Real
Name: Walter Pratt CAPTAIN WALLY
Real
Name: Walter Pratt
Identity/Class: Human, occasionally technology user
Occupation: Superhero
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Bad Penny,
Brickman (Loose Brayne), Captain Hurricane, the Cloak, Combat Colin (Colin
Doobrey-Smiff), Deed-a-Day Danny, Dan Dare, Dash Decent, Eagle-Eye,
Grimly Feendish, Joanne Giggly, Julie Giggly, Gus Gorilla, Deadly Headley, Jimmy
Jolly's Magic Brolly,Macho-Man
(Milton Zook/Norman Dribble), Marmaduke, Marmaduke's
Ma, Maurice (pet frog), Mowser, Robot
Archie,Semi-Automatic Steve, Sergeant
Truncheon, Shrimp, Snailman (Percy Perkins), Steel
Claw, Frankie Stein,
Tired Tim, Tiger Tim, Tom
Thug, Harris Tweed, Weary
Willie, unidentified pet cat;
attended a wedding with Perpugillium "Peri" Brown, Steve
Cook, Sheila Cranna, CYRIL, the Doctor, Frobisher, Simon Furman, Penny
Holme, Loch Ness Monster, Megatron, Optimus Prime, John Ridgway, Ian
Rimmer, Will Simpson, Sludge, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Richard
Starkings, the TARDIS, John Tomlinson;
tried to retrieve Compton Deltic's
car (but never actually met the man)
Enemies: Amazing Dave, Aunt Arctic, Bankbuster Brothers, D.J. Yampy, Doctor Slob, Hulk (Bruce Banner), Macho-Man, Madprof, Mr. Magno, Nasto, Skydiver, Spellmaster, the Whatsit from Planet X, Zippo
Known Relatives: Unidentified mother and father
Aliases: "Big Ears" (Snailman's derogatory nickname for him)
Base of Operations: Wallytown (see comments)
First Appearance: The Spider-Man Comic#634/4 (4th May 1985)
Powers/Abilities: Captain Wally has exactly zero superpowers, and is a below average physical specimen with poor fighting skills and little common sense. His strength is minimal and his punches feeble, though he has surprisingly good balance, being standing upside down balanced on one ear while holding a dumbbell above him with one foot. He possesses loads of gumption, and is actually marginally technically adept, capable of creating useful if flawed equipment and gadgets. These include his Wally Wagon, an electrical car that unfortunately needs to be plugged in to work, and a propeller-topped hat that briefly allowed him to fly.
Height: 6'1" (by
approximation; see comments)
Weight: 120 lbs. (by
approximation; see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black or brown (see comments)
History:
(The Spider-Man Comic#635/4) - Walter
Pratt lived with his parents in suburban England.
(The Spider-Man Comic#634/4) - After reading a gushing
report of Spider-Man's recent heroics in a newspaper, Walter was
unimpressed, declaring to himself that any fool could be a superhero.
Inspired to prove his point, Walter concluded even he could become a
superhero, believing that he didn't need fancy superpowers since he had
gumption. He swiftly cut up some clothes to make a costume he felt would
strike fear into the underworld and inspire respect from the adoring
public. However, what it actually inspired was uncontrollable laughter
tinged with ridicule.
(The
Spider-Man Comic#635/4) - Captain Wally decided he needed a secret H.Q.
from which to operate, somewhere away from home so his parents would not
be endangered, his foes could not find him, a fortress of solitude where
he could train his mind and body to peak perfection, so he placed a sign
outside his house's garden shed identifying it as "Captain Wally's
Secret H.Q.," which also meant he was close enough to home to hear his
mother when she called him in for dinner.
(The Spider-Man Comic#636/3) - Cries of
terror alerted Captain Wally to the Hulk rampaging through the
streets. Racing to confront the green Goliath, Captain Wally
introduced himself and warned the perturbed behemoth to clear off or
face the consequences. One mighty punch later, and the thoroughly
battered and bruised Captain Wally wondered aloud if he should have
tried to see his opponent's point of view as he watched the Hulk stomp
off.
(The Spider-Man Comic#637/3) - Subjected to the public's
constant laughter and incredulous pointing whenever he went out in
costume, Captain Wally openly despaired of ever being able to make
crooks tremble if no one else respected him. A helpful milkman took pity
on the dejected hero, suggesting he needed a good catchphrase, citing
the example of the Thing's use of "It's clobberin' time!" Taking the
suggestion on board, Captain Wally spent the night thinking up a
catchphrase he believed would stop the laughter. Unfortunately, shouting
"Watch out, there's a Wally about!" as he pranced through the streets
only increased the public's hilarity.
(The
Spider-Man Comic#638/4) - Deciding he was tired of running after
criminals, Captain Wally built his own vehicle, the Wally Wagon, in his
shed H.Q., designed to run on clean, electrical power. Bursting out of the
shed (and demolishing it in the process), he got a few only partway down
the garden before the vehicle yanked to a violent stop, throwing him onto
the grass. Glancing at the vehicle and the power cable trailing out the
back and into his house, Captain Wally concluded he should probably get a
long cable.(The Spider-Man Comic#639/4) - Walter received a call at
home from the local policeman, Sergeant Truncheon, asking him to look
into reports of a flying saucer landing in nearby Wallytown Woods. He
eagerly suited up, informing his mother that he was going out to deal
justice to an alien invader, and she tossed him a parcel containing some
pilchardcake for his lunch. Reaching the woods he swiftly discovered the
saucer and entered with trepidation through the open hatch. Initially
afraid, he calmed down upon discovering it seemed empty, and declared
there was nothing to fear there, unaware of a gigantic clawed hand
reaching for him from behind...
