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Slapstick (comics)
Encyclopedia
Slapstick (born October 24) is a Marvel Comics
superhero
created in the early nineties
. He debuted in Slapstick #1, November (1992
), created by Len Kaminski and James Fry. He resembles an animated
clown
and has the abilities of a slapstick cartoon character, such as one from Looney Tunes
, including warping reality to match that of an animated cartoon.
, and was unseen until a Civil War cameo in She-Hulk. He also regularly appeared in Avengers: The Initiative
as a recruit.
. In a plan to get back at his archrival Winston, Steve dresses as a clown to blend into the crowd at a strange new carnival.
Before Steve could enact his plan, Winston and his date, Heather, were kidnapped by several clowns. Steve picks up a mallet as a weapon and follows them. The group enters the carnival funhouse and enters a portal disguised as a mirror. As it was closing, Steve follows.
At the moment of entry, an energy burst races across Steve's world, alerting the senses of several beings, such as Doctor Strange
, Silver Surfer
, Spider-Man
, and Howard the Duck
.
His molecules stretch across 3741 dimensions and Steve ends up in the realm of the Scientist Supreme of Dimension X (who resembles Groucho Marx
). The scientist helps Steve master his new form, a body composed of living unstable molecules
dubbed Electroplasm. This essentially makes him a living cartoon character. The scientist, who had been ousted from his position by the Overlord, theorizes that Steve had come to his new form because he was slightly out of synch when entering the funhouse portal.
Using his new powers and a map the scientist had, Steve freed many captive Earthlings from the evil Clowns from Dimension X and their ruler, the Overlord. It is learned that this is what the scientist had intended all long. The Overlord's plan had been to brainwash Earthlings enough so their belief would be sufficient to give Overlord whatever he desired. The Overlord's plans were foiled when the belief that held up his castle gave way as the humans regained their right minds. The castle crashes. The captured humans run to the portal, followed quickly by the monstrous clowns. Steve destroys the mirror, eradicating the clown's influence on this reality.
Minutes afterward, Steve is found by his best friend, who agrees to assist him.
assists with the battle. Slapstick also battled the super smart, preteen
Dr. Denton and Teddy, and rescued Barbara Halsey. There was also a homeless man, the Neutron Bum, with the power to cause explosions. Despite the gathering of dozens of superheroes willing and planning to fight the man (including Daredevil
, Ghost Rider
, Speedball, the Fantastic Four
, the Avengers
, and the New Warriors
), Slapstick simply neutralizes the situation by getting Neutron Bum what he had been yelling for all along — a cup of coffee — and then blindsiding the man from behind while he's drinking it.
He is a friend of Speedball of the New Warriors
and is described as "The hero who doesn't fight crime but rather plays cruel tricks on it."
Later, Slapstick teamed up with the New Warriors to fight Dr. Yesterday, partly because doing so would impress women. He is not seen for some time. It has been established that at some point prior to Justice and Firestar
leaving the New Warriors to become Avengers
, Slapstick and Ultra Girl
are made official members of the Warriors and given communicators, after helping the team stop a Badoon
invasion.
training program. He is later seen, with other heroes, confronting Ben Grimm
as part of a training mission.
Slapstick and other Camp Hammond members are sent out as crowd control when the Hulk
and his Warbound
crew leads an attack on New York. He is assisgned morale support for the evacuating citizens under command of the Avenger Triathlon
. A fellow recruit, Rage
leads a rebellion against the crowd support mission in order to go confront the Hulk. Slapstick joins in. His team is swiftly defeated by the Hulk's forces.
The recruits imprisoned by Hulk's forces in Madison Square Garden and neutralized with power-sapping technology. They are rescued by black ops forces associated with the Camp.
Later it is Slapstick who attacks and almost kills Gauntlet
out of loyalty to the New Warriors, in retaliation for Gauntlet's use of the team's name as an insult. He has since tried to admit this to his teammates but is almost comically interrupted. He later comes in possession of a device containing the memory and personality of KIA, villainous clone of Michael Van Patrick, and decides to keep him away for further use.
Slapstick and several other former New Warriors have recently been recruited by Justice and apparently deserted
from the Initiative, after Justice finds evidence of shady activities within the organization. After helping to stop KIA's rampage, this new group officially quits the Initiative, intending to act as a form of independent oversight for the program; as legally registered heroes, they are free to act unless they break the law while doing so. When asked to change to his less conspicuous normal form, Slapstick admits that he has not done so since joining the Initiative, and claims that the mechanism that activates the change no longer works.
