Professor Jolly

Real Name: Jolly (surname; first name unknown)

Identity/Class: Magic item user

Occupation: Professor

Affiliations: None known

Enemies: Unknown

Known Relatives: None (see Comments)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unknown

First Appearance: Illustrated Chips and the Joker (Amalgamated Press, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: Professor Jolly possessed a magic umbrella which allowed him to change reality at a thought so long as he was holding it.

History: Professor Jolly was the owner of an umbrella (his magic brolly) which enabled him to perform magic. He used it to do small acts of kindness.

Comments: Created by H.E. Pease. Professor Jolly appeared in the strip Professor Jolly & his Magic Brolly.

Given the identical surnames and similar magic umbrellas, I've got to assume that Jimmy Jolly in the later Jingles comic was based on/an updated version of this character. The brolly's are slightly different - Professor J's has a normal looking handle (as far as I can tell from the limited number of images I've seen of him), while Jimmy's has a duck's head, and have slightly different powers - both alter reality to transform objects or create things out of thin air, but the Professor seems to be able to control exactly what his does by mental command, whereas Jimmy's is operated verbally, reacts to any comment that includes "I wish" including those that weren't meant as actual requests, and seems to quite literally have a mind of its own. And obviously the Professor is an adult while Jimmy is a kid. If you're going to have a humour strip involving a magic umbrella, then Jolly is a good surname to use, rhyming with "brolly" (nothing simple rhymes with umbrella), and suggesting a more jovial tone than alternatives such as Holly, Folly, etc. The change to a child protagonist rather than an adult also makes sense, given the intended readership. So I'd presume there wasn't intended to be any connection between them beyond the basic concept. All that said, I've got to wonder if, in universe, they are either related (father and son?), or if Jimmy is the Professor when he was young (or restored to youth by the brolly).

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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