(The Spider-Man Comic#641/4) - Captain Wally cowered in
the alien's hand, but the creature paused as it suddenly picked up the
scent of the pilchardcake he was carrying. Recognizing the smell, it
dropped the hero in terror, declaring that pilchardcake was the one
thing its species had no defense against. Seizing the advantage, Captain
Wally taunted his erstwhile attacker by waving the pilchardcake
threateningly towards it, and the alien fled back to its ship and
rapidly departed. Moments later the army arrived, and the surprised
commanding officer asked incredulously how someone like Captain Wally
could have driven the alien menace away. Nonchalantly munching on his
disgusting lunch, Wally declared it had been a piece of cake.
(The
Spider-Man Comic#642/1) - After being mocked in the street by children who
taunted him for calling himself a superhero when he couldn't even fly,
Captain Wally retreated to his shed H.Q. and built himself a beanie hat
with a helicopter blade. Taking it on his maiden flight, he was spotted by
one of the kids he had encountered earlier. Flying up adjacent to the
second storey balcony the boy was standing on, Captain Wally proudly
pointed out he was soaring like a bird, proving he could fly after all.
However the boy told him not to be daft, insisting it was scientifically
impossible to defy gravity. Querying this information, Captain Wally
paused in mid-air and his propeller stopped, causing him to plummet to the
ground. After getting bandaged and a cast on put on his leg, Captain Wally
balanced on his crutches and kicked the propeller cap into the garbage can
with his good leg. (The Spider-Man Comic#643/2) - Seeing Captain Wally about
to go out on patrol, his father declared that he should find himself a
proper job rather than "prancing around in a cape." In response Captain
Wally insisted it was his duty to be a superhero, since there were a lot
of nasty villains around. Sure enough, while out Captain Wally heard a
cry of distress, emanating from a greengrocer whose entire stock of
fruit and veg had just been stolen by an immensely obese, unkempt and
unwashed scoundrel. Before Captain Wally could intervene, the thief
threw the stolen food into the air and gulped it down in one go. He then
taunted the hero that he was too late, as the evidence had been eaten,
but Captain Wally insisted this made no difference, since he was still a
thief, and attempted to make a citizen's arrest, grabbing the crook by
the arm and struggling futilely to move him. Angered at being touched,
the villain identified himself as Doctor Slob, unholstered a strange
pistol, which fired a viscous liquid, coating Captain Wally.
(The Spider-Man Comic#645/1) - On holiday in Blackpool,
Walter Pratt was alerted to nearby trouble by cries of panic and
despair. Swiftly changing into costume, he rushed to the scene and
pursued a villainous looking individual racing along Blackpool Promenade
carrying a large sack of stolen bingo prizes. Captain Wally shouted at
the crook, telling him to stop, but the criminal rounded and smashed
Captain Wally to the ground with the weighty sack, declaring himself to
be Nasto, Spoiler of Fun! Cackling that it was now time for stage two of
his shameful scheme, Nasto activated a device, and Captain Wally watched
incredulous as the nearby Blackpool Tower grew arms and legs and
uprooted itself, moving under Nasto's control.
(The Spider-Man Comic#647/3) - Jumping on one of the local
trams, Captain Wally raced ahead of the bounding tower and threw the
plate of oysters in its path. Slipping on the molluscs, the tower
somersaulted back into its rightful place and stayed there. As
bystanders cheered, Captain Wally then pursued Nasto, taking him down by
throwing the vanilla ice cream cone in his face. Basking in his success,
Captain Wally outlined his triumph using a string of jokes, but this
painful punning enraged the fickle crowd, who went instantaneously from
cheering him on to chasing him away.
(The Spider-Man Comic#648/4) - Returning from his
holiday, Walter informed his parents it was time to return to work as
Captain Wally, to his mother's pride and father's despair. Out
patrolling he ran across the Bankbuster Brothers, fleeing a crime scene
carrying stolen loot, but when he tried to stop them they pummeled him
with a huge hammer and escaped while he sat crying on the ground
complaining that it wasn't fair.
(The Spider-Man Comic#648/4 - BTS) - Captain Wally prepared for his next confrontation with the Bankbuster Brothers by preparing a secret weapon - his holiday photos!
(The Spider-Man Comic#648/4) - The
next day Captain Wally confronted the pair again as they were exiting
through a bank's smashed wall carrying the safe, and he warned them to
surrender or face his secret weapon. Once they had stopped laughing at
him, the Bankbuster Brothers boasted they could withstand anything he
tried to use against them, and demanded to know what his so-called
weapon was. Confronted by Captain Wally's holiday snaps, the pair's
bravado evaporated, and begging for mercy they surrendered.
(The Spider-Man Comic#649/2) - While out hunting for
villains, Captain Wally was confronted by the superpowered Macho-Man,
Master of Power, who declared the self-proclaimed superhero a "mummy's
boy" and challenged him to a fight to the finish in a week's time.
Captain Wally spent the next week intensively training, but was so
feeble that he couldn't successfully lift any weights with his arms,
though he did manage with his feet, and he lost his fights with his
punching bag. At the end of the week he concluded with dread that
Macho-Man would crush him like a gnat, but then he received a phone call
from his erstwhile opponent, informing him the fight was off because
Macho-Man's mum wouldn't let him out because it was raining.