He later returned to Camp Hammond with the team, now calling themselves the New Warriors again, and battled Ragnarok
, the clone of Thor. Slapstick is also a noted presence in the multi-hero effort to rebuild New York after the events of World War Hulk.
regarding magical hammers that have crashed into the earth.
cartoon character. Slapstick also possesses superhuman agility and reflexes. It has been shown that the molecular bonds of the Electroplasm can be disrupted by a counter charge of a specific frequency of energy, reducing Slapstick to an immobile "puddle"; however, another energy charge can restore him to "normal".
In addition, Slapstick gets temporarily stronger when electrocuted. However, he must have a consistent feed of electricity to maintain this strength.
Slapstick's gloves also possess alien technology. His left glove has a transformation inducer that allows him to transform to and from Slapstick to his normal Steve Harmon form. His right glove is a materializer that contains an extra-dimensionally sub-spacial storage pocket, which functions similar to cartoon hammerspace
, and allows him to store items seemingly nowhere. He can access these items by making a special gesture with that hand, though to anyone observing it would appear he is pulling them out of thin air. He usually keeps a large cartoon-ish mallet in this space. Recent accounts have shown similar pockets in the pants of his costume. Objects stored in these pockets are apparently undetectable by conventional means; for example, Slapstick carried his New Warriors communicator, left forgotten in a pants pocket, into Camp Hammond without any of the base's security measures detecting it.
Slapstick is an experienced practical joker, with a highly developed bizarre sense of humor.
It has been noted that Steve Harmon has no genitalia in his Slapstick form, much to his disappointment.
(Earth-1298 in the Marvel Comics Multiverse
), Slapstick was a member of a group of supernatural heroes called the Lethal Legion (no connection to the Earth-616 villain group
). Little is known about this version of the character, and why he joined the team. He was killed by the Goblin Queen
, disguised as the Beyonder
.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
created in the early nineties
1990s in comics
See also:1980s in comics,other events of the 1990s,2000s in comics and thelist of years in comicsPublications: 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999-1992:See also: 1992 in comics...
. He debuted in Slapstick #1, November (1992
1992 in comics
-Year overall:* Image Comics explodes onto the scene, releasing eight ongoing and limited series, starting with Youngblood in April; followed by Spawn in May; Savage Dragon in July; and Brigade, Shadowhawk, and WildC.A.T.S. in August....
), created by Len Kaminski and James Fry. He resembles an animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
and has the abilities of a slapstick cartoon character, such as one from Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
, including warping reality to match that of an animated cartoon.
Publication history
In 1992, Slapstick made his Marvel debut in a four issue limited series, which guest starred mainstream Marvel characters. Afterwards, he made one other notable appearance, with the New Warriors in Marvel Comics PresentsMarvel Comics Presents
Marvel Comics Presents was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995; it returned for a second volume in 2007-2008.-Volume 1:The first volume was released on a biweekly basis and lasted for 175 issues...
, and was unseen until a Civil War cameo in She-Hulk. He also regularly appeared in Avengers: The Initiative
Avengers: The Initiative
Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series from Marvel Comics. Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage with artwork initially by Stefano Caselli, Steve Uy and Harvey Tolibao, the series dealt with the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series...
as a recruit.
Fictional character biography
Slapstick was originally junior high school class clown Steve Harmon, from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In a plan to get back at his archrival Winston, Steve dresses as a clown to blend into the crowd at a strange new carnival.
Before Steve could enact his plan, Winston and his date, Heather, were kidnapped by several clowns. Steve picks up a mallet as a weapon and follows them. The group enters the carnival funhouse and enters a portal disguised as a mirror. As it was closing, Steve follows.
At the moment of entry, an energy burst races across Steve's world, alerting the senses of several beings, such as Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
, Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
, Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, and Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. The character first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny...
.
His molecules stretch across 3741 dimensions and Steve ends up in the realm of the Scientist Supreme of Dimension X (who resembles Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
). The scientist helps Steve master his new form, a body composed of living unstable molecules
Unstable molecules
Unstable molecules are a piece of fictional technology featured in Marvel Comics. They exist as a configuration of unknown atomic nuclei and electrons that are responsive to certain energized matter around them...
dubbed Electroplasm. This essentially makes him a living cartoon character. The scientist, who had been ousted from his position by the Overlord, theorizes that Steve had come to his new form because he was slightly out of synch when entering the funhouse portal.
