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This issue’s article will celebrate the existence of a now nearly forgotten denizen of the Joe
Palooka Universe: Humble Humphrey Pennyworth, the wonder of West Wokkington Falls, Ohio.
In his day he was honored with a fan club, toys, movies, and more.
A super-humanly strong blacksmith, with a heart as big as his appetite, one can’t help noticing
that he must figure into Little Lotta’s bloodline somewhere. A confirmed bachelor, Humphrey
lives with his sister “Pruney” Prunella, and is known to be a good friend of all children. His
adventures begin at home, and can take him
half-way around the world.
Humphrey first appeared in the Joe Palooka
newspaper strip as an unlikely boxing opponent for the famous champ, and the characters soon became friends. His comic book
debut was in Joe Palooka Comics #15,
December 1947. Humphrey became a frequent
guest star in Joe Palooka, and received his own
title, Humphrey Comics #1, in October 1948.
It ran for 22 issues before being cancelled in
April 1952; a respectable 4.5 year run.
A majority of the non-strip reprint Humphrey
stories in the comic book featured the artwork of
Warren Kremer, sometimes with Al Avison providing layouts or pencils. (Confirmed via interview
in Comic Book Artist #19, June 2002). Most Joe
Palooka newspaper strip art that I’ve seen was
probably the work of Moe Leff.
The Humphrey Fan Club of West Wokkington
Falls, Ohio was a purely fictional organization;
simply an assemblage of local children who
eagerly followed Humphrey’s various exploits.
Humphrey’s adventures in other media are highlighted by a trio of films. The first was “Joe
Palooka Meets Humphrey” (1950). Here is the summary information I found at Turner Classic
Movies: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=79805
Overview for Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey (1950)
Brief Synopsis: Joe Palooka (Joe Kirkwood Jr). and Anne Howe
(Pamela Blake) go to Harrow Hot Springs to spend their honeymoon
and shortly after they arrive, Humphrey Pennyworth (Robert
Coogan), good natured, small town blacksmith, who has repaired
their car, arrives and explains that he always guarantees his work for
30 days and wants to be on hand to ensure the motor works okay.
Before long, Joe is matched in a benefit bout with Johnson, but the
latter is replaced by Humphrey after being kayoed by him after he
insulted Joe. Johnson's manager, Belden (Jerome Cowan), quickly
tries to arrange to manage Humphrey, but Joe's manager Knobby
Walsh (Leon Errol) realizes that Humphrey's amazing super strength
is a menace to Joe's career, so he poses as English fight manager
Lord Cecil Poole and takes over the management of Humphrey.
Belden has a couple of his henchmen kidnap Poole/Walsh.
Runtime Listing: 65 mins.
Color/BW: Black and White
Humphrey was also featured in “Joe Palooka in Squared Circle”
(1950).
The third Humphrey-themed movie was “Joe
Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance” (1950).
A quote from Time magazine (June 27, 1949) sheds
some light on Ham Fisher’s creation of Humphrey:
“He (Joe Palooka) hobnobs with a lot of celebrities without getting stuck up. An inveterate name-dropper himself, stocky Cartoonist Fisher populates his strip with
real people, e.g., Bing Crosby, Tom Clark, Jack Dempsey,
and models many of his fictional characters on other
celebrities. Humphrey Pennyworth, an engaging, potbellied giant, was inspired by Manhattan restaurant-man
Toots Shor.”
Diamond Galleries gave their own brief review to
Humphrey in their June 29, 2002 edition of Scoop:
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=264&ai=41358&ssd=6/29/2002
From Harvey Comics, Ham Fisher's Humphrey
Pennyworth is nothing less than tons of fun. He first
appeared in December 1947, in Joe Palooka #15, as a
friend of the sweet, if not-too-bright boxer. Humphrey's
eccentricities, however, soon garnered him his own title
from 1948 - 1952. His ensuing antics usually included
piles of hot dogs, hamburgers and hilarity. Humphrey
Comics always included some other sort of fun in addition to the stories themselves - from how to make hand
shadows, to building your own Humphreymobile, to
colonial guessing games.
The Humphreymobile looks like
an outhouse on
wheels, but it’s
where Humphrey
keeps extra
snacks. In case
he gets hungry.
I’m not kidding.
Because the
public
demanded it:
A Humphrey
“The Happy
Blacksmith”
doll.
Humphrey
floats!
Kids, you
can use
him for a
boat.
Toward the end of the Joe Palooka Comics’ run, Humphrey
even nearly pushed the celebrated boxer out of his own
magazine. The cover to issue #111, June 1959 (right), featured Joe Palooka as a mere bystander. The contents are
entirely tales of Humphrey, Little Max, and Art Helfant’s
Hector the Director, with Palooka’s cameo on the cover
marking his only appearance in the entire book.
Humphrey’s logo even
dominates Joe Palooka’s
on the cover. Is it any
surprise the series was
cancelled after issue
#118?
On the left is the cover
to another Humphreydominated issue of Joe
Palooka (#95, May 1956).
This comic has an almost
surreal cold-war style,
and features Joe Palooka in only a handful of panels. The
story involves Humphrey bumbling his was across eastern
Europe on his Humphreymobile, while dodging spies and
saboteurs at every turn.
Humphrey comic art is special for two things -- one: the
innocent, simple charm of a bygone era. And two: the
wonderfully detailed artwork of the young Warren Kremer. Another thing to consider: this
masterful 1950’s artwork can be had for very modest prices.
On the opposite page is a scan of the inside cover from Humphrey Comics #1. It provides
excellent insight into his history with Joe Palooka, and the overall nature of his character.
Original Art on Following Pages:
Humphrey #6 “Sorry, Wrong Number” 1949, Seven
pages.
Little Max #17 “Hole-y Mess” 1952, Two pages.
Humphrey #8 “Sailor, Be Wary!” 1949, Seven pages.
Humphrey #13 “‘Rithmetic Problem” 1950, Five pages.
Humphrey #13 “Sweet Non-Scents” 1950, Four pages.
Humphrey #18 “Famous Americans Quiz” 1951, One
page filler.
Former CFA-APA member Don
Mangus found this panel “disturbing”.
Joe Palooka #67 “Geography Quiz” 1953, second of
two pages.
The nice parade scene on this page doesn’t just have
a Macy’s parade balloon in the figure of Humphrey,
but it also has a rare, unlicensed appearance by a
very prominent member of the Disney organization!
Someone should call the Air Pirates....