It seems to me that the Golden Age of comics gave us some of the greatest superheroes. You know, the usual. I mean, you have Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, etc. However, it may have also given us some of the oddest heroes as well. In this thread I will be detailing one such hero. After a little browsing I came across a hero called "Vagabond."
This "hero" debuted in 1941 and he was created by Marvel, his real name was Pat Murphy. He was likely a cop or a F.B.I. agent. I say "likely" because it really never stated specifically what he did from what I can gather. Anyway, Mr. Murphy needed to be undercover since apparently the crooks of the city knew his face too well and he didn't want to be restricted by silly things like laws. Obviously, his course of action was to dress up like a strange hobo-clown hybrid... thing to fight the forces of evil. He took on the superhero name of Vagabond with the alias Chauncey Throttlebottom III. I bet you're wondering what mystical powers a character like this could have. Well, he can fight. Don't let me mislead you, he had no super strength or enhanced reflexes. He can just fight and that's pretty much it. He's either a superb fighter or every challenger he has is really weak. Also, if you look at him. You'll notice that he doesn't really look like a hobo at all. He really does look more like a clown.
It wouldn't be hard to never hear about this guy at all. This is because he only appeared in around three comics, and after reading up on him I think I can see why. The apparent ending for this... er... "hero" was that he just decided to become a real hobo and wander off to have a life on the road. I suppose they had to get rid of him somehow. I'm not really sure what Marvel was thinking with this one though. Sure it was still relatively early in the age (about half-way through the Golden Age) but that can't quite excuse this; especially when they had given us Captain America the same year. He doesn't have the keen intelligence or perception like other non-superpowered characters like Batman have and he certainly doesn't have the cool gadgets. He doesn't have a projectile like Captain America, nor an invisible jet like Wonder Woman. He was just a fighting hobo that no one ever really questioned the existence of. Granted, he does have a cane, but I don't think he actually uses it as a weapon. I'd hope that he was there for comedy but due to the little resources I have; I can't exactly be sure. I'm hoping that Marvel was just trying to throw a silly spin into the works but again, there are no resources to back this up that I can find.
For the discussion value, please leave your thoughts on the matter of this clown or maybe mention another odd entry from the Golden Age. Thanks for reading.
This "hero" debuted in 1941 and he was created by Marvel, his real name was Pat Murphy. He was likely a cop or a F.B.I. agent. I say "likely" because it really never stated specifically what he did from what I can gather. Anyway, Mr. Murphy needed to be undercover since apparently the crooks of the city knew his face too well and he didn't want to be restricted by silly things like laws. Obviously, his course of action was to dress up like a strange hobo-clown hybrid... thing to fight the forces of evil. He took on the superhero name of Vagabond with the alias Chauncey Throttlebottom III. I bet you're wondering what mystical powers a character like this could have. Well, he can fight. Don't let me mislead you, he had no super strength or enhanced reflexes. He can just fight and that's pretty much it. He's either a superb fighter or every challenger he has is really weak. Also, if you look at him. You'll notice that he doesn't really look like a hobo at all. He really does look more like a clown.
It wouldn't be hard to never hear about this guy at all. This is because he only appeared in around three comics, and after reading up on him I think I can see why. The apparent ending for this... er... "hero" was that he just decided to become a real hobo and wander off to have a life on the road. I suppose they had to get rid of him somehow. I'm not really sure what Marvel was thinking with this one though. Sure it was still relatively early in the age (about half-way through the Golden Age) but that can't quite excuse this; especially when they had given us Captain America the same year. He doesn't have the keen intelligence or perception like other non-superpowered characters like Batman have and he certainly doesn't have the cool gadgets. He doesn't have a projectile like Captain America, nor an invisible jet like Wonder Woman. He was just a fighting hobo that no one ever really questioned the existence of. Granted, he does have a cane, but I don't think he actually uses it as a weapon. I'd hope that he was there for comedy but due to the little resources I have; I can't exactly be sure. I'm hoping that Marvel was just trying to throw a silly spin into the works but again, there are no resources to back this up that I can find.
For the discussion value, please leave your thoughts on the matter of this clown or maybe mention another odd entry from the Golden Age. Thanks for reading.