Custodian and his goons from The Founding Fathers.