Offhand, I can think of only two comic book characters who combined portliness with power: Harvey Comics’ Little Lotta and Lightning Comics’ Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer.
Come to think of it, both characters were also pretty cheerful and comfortable in their considerable skins, unlike fitness-frantic Americans of the 21st century.
“Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, the two men most responsible for the success of Captain Marvel, collaborated on only one other comic book character,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “Their whimsical point of view, which had been such an important element in Captain Marvel's success, took over almost completely in this one — Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer, was very heavy on the whimsy.”
And hey, his name just happened to rhyme with that of the most popular character on TV at the moment. This Fatman was, of course, no relation to the parody hero of the same name who appeared in Batman 113 (Feb. 1958).
“Beck and Binder chose to reunite for another attempt to catch lightning in a bottle, as it were,” wrote Jon Morris in his book The League of Regrettable Superheroes.
The Nero Wolfe of superheroes, Fatman was “…a plump but athletic character named Van Crawford who was happy to spend his idle time indulging his many and varied hobbies and collections,” Morris noted. “When a spaceship — also a shape-changing alien — crashes within sight of his daily constitutional, Crawford rushes to its aid. He is rewarded for his efforts with the power to transform himself into a UFO.
“Decked out in a suit resembling a verdant version of Captain Marvel’s famous duds, Fatman battled a roster of foes that included the titanic Anti-Man, the hideous Brainman from Mars, underground gnome Grollo, Syntho the Patchwork Man and the lovely but evil Lunita the Moon Witch.”
The Corpulent Crusader was a much sunnier effort than his fairly dreadful companion at Lightning Comics, Tod Holton, Super Green Beret. Both titles, like their publisher, were short-lived.
Tom Brevoort wrote, "Ahem. You want I should bop you with this lollipop?" (A reference to ACG's wonderful Herbie. I'm ashamed to have forgotten him even for a moment!)
ReplyDeleteArthur Ziegler wrote, "Herbie (the Fat Fury), Bouncing Boy (Legion of Superheros), The Human Blimp (Inferior Five) and there was a female in a group in one of the Valiant comics, but I forget the name of her and the group, will look it up when I have time. Yes, these portly ones were often comical characters."
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