Joe Btfsplk was a character in the satirical comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 Li'l Abner

Li'l Abner

Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...

by cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

 Al Capp

Al Capp

Alfred Gerald Caplin , better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats and Long Sam...

 (1909–1979). He's well-meaning, but is the world's worst jinx

Jinx

A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is:* A type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck;...

, bringing disastrous misfortune to everyone around him. A small, dark rain cloud perpetually hovers over his head to symbolize his bad luck

Luck

Luck or fortuity is good fortune which occurs beyond one's control, without regard to one's will, intention, or desired result. There are at least two senses people usually mean when they use the term, the prescriptive sense and the descriptive sense...

. Hapless Btfsplk and his ever-present cloud became one of the most iconic images in Li'l Abner.

One storyline in the early 1970s features him trapping his cloud in a special anti-pollutant jar. Joe becomes romantically involved with a gal for the first time—until her crazed ex-boyfriend shows up to kill him. Joe reluctantly opens the jar and releases his cloud in order to take care of the boyfriend, and wistfully realizes that he wasn't meant for any other kind of life. As he returns to his normal, loner existence, his cloud once again in tow, he is for the moment satisfied to be who he really is.

In addition to the obvious comic effect, Capp often used Joe Btfsplk as a deus ex machina

Deus ex machina

A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...

to produce miraculous rescues or to effect plot twists. Joe was later licensed for use in a series of animated TV commercials for Head & Shoulders

Head & Shoulders

Head & Shoulders is a brand of anti-dandruff shampoo produced by Procter & Gamble. Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo is the top-selling shampoo in the United States by dollar sales.- History :...

, a dandruff shampoo.

Etymology

According to Al Capp, btfsplk is a rude sound. During public lectures, Capp demonstrated this phatic

Phatic

In linguistics, a phatic expression is one whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information.-History:The term was coined by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski in the early 1900s from Greek phanein: to show oneself, appear.-Understanding:The utterance of a...

 sound by closing his lips, leaving his tongue sticking out, and then blowing out air, which is colloquially called a "raspberry" or Bronx cheer.

Joe Btfsplk may have been the inspiration for the name of the impish character Mr. Mxyzptlk from the Superman

Superman

Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

comic books. However, except for their nonsensical surnames and their short stature, the two characters are not otherwise similar. Superman's fifth-dimensional nemesis, originally named "Mr. Mxyztplk", debuted in September 1944. Btfsplk had first appeared in June 1942.

See also

• Al Capp
  Al Capp
  Alfred Gerald Caplin , better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats and Long Sam...
  
  
• Li'l Abner
  Li'l Abner
  Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...
  
  
• Fearless Fosdick
  Fearless Fosdick
  Fearless Fosdick is a long-running parody of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. It appeared intermittently as a strip-within-a-strip, in Al Capp's satirical hillbilly comic strip, Li'l Abner .-Li'l Abner's "ideel":...
  
  
• Shmoo
  Shmoo
  A shmoo is a fictional cartoon creature. Created by Al Capp , it first appeared in his classic comic strip Li'l Abner on August 31, 1948, and quickly became a postwar national craze in the USA....
  
  
• Sadie Hawkins Day
  Sadie Hawkins Day
  An American folk event, Sadie Hawkins Day is a pseudo-holiday that originated in Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip, Li'l Abner . This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins dances, where girls ask boys out.-Original story:...
  
  
• Dogpatch
  Dogpatch
  Dogpatch was the fictional setting of cartoonist Al Capp's classic comic strip, Li'l Abner .In Capp's own words, Dogpatch was "an average stone-age community nestled in a bleak valley, between two cheap and uninteresting hills somewhere." The inhabitants were mostly lazy hillbillies, who usually...
  
  
• Dogpatch USA
  Dogpatch USA
  Dogpatch USA is an abandoned theme park located on State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper in Arkansas, USA, an area known today as Marble Falls...
  
  
• Lower Slobbovia
• Abbie an' Slats
  Abbie an' Slats
  Abbie an' Slats is an American comic strip which ran from July 12, 1937 to January 30, 1971, initially written by Al Capp and drawn by Raeburn Van Buren. It was distributed by United Feature Syndicate....
  
  
• Long Sam
  Long Sam
  Long Sam was an American comic strip created by Al Capp, writer-artist of Li'l Abner, and illustrated by Bob Lubbers. It was syndicated by United Feature Syndicate from 1954 to 1962. The strip was initially written by Capp, who soon turned the duties over to his brother, Elliot Caplin...
  
  
• Li'l Abner (musical)
  Li'l Abner (musical)
  Li'l Abner is a musical with a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies but is also a pointed satire taking on any number of topics, ranging...
  
  
• Li'l Abner (film)
  Li'l Abner (film)
  Li'l Abner is a 1959 musical film based on the comic strip of the same name created by Al Capp. It was also based on a successful Broadway musical that opened in 1956...
  
  
• Salomey
• The Cooler
  The Cooler
  The Cooler is a 2003 romantic drama film directed by Wayne Kramer. The original screenplay was written by Kramer and Frank Hannah. In gambling parlance, a "cooler" is an unlucky individual whose presence at the tables results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.- Plot :Unlucky Bernie...