(The Spider-Man Comic#650/5) - Finally reaching page 30,
the two heroes found a young boy crying because Zippo had just stolen
the lad's entire 650 issue run of Spider-Man. Snailman angrily declared
that while stealing anything was bad, taking 650 issues of Spider-Man
was unforgivable. The heroes spotted Zippo fleeing with his ill-gotten
gains moments later, but Snailman acknowledged that he with his speed he
could never catch the crook. Declaring there was always a way, Captain
Wally gleefully grabbed Snailman by the shell and threw him spinning
like a bowling ball into the surprised Zippo. As the cops escorted the
handcuffed criminal into a police van, Captain Wally smugly told the
dizzy and disgruntled Snailman that he had caught Zippo after all,
thanks to Captain Wally's, and noted that he should return to his own
page now. Concurring, Snailman kicked Captain Wally flying, punting him
back towards the front of the comic.
(Spidey
Comic#651/1) - Out walking his frog, Maurice, Walter Pratt noticed a car
floating through the sky. Sure this was a job for his alter ego, he
swiftly donned his costume, and confronted the obvious villain, a short
man in wizard's robes and pointed hat (Spellmaster), demanding he return
the vehicle, only for the sorcerer to transform him into a tree, albeit
one that retained a humanoid face. After the mage had departed a dog
came up and started sniffing at the tree, but it fled in terror when the
arboreal Captain Wally yelled at it.
(Spidey Comic#652/2) - As a woodpecker began hammering at the tree, the magic wore off, returning Captain Wally to human form with the woodpecker now pecking at his head. When it began literally bucketing down (as in, it rained actual metal buckets), Captain Wally realized the Spellmaster was still nearby and raced to challenge the villain again, but Spellmaster spotted him coming and magically unleashed torrential rain directly over Captain Wally, covering his escape. Hanging himself up by his ears to dry off, the drenched hero vowed to catch his foe next week.
(Spidey Comic#653/4) - In his shed secret
H.Q. Captain Wally read the book "How to Defeat Annoying Little
Wizards," which claimed you could reverse a wizard's spell using a
mirror. Dozily misunderstanding this advice, Captain Wally decided
that since his family didn't buy the (Daily) Mirror (newspaper), a
copy of the Sun (newspaper) would have to do instead, and set out to
find Spellmaster. Finding him disrupting a football (soccer) match,
Captain Wally brandished the newspaper at his foe, who though confused
by this action, immediately zapped him. Swiftly recovering, Captain
Wally derided his opponent's name choice, betting the self-named
Spellmaster that he couldn't even spell chrysanthemum. Perturbed by
the challenge, Spellmaster tried to prove Captain Wally wrong, but
began to stumble over the letters, and with his concentration
elsewhere, Captain Wally seized the opportunity and smashed
Spellmaster with a large mallet. Chancing to be passing, Spider-Man
wondered aloud where the hammer had come from. Watching as a sulking
Spellmaster was escorted away by the police, Captain Wally informed
his beaten foe that it was time for a spell behind bars.
(Vworp Vworp#2) - Captain Wally and
Snailman joined individuals from across the Marvel Megaverse in
attending the wedding of Sheila Cranna (see comments).
(Oink!#26) - Somehow transported to a limbo
realm alongside old comic characters from years gone, Captain Wally
joined other individuals forgotten by the public in checking out new
arrival Tom Thug, who was seated amidst scattered comics (see
comments).
(Transformers and Action Force#245 (fb) - BTS) - Captain
Wally was kidnapped by the Brain, and imprisoned in an isolated village
alongside fellow superheroes Brickman, Macho Man (not the same
individual as his former foe) and Snailman, plus the twin Giggly Sisters
(not superheroes, but girlfriends of two), guarded by a coterie of
villains: Madprof, Amazing Dave, Aunt Arctic, D.J. Yampy, Mr. Magno and
Skydiver.
(Transformers and Action Force#245) - Investigating, Colin and Steve encountered the other prisoners. Introducing himself, a dejected Captain Wally explained that they were all old comic characters forcibly retired to the village. After the other prisoners likewise introduced themselves, the group was confronted by the villainous warders. With Steve noting that the warders were their vilest villains, Colin realized one villain was absent, the Brain, and correctly concluded he must be behind everything.
(Transformers and Action
Force#246) - Colin tried to convince his fellow prisoners to attempt an
escape, but Captain Wally protested that there were too many guards, so
escape was impossible. Colin, Steve and the Giggly Sisters ignored this
and tried anyway, but were easily stopped by the warders.
(Transformers and Action Force#247) - However, Colin then pointed out to the villains that they were as much prisoners as heroes. Effectively trapped in the village in order to guard the heroes, they were abandoning their own conquest plans and leaving Brain free to take over the world. Agreeing to a truce, the combined forces of the heroes and villains attacked Brain's headquarters, but were confronted by their foe, now wearing Colin's stolen Combat Trousers and able to access the innumerable weapons contained in its magical pockets. As Brain blasted at Snailman, Brickman yelled a warning, but Snailman couldn't react in time and was hit, prompting Colin to note he had been "too slow" and Captain Wally to derisively respond "as usual."
(Transformers and Action Force#248) - The Brain took down
some of his foes using a saucepan shooter (literally a gun firing
saucepans) and smelly sock bazooka, though he ignored the
inconsequential Captain Wally. Luckily Colin was able to remotely
control his trousers, turning them against the Brain, allowing Colin to
get close enough to punch the villain unconscious. Free, the heroes all
departed for their respective homes.
Comments: Created by Lew Stringer.
Captain Wally's home town wasn't explicitly
named, but in Spider-Man Comic#639 the Whatsit from Planet X lands in
the nearby Wallytown Woods, which suggests that Pratt's home is
Wallytown; the corollary to this is that he chose the name Captain Wally
not as a shorthand for his first name, Walter, but as a homage to where
he comes from and protects, similar to the likes of the New Universe's
Captain Manhattan and Captain Brooklyn. Presumably it didn't occur to
the somewhat dim Walter Pratt that Wally is an insulting term to
describe a stupid person. He seems to live in the same town as Snailman,
since there's no suggestion that either is away from their usual haunts
when they run into one another in Spider-Man Comic#550; the only
evidence towards location in Snailman's strip is that two criminals rob
the "Porkshire Bank" in Spider-Man Comic#535, but since this is a play
on the real world Yorkshire Bank, branches of which can be found well
outside of the Yorkshire, that doesn't contradict this. It may be though
that Wallytown is in the county of Porkshire.
