The Mucker begun as a series in All-Story Weekly followed by The Return of the Mucker. The book version was first published in 1921. In 1917, Burroughs wrote a third Mucker story entitled The Oakdale Affair featuring the Return of The Mucker sidekick, Bridge.

The Mucker is the story of Billy Byrne who was born in Chicago's ghetto and grows up as a thief and a mugger. "Billy was a mucker, a hoodlum, a gangster, a thug, a tough." He is not chivalrous nor kind, and has only meager ethics - never giving evidence against a friend or leaving someone behind. He chooses a life of robbery and violence, disrespecting those who work for a living. He has a deep hatred for wealthy society.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan, "Lost worlds" and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter.