Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

published by

All-American Publications All-American PublicationsThe name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to form the ...

. He appeared in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'', ...

radio serial Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

s and

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

s. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular hero originally through the 1940s, during the events of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Publication history

The character first appeared in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series ''

All American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green ...

'' #1 (April 1939) by the

publishing company, as one of the early

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

heroes in comic history. He was a recurring character by the publishing company appearing in many magazines including anthology magazines like ''

All-Flash ''All-Flash'', originally published as ''All-Flash Quarterly'', was a comic book magazine series published by All-American Publications and later National Periodicals (DC Comics) featuring superhero Jay Garrick, the original Flash. The series was t ...

'', ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'', ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'', ''

Mutt & Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newspa ...

'', ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'', ''

Comic Cavalcade ''Comic Cavalcade'' was an anthology comic book published by DC Comics from 1942 to 1954. Most American comic book publishers in the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age of comic books published anthology titles that showcased a variety of characters, usua ...

'', ''

Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been introduced in ''Al ...

'' and ''

Flash Comics ''Flash Comics'' is a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featu ...

''. For a brief period in 1941, Blummer considered turning Hop Harrigan into a superhero, as many other strips were converting to follow the new trend. Harrigan appeared in costume from March to July, and then Blummer dropped the idea.

Fictional summary

Hop Harrigan had been orphaned by his father, a legendary pilot, who disappeared on a flight to South America to see his wife. Hop's story begins with him being raised by his neighbor, the cruel farmer Silas Crane, who gets legal guardianship of him in order to obtain Hop's inheritance. When Hop Harrigan is a teenager, Crane tries to destroy a biplane that had once been in the possession of Hop's father. Seeing this, Hop angrily knocks the old man to the ground and escapes in the biplane, not planning to return. He arrives at an airport where he saves the life of mechanic Tank Tinker, who became his friend and companion. Tank gives Harrigan his nickname when he said, "Some hop, Harrigan". Later, Hop, Tank and Prop Wash (the pilot who accidentally endangers Tank), along with help from an heiress (who later becomes Hop's girlfriend), set up the All-American Aviation Company, and they have a variety of exciting adventures. Hop briefly takes on the costumed identity of the Guardian Angel. By the time

comes, as with most other comics of the time, the Hop Harrigan comic has World War II themed adventures as Hop, Tank and Prop join the US Army Air Corps in service of the war effort. Shortly after the war, the character appears for a while under the alias the Black Lamp.

Media adaptations

On radio, ''

Hop Harrigan Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a fictional character published by All-American Publications. He appeared in American comic books, radio serials and film serials. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular h ...

'' was broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from August 31, 1942, until August 2, 1946, and on Mutual from October 2, 1946, until February 6, 1948. Charles Stratton appeared in the title role with

Ken Lynch Kenneth E. Lynch (July 15, 1910 – February 13, 1990) was an American radio, film, and television actor with more than 180 credits to his name. He was generally known for portraying law enforcement officers and detectives. He may have been bes ...

as Tank. Lynch was later replaced by Jackson Beck, voice actor for

Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...

(

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.King Leonardo ''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' (also known as ''The King and Odie Show'') is a 1960–1963 American Saturday-morning animated television series that aired on NBC, sponsored by General Mills. It was created by Total Television (which wo ...

and

Perry White Perry White is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the editor-in-chief of the Metropolis newspaper the ''Daily Planet''. The character maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards and i ...

(

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

Mitzi Gould Mitzi Gould (born July 22, 1915) was an American actress. Before her marriage in 1937 she was known as Mitzi Haynes. Early years Gould was born in New York City, and as a child, she learned to speak Hungarian before she learned to speak English ...

played Hop's girlfriend, Gail Nolan. One of the writers for this series was noir novelist

David Goodis David Loeb Goodis (March 2, 1917 – January 7, 1967) was an American writer of crime fiction noted for his output of short stories and novels in the noir fiction genre. Born in Philadelphia, Goodis alternately resided there and in New York Cit ...

. The ''

'' 15-chapter movie serial (March 28, 1946) was produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

with

William Bakewell William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Early years Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...

as Hop and Sumner Getchell as Tank. This was Hop's first and only screen appearance. Hop Harrigan is mentioned as a childhood bully of

Sylvester Pemberton Sylvester Pemberton, alternately known as The Star-Spangled Kid and Skyman, is a superhero in the DC Comics universe. Sylvester first appeared in ''Star Spangled Comics'' #1 (October 1941) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Hal Sherman. Startin ...

in Season 2 Episode 10 of '' Stargirl''. Pemberton, appearing in a flashback, recounts how Harrigan beat him up and stole a watch that he believed was given to him by his parents but was instead secretly left for him by

Pat Dugan S.T.R.I.P.E. (short for Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer) is a superhero in the DC Comics Universe. S.T.R.I.P.E. is a powered armor suit invented and worn by Patrick "Pat" Dugan, the former adult sidekick to teenage superhero S ...

References

External links

Hop Harrigan
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016.
Hop Harrigan
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrigan, Hop Comics characters introduced in 1939 All-American Publications characters Golden Age superheroes 1940s American radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs DC Comics military personnel DC Comics superheroes Fictional aviators Aviation comics American comics adapted into films ABC radio programs Fictional fighter pilots

Publication history

Fictional summary

Media adaptations

See also

References

External links