His dual identity is clearly either public knowledge or at least known to the authorities, given he gets a phone call at home from Sergeant Truncheon. Of course, having a sign sitting outside your house's garden shed, completely visible to the street, declaring it to be "Captain Wally's Secret H.Q." probably didn't do much to keep it a mystery.
Since his strip was black and white, and the
only color images of him are in costume wearing a hair-covering mask,
it's impossible to say for certain what color his hair is. It's clearly
dark, and I suspect is probably black, but I can't rule it out being
brown. Though he's weedy, he's apparently surprisingly tall. When he
confronts the rampaging Hulk, he's just below the Hulk's chin height;
per the 1980s handbooks, both original and deluxe, the Hulk was 7' at
the time, and normally proportioned human bodies are generally around
eight heads tall (and despite his immense musculature, the Hulk's still
largely proportioned like a regular human), which makes Captain Wally
around seven eighths of 7', or a little over 6' tall. Since he is
extremely skinny, I estimated him at least 20lbs. under the minimum
healthy weight for a male of that size.
Is Captain Wally an Earth-616 character? For my money, he is. He was inspired to become a superhero after reading a newspaper report about Spider-Man's adventures, and runs into the Hulk, plus the second Macho-Man encountered literally dozens of Marvel characters, including Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, Captain Britain and the Black Knight. Of course, it might be argued that merely proves they are in one of the Marvel Multiverse or the larger Marvel Megaverse's many realities, but Lew Stringer himself notes that as far as he is concerned, their tales are "canon." I doubt Lew would have thought of this in terms of Earth-616 (since that terminology was not yet in common parlance), but that sure sounds like he means "mainstream Marvel reality." Yes, they are humor characters, but they aren't any more ridiculous than other such characters who are undeniably616 residents.
Captain Wally was one of a number of humor strips Lew produced for Marvel UK. When this came to an end, Marvel UK editorial gave Lew back the copyright of one of those strips, Combat Colin, who appeared in Action Force (the UK title for GI Joe) and Transformers, but per Lew's blog Marvel still owns Captain Wally. Which means they can use him if they want, and since he's apparently 616 and every British hero got inducted into MI13 when the Skrulls invaded Earth, presumably Captain Wally is now a member of that group. I'm probably the only person in the world hoping to one day see him snuck into the background of a crowd scene of MI13 operatives, mixing with the likes of Motormouth and Digitek.
Captain Wally and Snailman both debuted at a
time when the long-running British Spider-Man title (launched in 1973)
was being revamped in an attempt to boost flagging sales, and they
joined a truly eclectic and frankly bizarre line-up: reprints of
Spider-Man from the Denver Post free giveaway comics and then Spidey
Super-Stories (Electric Company) stories; Star Comics' Wally the Wizard,
which were retitled Willy the Wizard because allegedly they were worried
UK readers might find the name Wally risible (apparently missing the
irony that (a) they were including a strip called Captain Wally, and (b)
Willy has its own double entendres); Fraggle Rock; and later first the
Dukes of Hazzard and then Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. Weirdly,
given they were humor strips, Captain Wally and Snailman proved to be
more mature fair and more closely linked to the Marvel Universe than
most of the other tales within the comic.
Oink! was a IPC title that included Lew Stringer's strip Tom Thug. In Oink!#26 the title character daydreams ending up on the scraphead alongside other characters from a variety of British comic characters. While most of those depicted were from comics IPC owned, Lew also stuck in a sneaky cameo for Captain Wally. Since dreams (and hence daydreams) have been shown to depict real events in other realities, this still counts as a "proper" appearance for Captain Wally. See below for details of who is who.
Vworp Vworp is an intermittent fan magazine for the
comic strips of Marvel's Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly/Magazine -
specifically the Doctor's long running strip rather than the
character/show in general, or the other comics the character has
appeared in. In the second issue they featured artwork done as a wedding
gift to one of the magazine's editors that featured several characters
alongside Doctor Who Magazine staffers. Despite the unusual context of
the appearance, I chose to count this as a valid appearance for Captain
Wally. Feel free to disagree. Though the image was publicly published
only in 2011, it was drawn in 1986, placing the appearance after Captain
Wally's run in Spider-Man Comic/Spidey Comic but before his cameo in
Oink! Perhaps the presence of the Doctor, a known reality-hopper,
explains the presence of so many characters from differing realities at
the nuptials, and how Captain Wally subsequently ended up temporarily
trapped in another reality alongside the IPC characters in Oink!
From left to right at the wedding, we
have: art director Steve Cook (handing out his business card), the
Dinobot Sludge, Snailman, Captain Wally, the Decepticon leader Megatron,
Spider-Man, editor Sheila Cranna, her groom/husband-to-be (sorry, don't
know his name), the TARDIS, Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the Doctor's
companion Peri Brown, the sixth Doctor, artist John Ridgway (behind the
Doctor's arm), the Doctor's shapeshifting companion Frobisher, artist
Will Simpson (riding on Optimus' shoulder), Nessie (a nod to Sheila
being Scottish, and located above and behind Will Simpson), writer and
artist Ian Rimmer (wearing the blue suit), Star Wars editor droid CYRIL,
DWM assistant editor Penny Holme, writer and artist Richard Starkings
(green suit), writer and editor John Tomlinson (in the buggy), and
writer Simon Furman (pink suit).
