Powerhouse Pepper is a character in American humor comic books published in the 1940s by
Timely Comics
Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...
, a predecessor of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in ...
. Created by writer-artist
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) at the
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...
adventures. His titular feature debuted in the humor anthology ''Joker Comics'' #1 (April 1942) and would appear in many anthology titles in the 1940s. His final appearance came in Spring 1948.
Publication history
The feature "Powerhouse Pepper" debuted in
Timely Comics
Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...
' ''Joker Comics'' #1 (April 1942), and went on to appear in six- to eight-page stories in ''Joker Comics'' #2-27, 29-31 (April 1942 - May 1947, Fall 1947 - Spring 1948); ''Gay Comics'' #1, 18-22, 28-29 (March 1944, Fall 1944 - Winter 1945, Aug.-Nov. 1947); ''Tessie the Typist'' #2, 4, 7-13 (Winter 1944, Fall 1945, Fall 1946 - Dec. 1947); ''Rusty'' #14 (Aug. 1947); and ''
Millie the Model
''Millie the Model'' was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel. The comic book series deals with ...
'' #9 (Dec. 1947), as well as in his own series.
A single issue of that solo title appeared as ''Powerhouse Pepper Comics'' #1 (Jan. 1943), featuring a slightly different character design than elsewhere. The series then went dormant for five years while the character's adventures were published in the aforementioned titles. It was revived, slightly shortened to ''Powerhouse Pepper'' (as on its
trademarked
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others. ...
cover logo, though still
copyrighted
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
as ''Powerhouse Pepper Comics'' per its postal indicia), for four additional issues (#2-5, Spring - Nov. 1948). Backup features there included the humor characters Goofy Giggles, L'il Louie, Squeeky, and (in issue #2) Wolverton's detective Disk-Eyes the Dick.
Synopsis
Comics historian
Don Markstein
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 ...
called the series star, a bald, super-strong boxer in a striped turtleneck:
Reprints
Modern-day Powerhouse Pepper reprints include the eight-page story "McClaw the Outlaw"The title appears on the original comic's title page, not on the story itself, which reference sources generally list as "Rawjaw McClaw". in the hardcover anthology ''A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics'' (Smithsonian Institution Press / Harry N. Abrams, 1981). Additional reprints have appeared in
New Media Publishing
New Media Distribution/Irjax Enterprises was a comic book distributor and publisher active from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. In 1978, the company's legal actions against the dominant distributor of the era, Sea Gate Distributors, widened the fi ...
's black-and-white magazine ''Golden Age of Comics'' #5 (Oct. 1983); publisher
Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hard ...
' adult-oriented ''Snarf'' #13 (Dec. 1989); and
Pure Imagination
"Pure Imagination" is a song from the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. It was written by British composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the movie. It was sung by Gene Wilder who played the character of ...
's 1993 all-Wolverton comic-book ''Intense!'' #1-3 and ''The Human Powerhouse'' #1.
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...