Using his new powers and a map the scientist had, Steve freed many captive Earthlings from the evil Clowns from Dimension X and their ruler, the Overlord. It is learned that this is what the scientist had intended all long. The Overlord's plan had been to brainwash Earthlings enough so their belief would be sufficient to give Overlord whatever he desired. The Overlord's plans were foiled when the belief that held up his castle gave way as the humans regained their right minds. The castle crashes. The captured humans run to the portal, followed quickly by the monstrous clowns. Steve destroys the mirror, eradicating the clown's influence on this reality.
Minutes afterward, Steve is found by his best friend, who agrees to assist him.
Other enemies
Steve has other villains to confront: a Punisher copycat called the Overkiller attacks Steve because he thinks he is a mutant (the mutant was Dr. Denton). The two fight in a mall, destroying most of it. Steve ends the fight by literally kissing Overkiller and then walloping him while the man reacts with disgust. Spider-ManSpider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
assists with the battle. Slapstick also battled the super smart, preteen
Preteen
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and prior to adolescence. It may be defined as ending with the beginning of puberty or with the beginning of the teenage stage, the time frames in which adolescence is considered to begin. In terms of age in years,...
Dr. Denton and Teddy, and rescued Barbara Halsey. There was also a homeless man, the Neutron Bum, with the power to cause explosions. Despite the gathering of dozens of superheroes willing and planning to fight the man (including Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (Daniel Ketch)
Ghost Rider is a comic book character, a supernatural superhero in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. He is the third Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following the Western hero later known as the Phantom Rider, and Johnny Blaze, the first supernatural Ghost Rider.-Publication...
, Speedball, the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
, the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
, and the New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
), Slapstick simply neutralizes the situation by getting Neutron Bum what he had been yelling for all along — a cup of coffee — and then blindsiding the man from behind while he's drinking it.
He is a friend of Speedball of the New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
and is described as "The hero who doesn't fight crime but rather plays cruel tricks on it."
Later, Slapstick teamed up with the New Warriors to fight Dr. Yesterday, partly because doing so would impress women. He is not seen for some time. It has been established that at some point prior to Justice and Firestar
Firestar
Firestar is a fictional mutant superhero in the . Debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she has the ability to generate and manipulate microwave radiation, which allows her to generate intense heat and flames, and to fly...
leaving the New Warriors to become Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
, Slapstick and Ultra Girl
Ultra Girl
Ultra Girl , also known as Ultra-Girl, is a fictional superhero published by Marvel Comics...
are made official members of the Warriors and given communicators, after helping the team stop a Badoon
Badoon
The Badoon are a reptilian alien species in the fictional Marvel Comics universe. They are notable for having a gender schism, resulting in two separate societies; the Brotherhood of Badoon and the Sisterhood of Badoon .The Brotherhood live on the planet Moord, while the Sisterhood reside on the...
invasion.
Civil War
Slapstick helps the surviving members of the New Warriors find Hindsight Lad, the young man and former Warrior responsible for outing the secret identities of past Warriors and allies to the public. LaFroyge was stopped, arrested by the authorities, before Slapstick's identity was made public.The Initiative
Slapstick is later seen on the bus of new recruits arriving at Camp Hammond as part of the InitiativeAvengers: The Initiative
Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series from Marvel Comics. Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage with artwork initially by Stefano Caselli, Steve Uy and Harvey Tolibao, the series dealt with the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series...
training program. He is later seen, with other heroes, confronting Ben Grimm
Thing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
as part of a training mission.
Slapstick and other Camp Hammond members are sent out as crowd control when the Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
and his Warbound
Warbound
The Warbound is a group of fictional characters in the Marvel Comics. They first joined forces in The Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #94 as a combination of new and existing characters, the former created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan.-Planet Hulk:...
crew leads an attack on New York. He is assisgned morale support for the evacuating citizens under command of the Avenger Triathlon
Triathlon (comics)
Delroy Garrett, Jr. is a fictional superhero published by Marvel Comics. He is the second character to use the name 3-D Man.-Publication history:Triathlon first appeared in Avengers vol...
. A fellow recruit, Rage
Rage (comics)
Rage is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He is African American. Rage was created by Larry Hama and Paul Ryan in The Avengers vol. 1 #326...
leads a rebellion against the crowd support mission in order to go confront the Hulk. Slapstick joins in. His team is swiftly defeated by the Hulk's forces.
The recruits imprisoned by Hulk's forces in Madison Square Garden and neutralized with power-sapping technology. They are rescued by black ops forces associated with the Camp.
Later it is Slapstick who attacks and almost kills Gauntlet
Gauntlet (comics)
The Gauntlet , is a comic book superhero in the . Created by Dan Slott, he first appeared in She-Hulk #100.-Publication history:...
out of loyalty to the New Warriors, in retaliation for Gauntlet's use of the team's name as an insult. He has since tried to admit this to his teammates but is almost comically interrupted. He later comes in possession of a device containing the memory and personality of KIA, villainous clone of Michael Van Patrick, and decides to keep him away for further use.