It is entirely possible that Lew Stringer has
slipped Captain Wally into other crowd scenes in comics he has drawn and
that I've overlooked. If you know of any missing appearances, please do
let me know.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Wally has no known connections to:
(Spider-Man
Comic#635/4 - BTS) - Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were Walter Pratt's
parents. He still stayed with them.
(Spider-Man
Comic#639/4) - When Walter went out as Captain Wally to
investigate reports of a flying saucer landing nearby, Mrs. Pratt gave
him some pilchardcake to take with him for his lunch.
(Spider-Man Comic#643/2) - Captain Wally's mother blindly supported her son's desire to be a superhero, but his father informed him he should get a proper job rather than prancing around in a cape all day.
(Spider-Man Comic#648/4) - When Walter
returned home from a holiday in Blackpool, he declared to his parents
that it was time to go back to work as Captain Wally, his statement
inspiring both maternal pride and fatherly despair.
--Mr Pratt: (photo) Spider-Man Comic#635/4; (full) Spider-Man Comic#643/2 (Spider-Man
Comic#648/4
--Mrs Pratt: (photo and voice off-panel) Spider-Man
Comic#635/4; (full) Spider-Man Comic#639/4 (Spider-Man Comic#643/2, 648/4
Compton Deltic was a retired train spotter who had stopped his car at Mac's Garage to refuel. Unfortunately for him, Spellmaster was lurking nearby and feeling mischievous. Compton watched in surprise as Spellmaster leapt out from behind some bushes and zapped the vehicle with his magic, changing the petrol into helium gas. As Compton stared bug-eyed, his car floated off into the sky.
--Spidey Comic#651/1
Sergeant Truncheon was the local bobby (police officer) for Captain Wally's area. When a member of the public called in a sighting of a flying saucer landing in Wallytown Woods, Truncheon became fearful of the possibility that it would be full of dangerous alien creatures. Unwilling to risk this himself, he pondered who would be senseless enough to agree to investigate, then was struck with inspiration and phoned Captain Wally, who immediately accepted the assignment.
--Spider-Man Comic#639/4
Powers/Abilities:The Bankbuster Brothers appeared to
possess a level of superhuman strength, carrying around heavy safes with
ease.
History: (The Spider-Man Comic#648/4) - As the
Bankbuster Brothers fled up the street carrying stolen loot they were
confronted by local hero Captain Wally, but when he tried to stop them
they pummeled him with a huge hammer, then escaped while he sat crying
on the ground complaining that it wasn't fair. The next day the hero
again confronted them while they were exiting through a bank's smashed
wall carrying the safe, and warned them to surrender or face his secret
weapon. Once they had stopped laughing at him, the Bankbuster Brothers demanded to know what his so-called weapon was, boasting they could withstand anything he tried to use against
them. However, when the hero produced his holiday snaps, the pair's
bravado evaporated, and begging for mercy they surrendered.
Comments: Though their sibling status and names
mark them as different individuals, the Bankbuster Brothers clearly
share not only their profession but also their tailor with Snailman foes
Ronnie Ransack and Nick
Nobble.
--Spider-Man Comic#648/4
Powers/Abilities: Doctor Slob was
able to consume huge quantities of food in a single gulp. His immense
mass made him immovable (at least to a wimp like Captain Wally). He
possessed a gun that shot an unidentified glue-like viscous liquid
capable of snaring victims like flies in amber; luckily it was easy to
wash off, at least before it had time to harden.
History:
(The Spider-Man Comic#643/2) - Doctor Slob, the nastiest
villain in the universe, resided in an underground lair in Wallytown's
sewers. Venturing forth to begin a campaign of terror, he robbed a
greengrocers of its entire stock of fruit and veg, but the shop owner's
cries of distress brought local hero Captain Wally running. Before
Captain Wally could intervene, Doctor Slob threw the stolen food into
the air and gulped it down in one go, then taunted the hero that he all
the evidence had been eaten. Insisting this made no difference, Captain
Wally attempted to make a citizen's arrest, but the weedy hero's
attempts to restrain the massive crook were utterly futile. Nevertheless
angry at being touched, Doctor Slob shot the hero with his gunge pistol,
coating Captain Wally with a viscous liquid.
(The Spider-Man Comic#644/2) - Leaving Captain Wally stuck in the gunge, Doctor Slob departed, stealing more food and leaving a trail of littered peels and other remains in his wake. Once freed from the gunge, Captain Wally used this detritus to track Doctor Slob to the alley where he was resting, even more immense than before now that he had gorged himself so thoroughly. Contemptuous of Captain Wally's demands that he surrender, Doctor Slob pushed the slender hero out of his path and leapt towards an open manhole, intending to escape into the sewers, but instead became stuck, his stomach's diameter now wider than the opening. Captain Wally called the police, who cut Doctor Slob free and escorted the handcuffed criminal away, his waist still belted by a ring of concrete.
--Spider-Man Comic#643/2 (Spider-Man Comic#644/2
Powers/Abilities: Nasto possessed
scientific skill sufficient to create a micro-chip implant capable of
transforming a metallic building never designed to move into a mobile
remote-controlled monster.
History: (The Spider-Man
Comic#645/1 (fb) - BTS) - Nasto, the Spoiler of Fun, planted a remote
control micro-chip on the Blackpool Tower tourist attraction, enabling
himself to transform the 158 meter tall metallic example of Victorian
architecture into a rampaging behemoth at the press of a button.
