Obnoxio the Clown

Obnoxio
Obnoxio the Clown as depicted in Deadpool: Back in Black volume 1.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceCrazy Magazine #63 (June 1980)
Created byLarry Hama
In-story information
SpeciesHuman clown

Obnoxio the Clown is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics as the mascot of the humor magazine Crazy.[1] He was created by Larry Hama.

Characterization

Obnoxio is portrayed as a slovenly, vulgar, cigar-puffing middle-aged man in a torn and dirty clown suit, with a dyspeptic and cynical attitude.

Background

Larry Hama created Obnoxio immediately after he became the editor of Crazy. He explained, "I thought the old mascot was too 'nebbishy.' I wanted someone proactive, and somebody who actually had a voice, unlike all the other humor magazine mascots." The character's face was modeled after Al Milgrom.[2]

Artist Alan Kupperberg, who would become heavily associated with the character, recounted, "Obnoxio's first appearance was in a one-panel illustration to accompany a subscription ad in Crazy, written by Larry and calling for likenesses of P. T. Barnum and Marcy Tweed among others. This was right up my alley, so I pulled the reference and really went to town, doing a very nice half-tone illo. I think the piece impressed Larry quite a bit, because if my memory is correct, Larry left me strictly alone on anything and everything Obnoxio the Clown-related." Most of the Obnoxio features were written by Virgil Diamond, who according to Hama "was a high school English teacher in Brooklyn. I heard from him a few years ago when he retired. He really labored on those pages and was constantly fussing with them."[2]

Obnoxio the Clown appeared in several single-page gags in What If? #34 (August 1982).[2]

Marvel also published a one-shot Obnoxio the Clown (titled Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men on the cover) comic book in April 1983 following Crazy's cancellation.[1][2] The plot centered on Obnoxio as a villain and unlikely ally of the X-Men.[1] He and the group battle Eye Scream, a villain who can transform into ice cream.

The sole issue of the comic book was written, illustrated, colored, and lettered by Alan Kupperberg;[3] in a comment which Kupperberg attributed to Peter David,[4] and which David attributes to James Owsley,[5] the comic was described as "written, penciled, inked and lettered by Alan Kupperberg. Yes, it's untouched by human hands."[non sequitur]

Long after Obnoxio had disappeared from the spotlight, Marvel published two stories written and drawn by Kupperberg in What The--?! #13 (July 1991) and #24 (December 1992).[6]

In other media

References

  1. ^ a b c Campbell, David (April 20, 2005). Obnoxio the Clown Marvel Comics, 1983, Accessed August 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d Arnold, Mark (September 2016). "What The--?!: Obnoxio the Clown". Back Issue! (91). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 68–71.
  3. ^ Comic Collector live. Obnoxio The Clown #1. Accessed November 2008.
  4. ^ Kupperberg interview from Comic Book Artist #16, archived at AlanKupperberg.com; via archive.org
  5. ^ Not in Any Store…, by Peter David, from Comics Buyer's Guide #1003, February 5, 1993; archived at PeterDavid.net
  6. ^ Radford, Benjamin (2016-04-01). Bad Clowns. UNM Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-5667-3.
  7. ^ "Obnoxio Voice - Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 12, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  8. ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Marvel UK, 1992 series)". www.comics.org. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obnoxio_the_Clown