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| "I was actually just swearing, Lieutenant." |
Decked out in one of comics’ most singular outfits – a mish-mash of polka dots and stripes, in five or six different colors with a sly jester’s hat motif worked into the mask – the Prankster counted among his weapons such diverse and daffy tools as laughing gas, a cartoonishly large magnet (for swiping enemy armaments) and a rocket-powered hot air balloon capable of outrunning even the fastest pursuit ships owned by the enemy.
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| Sexy. |
On his side, the Prankster is aided by scientist Hiram Grave, the inventor of his many amazing gadgets, including a “magic flute” which we never get to see in action, owing to the Prankster’s abbreviated run. Also possibly joining the Prankster was an innocent, red-headed citizen whom the Prankster rescues at the last minute from the harassment of Wratt’s guards, because that’s usually how it works in these older comics.
Created by Denny O’Neil and Jim Aparo, the Prankster is a damn fine looking story with some damn fine scripting and it is a damn shame that it’s completely disappeared. Apparently not picked up with the Charlton Action Heroes, Prankster didn’t make the crossover to new owners DC Comics, which is likely for the best if just to avoid confusion between the Prankster they already had…
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| "He also said 'Up yours, Hiram." |
2 comments:
>sigh< THE PRANKSTER! Another childhood fave. I was delighted to see this feature apparently replace THE SENTINELS----only to see the book canceled before a second installment could be presented!The disappointment I felt only doubled a few years later when I read Harlan Ellison's "REPENT, HARLEQUIN!" for the first time. I know I'm not the first fevered fanboy to imagine that JESTER was "inspired by" HARLEQUIN---and I probably won't be the last. While the comics version would likely never have approached the sophistication of its forebear---still woulda been awesome!
Hm. Makes think of Tangent's Joker.
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