(The Spider-Man Comic#645/1) - Nasto then robbed a nearby bingo parlor of its prizes and ran with his ill-gotten goods down the Blackpool Promenade, until he was challenged by the hero Captain Wally. Nasto smashed Captain Wally to the ground with the weighty sack, then cackled that it was time for stage two of his shameful scheme and activated the tower, boasting it was now under his control.
(The Spider-Man Comic#646/3) -
The shocked hero watched helplessly as the tower began leaping around on
a rampage of destruction, and demanded to know how Nasto had achieved
this. The villain boasted about his ingenious micro-chip implant, then
escaped as a stunned Captain Wally struggled to come to terms with what
was happening.
(The Spider-Man Comic#647/3) - However, Captain Wally
managed to halt the tower's rampage using a plate of oysters, then
pursued Nasto, taking him down by throwing the vanilla ice cream cone in
his face.
--Spider-Man Comic#645/1 (Spider-Man Comic#646/3, 647/3
Powers/Abilities: Spellmaster
could cast spells merely by pointing his finger, allowing him to
transform compound hydrocarbons into elements, people into trees,
control the weather, fly, or just simply blast someone with lightning.
His transformations wore off after an unspecified but relatively brief
amount of time.
History: (Spidey Comic#651/1) - Feeling mischievous, Spellmaster used his sorcery to transform the petrol inside retired trainspotter Compton Deltic's car into helium, causing the vehicle to float away into the sky. When Captain Wally then confronted Spellmaster, demanding he return the vehicle, Spellmaster transformed him into a tree and departed.
(Spidey Comic#652/2) - Spellmaster next amused himself by targeting people waiting at a bus stop, deluging them with rain and striking them with lightning. This turned into literally bucketing down (as in metal buckets falling from the sky), which attracted the attention of a recovered Captain Wally. Seeing the hero running towards him, Spellmaster created a torrential downpour directly over Captain Wally and escaped once more.
(Spidey Comic#653/4) - A week later Spellmaster disrupted a football (soccer) match by transforming the ball into a Christmas pudding just before the players kicked it. Trying once more to stop the renegade wizard, Captain Wally intervened and brandished a copy of the Sun newspaper at his foe, who though confused by this action, immediately zapped him. Swiftly recovering, Captain Wally derided his opponent's name choice, betting the self-named Spellmaster that he couldn't even spell chrysanthemum. Perturbed by the challenge, Spellmaster tried to prove Captain Wally wrong, but began to stumble over the letters, and with his concentration elsewhere, Captain Wally seized the opportunity and smashed Spellmaster with a large mallet. As a sulking Spellmaster was taken into custody, Captain Wally informed his beaten foe that it was time for a spell behind bars.
--Spidey Comic#651/1 (Spidey Comic#652/2, 653/4
Powers/Abilities: The Whatsit was
strong enough to pick up an admittedly weedy full grown human with
ease, and possessed lengthy arms ending in clawed hands, and a massive
mouth big enough to swallow a person whole.
History: (Spider-Man Comic#640/4 (fb) - BTS) - The Whatsit from Planet X was a space tourist who visited planets to take photos and snack on a few of the locals.
(Spider-Man Comic#639/4 - BTS) - The
Whatsit landed his flying saucer in Wallytown Woods on Earth, and
ventured out to look around.
(Spider-Man Comic#639/4) - Noticing
local would-be superhero Captain Wally entering his craft's open hatch,
the Whatsit came up behind the intruder unawares.
(Spider-Man Comic#640/4) - The Whatsit greeted Captain Wally with a warm "Hello," but the hero fled in terror. Easily catching up with Captain Wally, the Whatsit jumped out from behind a tree shouting "Surprise!" Gathering his courage, Captain Wally warned the Whatsit to back off, but the Whatsit calmed him down by explaining he was merely a tourist visiting to take a few photos, and would soon be on his way. Hearing this, a more relaxed Captain Wally tried to guess what the Whatsit might want to eat, but fell wide of the mark, even failing to get the hint when the Whatsit stated it fancied something "meatier." Declaring his intention to devour the human, the Whatsit grabbed him and opened wide his massive jaws.
(Spider-Man Comic#641/4) - Before
the Whatsit placed Captain Wally into its mouth, it caught a whiff of
something disgusting, and dumped its captive on the ground in horror as
it recognized he was carrying pilchardcake, the one thing the
inhabitants of Planet X had no defense against. Seizing his chance,
Captain Wally taunted waved the cake at the now terrified Whatsit, who
begged him to keep it away and then fled for its spaceship and took off
immediately to return to Planet X.
Comments: The Whatsit is only named in the strip
title, and within the actual story neither provides his name nor is
given one by Captain Wally.
-- (right hand only) Spider-Man Comic#639/4; (full) Spider-Man Comic#640/4 (Spider-Man Comic#641/4
 |
The Lion was published by Amalgamated Press, later bought out by IPC, from 23rd February 1952 until 18th May 1974, a run of over 1100 issues. It ultimately merged into another IPC comic, Valiant. | |
 |
Smash! was published by Odhams Press, later bought
out by IPC, between 5th February 1966 and 3rd April 1971, a total
of 257 issues. During the period Odhams published it, the comic
was part of the "Power Pack" group of titles which were among the
earliest titles to reprint American Marvel stories; in Smash!'s
case the reprints were Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man
and Daredevil. It even printed the first UK originated Marvel
story. Like Lion, it eventually merged into Valiant. |
|
 |
Valiant was published by IPC from 29th September
1962 until 16th October 1976, a total of 730 issues. It merged
into Battle Picture Weekly. |
Youthful hellion Bad Penny became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Leo Baxendale, Bad Penny
debuted in Smash!#1 (15th February 1966) and lasted its entire run,
concluding in the 3rd April 1971 issue (unnumbered, as IPC dropped
numbering the issues when they took over the title from original
publisher Odhams). Penny vanished into relative obscurity thereafter,
bar cameos like the one in Oink!#26, but returned as an adult, Penny
Dolmann, in Wildstorm's Albion, notable for Appendix purposes mainly
because it included a cameo of Marvel character Android Andy (himself a
homage to Robot Archie - see below). Rebellion, the publisher that
bought former IPC title 2000AD back in the 1990s, more recently
purchased IPC and Fleetway's back catalogue of characters, and Penny has
thus made a couple more recent return appearances in stories again drawn
by Lew Stringer.
