Winky, Blinky, and Noddy are a trio of fictional comic book characters, created by writer

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

and artist E.E. Hibbard, who first appeared in books starring

the Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

. Their names were taken from

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" is a popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889. The original title was "Dutch Lullaby". The poem is a fantasy bed-time story about three children sailing a ...

, although their appearance and characterization was a spoof on

the Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

. Noddy Moylan was based on

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

, and often gave the other two a Stooges-style smack. Winky Boylan's red curly hair imitated

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges. Early life Fine was born to a Russian Je ...

's. Blinky Toylan's eyes were covered with a shock of hair, recalling

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent. He is ...

. The comic books frequently referred to them as the "Three Dimwits", or variants like the "Three Numbskulls", the "Three Dopes", or the "Three Idiots".Three Dimwits: Winky, Blinky, and Noddy
at Hyperborea.org.

History

Winky, Blinky and Noddy first appeared in ''

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 ...

'' #5 (1942), as incompetent small-time criminals working for a crooked stable owner. After the Flash captured the stable owner, the three henchmen decided to move on to more benign pursuits. In the story "The Ray That Changed Men's Souls!" in issue #6, they invented a ray that changed people's personalities—an invention that was quickly stolen by a gang and used to commit crimes. By the end of the story, the ray made them forget their own criminal pasts, and when the readers were asked if they wanted the trio to return, they gave an enthusiastic response. The trio wandered from job to job, usually causing trouble, and the Flash would have to get involved. The Three Dimwits appeared in ''All-Flash'' until issue #29 (1947). As their popularity grew, they were featured in solo stories in ''

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 ...

'' from issue #73 (1946) to #82 (1947). Their appearances in ''

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 ...

'' began in issue #46 (October 1943) and ended in #79 (January 1947), and they were seen in ''

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 ...

'' from issue #4 (Fall 1943) to #18 (December/January 1947). Their antics extended outside their stories into fourth-wall breaking meta-commentary. As ''The Flash Companion'' explains: "The Three Dimwits even tried to sell their account of the latest Flash adventure to

Sheldon Mayer Sheldon Mayer (; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an American comics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work ...

in ''All-Flash'' #9 only to have Mayer produce a copy of that already-published issue. So they slipped into the ''All-American'' offices unannounced in issue #14 and replaced the scheduled story with one of their own -- forcing a frantic Mayer to stamp an "April Fool's Day" label on the splash page rather than miss the publication deadline".

Revivals

Thirteen years later, in 1960, editor

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various t ...

asked Gardner Fox to write another Dimwits story at the request of fan (and later

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

editor-in-chief)

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

. The story appeared in ''Flash'' #117, in the story "The Madcap Inventors of Central City". Despite the promise that they would appear again on a regular basis, negative reader reaction decided otherwise. In ''Flash'' vol. 2, #161 (2000), the trio appeared in a flashback that explained why they had disappeared: they had stumbled across a sack full of money and retired to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. In '' Justice League: Cry for Justice'' #2 (2009), while volunteering as night guards at

Flash Museum The Flash Museum is a fictional museum that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The museum is dedicated to the superheroes sharing the alias of the Flash, with its primary focus on Barry Allen. It first appeared in the 'B' story from ...

, they were killed by an unknown assailant who steals the Cosmic Treadmill.

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

investigates the trio's demise.

References

{{Gardner Fox Characters created by Gardner Fox DC Comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1942 Fictional criminals Fictional trios Comic strip villains Flash (comics) characters