THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Hoppy The Marvel Bunny

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.


This was originally posted as part of a longer piece covering both pop music and comic book characters. It's separated here for convenience.

My 50+ year love affair with comic books is based primarily on my fondness of superheroes. But I've dabbled in other comic-book genres at times. Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck stories are recognized classics, Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike deserves wider recognition, and I've been known at various points in my life to follow the four-color sagas of Archie, Enemy Ace, Bat Lash, Groo the Wanderer, Ms. Tree, Tomb Of Dracula, Love And Rockets, Fish Police, and Fission Chicken.

Although it was never a specific interest, I've occasionally had some affection for funny-animal superheroes, too. My first such passions were Mighty Mouse and Underdog on TV, followed by Henry Boltinoff's single-page (or less) Super Turtle fill-in strips in various DC comic books in the '60s. And I also dug Super Goof, a Gold Key Comics title, which starred the familiar Disney character Goofy; whenever our dear Goofy gobbled down one of his secret supply of Super Goobers, he'd upgrade into the costumed, super-powered Whatever-The-Hell-Goofy-Was Of Steel, Super Goof. Sure, you can laugh, but it was the closest Disney comics ever came to an ongoing superhero book. Er, unless you count Zorro....

But neither Underdog nor Super Goof was the first anthropomorphic critter to don a cape and fly through the sky to punch evil in the eye. One of the first--if not the first--was Captain Marvel Bunny, better-known as Hoppy The Marvel Bunny.



In the 1940s, the original Captain Marvel was so popular that Cap's real-life masters at Fawcett Comics figured that spin-off characters would be well warranted. Cap gained a younger counterpart, Captain Marvel Junior, and a sister, Mary Marvel; each of these characters was popular enough to star in separate cover-featured series (in Master Comics and Wow Comics, respectively), and to appear in his/her own solo comics, as well. The three teamed up (often with non-powered, non-starring supporting character Uncle Marvel) in the pages of The Marvel Family, too. Someone at Fawcett must have decided that a funny animal version could sell to even younger readers, so Hoppy the Marvel Bunny was born.

Hoppy's first appearance was in Funny Animals (aka Fawcett's Funny Animals) # 1 in 1942. His debut revealed that the soon-to-be-magic bunny rabbit was a big fan of Captain Marvel--wasn't everyone?--who discovered he could also become the World's Mightiest Lagamorph by speaking Cap's magic word, SHAZAM! In a flash of lightning, Hoppy became Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, and adventure was afoot. (A rabbit's foot! See what I did there?)

Hoppy remained the star of Funny Animals for years, and also starred in 15 issues of his own comic book. In the early '50s, the Captain Marvel connection was dropped, as Hoppy became a more traditional funny-animal feature. When Fawcett folded in the mid '50s, Charlton Comics picked up the rights to Hoppy, and reprinted some of the Marvel Bunny tales under the name Magic Bunny.

Hoppy was never much on my radar; he was gone from the comics racks long before I was born, and never had sufficient pop-culture oomph to merit a nostalgic revival. I probably first heard of Hoppy while studying comics history in the books All In Color For A Dime and Steranko's History Of The Comics, tomes that I devoured in the early to mid '70s. Even when DC Comics acquired Captain Marvel and company, Hoppy was certainly the lowest of priorities.



Well, at least until DC Comics Presents # 34 in 1981. For the second and concluding chapter of a team-up between Superman and The Marvel Family, writer Roy Thomas pulled Hoppy the Marvel Bunny out of his hat as a climactic surprise guest star. This was clever, unexpected, and so cool. Hoppy saved the day, and even told Superman that he was his favorite comic book hero.



Heh. I thought Hoppy was supposed to be a Captain Marvel fan! Traitor. Just can't trust a rascally rabbit.

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