--Oink!#26
Super strong British marine Captain Hercules Hurricane became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by R. Charles Roylace, Captain Hurricane debuted in Valiant#1 (6th October 1962). Like Bad Penny he turned up in Albion, giving him the same tangential Android Andy link to Marvel's multiverse, but he's got a possible Marvel multiverse counterpart in Earth-238's Hulk.
--Oink!#26
Mysterious superhero/secret agent the Cloak became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Mike Higgs,
he debuted as "the Shudder" in a fanzine before becoming the Cloak for
his professional debut in Odham's Pow!#18 (20th May 1967), where he
appeared alongside reprints of Spider-Man and Nick Fury, Agent of
SHIELD. Like Bad Penny he
turned up in Albion, giving him the same tangential Android Andy link
to Marvel's multiverse, but that's not his only loose tie to Marvel's
characters, as the image on the right shows.
--Oink!#26
Adventurous space pilot Dan Dare became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Frank
Hampson, Dan Dare debuted in The Eagle#1 (14th February 1950), and
continued to appear throughout its entire 19 year run, though he did
switch into reprints in the final couple of years. He's returned a
number of times since. His other Marvel connections include sharing
later issues of the original Eagle title with reprints of The Mighty
Thor, turning up in The Comic Relief Comic to take part in a "biggest
chin" competition alongside Captain Britain and then team up with the
Doctor, and having a possible counterpart among the last heroes of
Earth-238, Roy Risk.
--Oink!#26
Inept space hero Dash Decent became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Dave Angus and Kevin O'Neill, Dash Decent was a parody of Flash Gordon, riffing on the then-recent cinematic movie having recently come out. He debuted in 2000AD#178 and appeared through to 2000AD#198, skipping #180, with one additional story in the 2000AD Annual 1982, and cameos on a poster in 2000AD#200 and a crowd scene in #500. One of the title's shortest featured lead characters, I think his cameo in Oink! alongside Captain Wally is the closest encounter he's had with any aspect of the Marvel multiverse, though it's not impossible I've overlooked a sneaky cameo in any one of the multitude of titles Kevin O'Neill has drawn.
--Oink!#26
Vampire detective Deadly Headley became trapped in a
limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals
including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Mark Rodgers and Martin Baxendale, Deadly Headley debuted in Buster on the unnumbered issue cover dated 18th April 1981. He appeared there until 28th May 1983, thereafter dropping out of sight bar cameos such as the one in Oink! until Rebellion bought the rights to him as part of the IPC stable of characters; since then he's had a few new strips as part of their Treasury of Comics line. To the best of my knowledge the Oink! cameo alongside Captain Wally is the closest he's come to interacting with Marvel characters.
--Oink!#26
Well-intentioned boy scout "Deed-a-Day" Danny became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Hugh McNeill, Deed-a-Day Danny debuted in Knockout#1 on 4th March 1939 and ran until 1954. Danny was a boy scout forever attempting to do good deeds that spectacularly backfired on him while still working out for those he was trying to assist. To the best of my knowledge the Oink! cameo alongside Captain Wally is the closest he's come to interacting with Marvel characters.
--Oink!#26
Pre-teen secret agent and crimefighter Eagle-Eye became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Leo Baxendale, Eagle-Eye debuted in Wham!#1 (20th June 1964); one of Odhams Power Pack titles, he began sharing the pages with Marvel characters when reprints of the Fantastic Four started in Wham!#112 (6th August 1966). His only other connection to the Marvel multiverse that I am aware of is via Earth-238's Android Andy's appearance in Wildstorm's Albion, which also features a grown up Eagle-Eye, now known as Warden Eagleton and running a prison for superheroes.
--Oink!#26
Good-hearted monster Frankie Stein became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Ken Reid,
Frankie Stein debuted in Wham!#4 (11th July 1964). One of Wham!'s more enduring characters, he was
revived for several subsequent titles including Shiver and Shake,
Whoopee! and Monster Fun through the 1970s and more recently returned
after Rebellion bought the rights to him. Like Eagle-Eye above, he briefly shared his original title
with reprints of the Fantastic Four, but otherwise has to the best of my knowledge come no closer to
interacting with Marvel characters than the Oink! cameo alongside
Captain Wally.
--Oink!#26
Criminal mastermind Grimly Feendish became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Leo
Baxendale, the "Rottenist Crook in the World" Grimly Feendish debuted
as the main villain in Eagle-Eye's strip in Wham!#1 (20th June 1964),
but proved more popular than the strip's lead and so graduated to his
own series in Smash!#1 (5th February 1966). Like other characters on
this page's subprofiles, he turned up in Wildstorm's Albion, thus
providing him a tenuous link to the Marvel multiverse via Android
Andy; other than that, his Oink! cameo alongside Captain Wally remains
his only interaction with Marvel characters to the best of my
knowledge.
--Oink!#26
Sentient simian Gus Gorilla became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Mike Lacey,
Gus Gorilla was the cover star of Cor!!, debuting in the first issue
cover dated 6th June 1970. His Oink! cameo marks his only interaction
with Marvel characters that I am aware of.
