''Ping the Elastic Man'' (also named ''Here Comes Ping the Elastic Man'') was a British comic strip that appeared in ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...

''. It was about a boy who could stretch his limbs as if they were made of elastic and was created by Hugh McNeill.

Background

Hugh McNeill responded to

R. D. Low Robert Duncan Low (25 August 1895, Dundee – 13 December 1980) was a Scottish comics writer and editor. Employed by D. C. Thomson & Co., he was responsible for their line of comics, and, as a writer, co-created ''Oor Wullie'' and ''The Broo ...

's newspaper ad hoping to be hired as a new artist for a developing comic. After samples of his work were sent to the Kayebon Press advertising agency, Low saw McNeill's potential and hired him immediately. The story of Ping was developed and McNeill began designing for the series, which was published in the first issue of ''The Beano''. In the early stages of development, Ping was called Indy and the strip was called "Indy the Rubber Man". McNeill's work allowed him to create other comic strips, most notably ''

Pansy Potter Pansy Potter is a British comic strip character from the magazine ''The Beano''. She first appeared in ''Pansy Potter the Strong Man's Daughter'' issue 21 in 1938 and was first illustrated by Hugh McNeill. Character background As ''The Beano' ...

''.

Common strips

Ping varied in situational comedy. He varied from being helpful to being too cocky for his own good. In the first issue, his boasting leads to people in the area playing with his limbs and dragging him out of shape. In another story, he uses his elastic arm to catch his elderly friend's vandaliser trying to break his friend's fence.

Declining appearances

McNeill would depart in the 1940s to join the

Second World War 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 ...

. The comic was quietly discontinued after he left, although, like many ''Beano'' comic strips, ''Ping'' had

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

-themed strips either encouraging the young readers to help the grown-ups, or mocking Nazis.

Cameos

After an absence of several decades, he met

Minnie the Minx Minnie the Minx, whose real name is Hermione Makepeace is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, ma ...

in issue 3185, a special 65th Anniversary issue. His head and neck also appeared in the inner cover of the 2019 Beano Annual with 254 other characters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ping The Elastic Man Beano strips 1938 comics debuts 1940 comics endings Gag-a-day comics Comics characters introduced in 1938 Fictional characters who can stretch themselves Fictional characters who can change size Comics characters with superhuman strength British comics characters