Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a fictional character published by

All-American Publications All-American Publications, Inc.The name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to fo ...

. He appeared in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

, radio serials and

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

s. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular comic book character during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Publication history

The character first appeared in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series '' All American Comics'' #1 (April 1939) by the

publishing company, as one of the early

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

heroes in comic history. He was a recurring character, appearing in many magazines including anthology magazines like '' All-Flash'', ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'', ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'', '' Mutt & Jeff'', ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'', '' Comic Cavalcade'', ''

Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book comics anthology, anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues from 1942 to 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been int ...

'' and ''

Flash Comics ''Flash Comics'' is a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featu ...

''. For a brief period in 1941, Blummer considered turning Hop Harrigan into a superhero, as many other strips were converting to follow the new trend. Harrigan appeared in costume from March to July, and then Blummer dropped the idea.

Fictional summary

Hop Harrigan had been orphaned by his father, a legendary pilot, who disappeared on a flight to South America to see his wife. Hop's story begins with him being raised by his neighbor, the cruel farmer Silas Crane, who gets legal guardianship of him to obtain Hop's inheritance. When Hop Harrigan is a teenager, Crane tries to destroy a biplane that had once been in the possession of Hop's father. Seeing this, Hop angrily knocks the old man to the ground and escapes in the biplane, not planning to return. He arrives at an airport where he saves the life of mechanic Tank Tinker, who became his friend and companion. Tank gives Harrigan his nickname when he said, "Some hop, Harrigan". Later, Hop, Tank and Prop Wash (the pilot who accidentally endangers Tank), along with help from an heiress (who later becomes Hop's girlfriend), set up the All-American Aviation Company, and they have a variety of exciting adventures. Hop briefly takes on the costumed identity of the Guardian Angel. By the time

comes, as with most other comics of the time, the Hop Harrigan comic has World War II themed adventures as Hop, Tank and Prop join the US Army Air Corps in service of the war effort. Shortly after the war, the character appears for a while under the alias the Black Lamp.

21st century

Hop Harrigan returns in the pages of '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' vol. 2 #1-3 when a mysterious package containing a ring & a map with the secret message 'Save Me' is sent to Clark Kent, who as

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

travels to the coordinates, finding a hidden mountain fortress known as the Eidos Citadel. After infiltrating the citadel, Superman is incapacitated within a Kryptonite dungeon with Harrigan, who apparently hasn't aged. Harrigan reveals he and Tank crashed while pursuing a villain named Robomb, and while Hop survived, Tank perished from his injuries in the crash. The capture of Harrigan and Superman is revealed to be the plot of Dr. Anthelme, who intend to erase Superman from the memory of the world the same way he erased Harrigan (who at the time of his disappearance had a popular TV series including toy 'decoder rings' that fans would wear). While Superman is being tortured by Anthelme, Harrigan uses the ring returned to him by Superman to escape, rescuing a still-weak Superman from Anthelme before taking off in a plane. However, it is revealed that he has forgotten how to fly due to manipulation from Dr. Anthelme and the plane crashes in the ocean. Superman survives, but with no memory of Harrigan or even what he was doing before being rescued by a cargo ship.

In other media

* Hop Harrigan appears in a self-titled radio series, voiced by Chester Stratton. * Hop Harrigan appears in a self-titled film serial, portrayed by William Bakewell.

References

External links

Hop Harrigan
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016.
Hop Harrigan
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

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