--Oink!#26
Pompous and incompetent spy Harris Tweed became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by John Ryan,
Harris Tweed debuted in Eagle#16 (28th July 1950), his strip replacing
Ryan's previous series, Captain Pugwash. Like many subprofiles here,
his cameo in Oink! marks his only known interaction with a Marvel
character. .
--Oink!#26
The magic umbrella belonging to young Jimmy Jolly became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by H.E. Pease, Jimmy Jolly and his magical, reality-altering umbrella, debuted in Jingles in 1947. Like many subprofiles here, his cameo in Oink! marks his only known interaction with a Marvel character.
--Oink!#26
The quick witted Marmaduke and his mother became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Freddie Crompton, the strip began as Marmaduke and his Ma in 1922's story paper Funny Wonder, before the name was shortened to Marmy and his Ma. They continued to appear in a variety of titles right through into the 1950s. Like many subprofiles here, their cameo in Oink! marks their only known interaction with a Marvel character.
--Oink!#26
Food-obsessed feline Mowser became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Reg Parlett for the comic Lion, Mowser was the pet cat of Lord and Lady Crummy, and resided at Crummy Castle, where he was always in conflict with his arch enemy, the butler James. His strip began on 8th February 1964 and ran, with the occasional week off, until 18th May 1974, with an additional couple of years of reprints thereafter. Like many subprofiles here, his cameo in Oink! marks his only known interaction with a Marvel character.
--Oink!#26
Robotic superhero Robot Archie became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Edward
George "Ted" Cowan and Ted Kearnon, Robot Archie debuted in Lion#1
(23rd February 1952). One of the title's most enduring characters, his
strip ran for 17 out of the title's 22 year run. While it was common
for humor strip characters to cross over with one another, adventure
strip characters such as Archie did so very rarely; Archie was one of
the few exceptions to this, taking on the Spider and the Sludge,
and he continued to do so once Lion was cancelled. As with a few
others in these sub-profiles, he had an Earth-238 counterpart, Android
Andy, but his connection is closer than most, since they were seen
stored together in the workshop full of defunct robots in Wildstorm's
Albion miniseries. He's also turned up several times in 2000AD, most
notably as a main character in the superhero strip Zenith, but also in
a few cameos, including one alongside Marshal Law, a loose Marvel
connection since Law was once published by the Epic imprint. He was a
major player in Wildstorm's Albion miniseries, and since Rebellion
bought the rights to him a few years ago he's had a few minor
appearances in their Vigilant series. .
--Oink!#26
Comments: Created by Leonard Shields or Roy Wilson for Jingles#1 (13th January 1934). Full disclosure - he may be called Salmon rather than Shrimp; the only readable panels of the strip I've been able to find have him and the family's pet dog both in panel and being collectively called "Salmon and Shrimp" without being totally clear which is which. I'm ASSuming here that since the cat is the smaller of the two, he's more likely to be Shrimp, but it could be the other way round (with the feline being named after his favorite food and the canine being called Shrimp because he's a relatively small dog, for example). Like many subprofiles here, his cameo in Oink! marks his only known interaction with a Marvel character.
--Oink!#26
The metal prosthetic of invisible adventurer Louis Crandell, a.k.a. the Steel Claw, became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Jack
LeGrand, Ken Mennell and Sid Bicknell, the Steel Claw debuted in
Valiant#1 (6th October 1962). He had an Earth-238 counterpart, the
Iron Tallon, whose sub-profile also provides a little more background
on the original character. Like
other characters on this page's subprofiles, he turned up in
Wildstorm's Albion, thus providing him another (if tenuous) link to
the Marvel multiverse via Android Andy. When Quality Comics reprinted
some of the Steel Claw's adventures for the American markets, they
added a few new pages alongside the reprints and changed his name to
Lewis Randall, thus effectively creating an alternative reality
version of the character; this provides him with another very loose
Marvel connection, since the new pages Quality added established him
as being in the same universe as a version of Big Ben, who in turn has
a Marvel megaverse counterpart.
--Oink!#26
Mischievous anthropomorphic feline Tiger Tim became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Julius
Stafford, Tiger Tim debuted as one of the Bruin Boys (kindergarten
aged anthropomorphic animals) in The Daily Illustrated Mirror
newspaper's comics section on 16th April 1904, as part of the strip
Mrs. Hippo's Kindergarten. He went on to become the star of the group
and eventually moved to his own comic titles. With his stories
continuing until 1985, he remains fondly remembered by British
creators, and both Alan Moore and Bryan Talbot have given him cameos,
in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol.2 and Grandville
respectively. However, apart from his cameo alongside Captain Wally in
Oink!, I'm not aware of any other interactions with Marvel characters.
--Oink!#26
Incompetent bully Tom Thug (dreamed he) became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Created by Lew Stringer, Tom Thug debuted in Oink!#1 (3rd May 1986). Like many subprofiles here, his meeting Captain Wally in Oink! marks his only known interaction with a Marvel character.
--Oink!#26
Tramp friends Weary Willie and Tired Tim became trapped in a limbo for forgotten comic characters, stuck with many other individuals including Captain Wally.
Comments: Initially known as Weary
Waddles and Tired Timmy, Weary Willie and Tired Tim were created by Tom
Browne for Illustrated Chips#298 on 6th May 1896 (!), and enjoyed an
impressive 57 year run which came to an end only when Illustrated Chips
was cancelled and merged into Film Fun in 1954. They were among the
earliest comic strip characters to make it into film, with the now-lost
1903 comedy Weary Willie and Tired Tim: The Gunpowder Plot, and were one
of the inspirations for Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character. Like many subprofiles here, their
cameo in Oink! marks their only known interaction with a Marvel
character.
--Oink!#26
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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