Slapstick and several other former New Warriors have recently been recruited by Justice and apparently deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
from the Initiative, after Justice finds evidence of shady activities within the organization. After helping to stop KIA's rampage, this new group officially quits the Initiative, intending to act as a form of independent oversight for the program; as legally registered heroes, they are free to act unless they break the law while doing so. When asked to change to his less conspicuous normal form, Slapstick admits that he has not done so since joining the Initiative, and claims that the mechanism that activates the change no longer works.
He later returned to Camp Hammond with the team, now calling themselves the New Warriors again, and battled Ragnarok
Ragnarok (comics)
Ragnarok is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Civil War #3 , and was created by Mark Millar and Steve Mcniven.-Fictional character biography:...
, the clone of Thor. Slapstick is also a noted presence in the multi-hero effort to rebuild New York after the events of World War Hulk.
Heroic Age
Slapstick appears at a meeting held by ProdigyProdigy (Ritchie Gilmore)
Prodigy is the name of a superhero in Marvel Comics.-Fictional character biography:Ritchie Gilmore is a typical jock, captain of his college wrestling team, and one of the most popular guys in school. But Ritchie wants more from life; he wants to be stronger and more powerful...
regarding magical hammers that have crashed into the earth.
Powers and abilities
As Slapstick, Steve Harmon's body is made out of Electroplasm after exposure to an unknown alien device, which makes him indestructible. Any damage that he takes can be immediately shaken off, as he possesses superhuman durability and virtually unlimited physical malleability in the manner of an animated slapstickSlapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
cartoon character. Slapstick also possesses superhuman agility and reflexes. It has been shown that the molecular bonds of the Electroplasm can be disrupted by a counter charge of a specific frequency of energy, reducing Slapstick to an immobile "puddle"; however, another energy charge can restore him to "normal".
In addition, Slapstick gets temporarily stronger when electrocuted. However, he must have a consistent feed of electricity to maintain this strength.
Slapstick's gloves also possess alien technology. His left glove has a transformation inducer that allows him to transform to and from Slapstick to his normal Steve Harmon form. His right glove is a materializer that contains an extra-dimensionally sub-spacial storage pocket, which functions similar to cartoon hammerspace
Magic satchel
Magic satchel is a term often used in reference to computer role-playing games. It refers to the use of a character's inventory in the game, which can often contain more items than is physically possible for the character to carry without any visible means to hold or transport them.A similar...
, and allows him to store items seemingly nowhere. He can access these items by making a special gesture with that hand, though to anyone observing it would appear he is pulling them out of thin air. He usually keeps a large cartoon-ish mallet in this space. Recent accounts have shown similar pockets in the pants of his costume. Objects stored in these pockets are apparently undetectable by conventional means; for example, Slapstick carried his New Warriors communicator, left forgotten in a pants pocket, into Camp Hammond without any of the base's security measures detecting it.
Slapstick is an experienced practical joker, with a highly developed bizarre sense of humor.
It has been noted that Steve Harmon has no genitalia in his Slapstick form, much to his disappointment.
Mutant X
In the alternate universe of Mutant XMutant X (comics)
Mutant X was a comic book published by Marvel Comics featuring Havok, a mutant and former member of the X-Men, who was transported into a parallel dimension. It was written by Howard Mackie....
(Earth-1298 in the Marvel Comics Multiverse
Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as...
), Slapstick was a member of a group of supernatural heroes called the Lethal Legion (no connection to the Earth-616 villain group
Lethal Legion
The Lethal Legion is the name of five teams of fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics.The first version of the Legion appears in The Avengers #78 ; the second version in Avengers #164 ; the third version in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #1 ; the fourth Avengers...
). Little is known about this version of the character, and why he joined the team. He was killed by the Goblin Queen
Madelyne Pryor
Madelyne Pryor is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. As the love interest and first wife of X-Men leader Cyclops , she became a long-standing member of the X-Men supporting cast, until a series of traumas — being abandoned by her husband, losing her infant son, and...
, disguised as the Beyonder
Beyonder
The Beyonder is a fictional character in . Created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck, the immensely powerful Beyonder first appeared in Secret Wars vol. 1 #1 as an unseen force. He reappears in Secret Wars II #1 , which was created by Jim Shooter and Al Milgrom.-Publication history:The Beyonder was a...
.
External links
- http://www.marvel.com/universe/Slapstick