Hoppy the Marvel Bunny is a fictional character appearing 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 ...

originally published by

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

and later

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

as a spin-off of Captain Marvel. He was created by Chad Grothkopf and debuted in ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #1 (December 1942). A comic book superhero and an anthropomorphic animal, Hoppy has made periodic appearances in stories related to Captain Marvel, today also known as Shazam or The Captain.

Publication history

In 1942, Fawcett Comics decided to add a cartoon animal comic book to accompany its line of superhero, action, and adventure comics. Chad Grothkopf, an artist with experience at DC Comics and

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

, was tapped to come up with concepts for Fawcett's ''Funny Animals'' comic; his creations included Willie the Worm, Shelock Monk and Chuck, and Hoppy, a rabbit who dreamed of being strong. For the latter character, Grothkopf added elements from Fawcett's popular Captain Marvel strips, and the lead strip for ''Funny Animals'' was set as ''Hoppy the Marvel Bunny''. Hoppy debuted in ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #1, and appears in nearly every issue of that comic's run. He also starred in his own 15-issue series, ''Hoppy the Marvel Bunny'' (December 1945 – September 1947), which featured several Hoppy stories per issue, along with stories featuring his old co-stars from ''Fawcett's Funny Animals''. One of his foes is Captain Black Bunny, a version of

Black Adam Black Adam (Teth-Adam) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics' '' The Marvel Family'' comic book ...

. Hoppy's stories include "Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and the Paper Dolls of Victory!", "The Keepers of the Winds" and "Hoppy Duels with Stinger Bee". For a span of five issues (#49–54, May–October 1947), Hoppy made no appearances in ''Fawcett's Funny Animals''; these issues featured Billy the Kid and Oscar as the lead feature. Beginning with #55, Hoppy returned as the main feature. In ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #69 (February 1951), the Captain Marvel Bunny stories were dropped, replaced by more standard talking-animal stories with just Hoppy. There was no further mention of his career as Captain Marvel Bunny. In issue #80 the word "Fawcett's" was dropped from the title, making the remaining issues simply ''Funny Animals''. The final issue of ''Funny Animals'' was #83 (1953). After Fawcett cancelled ''Funny Animals'', the rights to many of its characters were purchased by Charlton Comics. Charlton resumed publication of ''Funny Animals'' with #84 and continued the series to #91 (February 1956). Hoppy also appeared in Charlton's ''Atomic Mouse'', though these stories appear to be edited reprints from ''Fawcett's Funny Animals''. For these reprints, Charlton removed the lightning bolt from Marvel Bunny's suit and recolored the costume, changing his name to Magic Bunny and his magic word to "Alizam!". He is alternately referred to in various Charlton books as "Hoppy", "Happy", "Happy the Magic Bunny" and, according to one source, "Speedy". DC Comics bought Hoppy, among other characters, when Fawcett went bankrupt in 1953. He has made limited appearances since. A modernized version of Hoppy appears in the revamped ''

New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC cancelled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new ser ...

''/''

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

'' interpretation of ''Shazam!'', beginning in 2012.

Fictional character biography

Hoppy is a pink rabbit who lives in the town of Funny Animalville, along with an assortment of other funny animal characters. As revealed in the origin story from ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #1, Hoppy is a fan of Captain Marvel. One day, he decides to emulate his hero and speaks the magic word "Shazam!" Surprisingly, the magic word transforms Hoppy into Captain Marvel Bunny. In ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #30 (July 1945), an explanation for Hoppy's powers is revealed. In the story "Hoppy Meets the Wizard Bunny", Hoppy is hit on the head and develops amnesia. The mysterious Wizard Bunny (or Bunny Wizard, both versions are used) is watching, and he flies down to help Hoppy regain his memory. A panel in this story states: "Because it was he who bestowed the magic word and power upon Hoppy, the Bunny Wizard flies down to Earth to help Hoppy". Eventually, the Wizard gets Hoppy to say "Shazam!" and his memory is restored, along with his abilities. This is the Bunny Wizard's only known appearance. The word "Shazam!" has a slightly different meaning for Hoppy. According to the E. Nelson Bridwell-scripted story, ''Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! in The Oz-Wonderland War'' #2, Captain Marvel Bunny has the wisdom of Salamander, the strength of Hogules, the stamina of Antlers, the power of Zebreus, the courage of Abalone, and the speed of Monkury. Hoppy's stories occasionally feature his girlfriend Millie, who (like

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...

) despises the meek Hoppy, but adores the heroic Captain Marvel Bunny. Millie has no idea that Hoppy can become Captain Marvel Bunny. A noteworthy foe appeared in ''Fawcett's Funny Animals'' #32 (Oct–Nov 1945). In the lead story of that issue, Hoppy faces Captain Black Bunny, who is based on Captain Marvel's foe

. He originates from the Earth's core and is aided by a gang of imps. In Hoppy's first appearance in DC Comics (in ''DC Comics Presents'' #34), he and Millie are magically transported to Earth-S, the home of the Marvel Family in the pre- ''Crisis'' DC universe. He aids the Marvel Family and

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 ...

against Mr. Mind, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and King Kull. In this story, both Hoppy and Millie were depicted as white bunnies, instead of their usual pink. Hoppy next appears in ''Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! in The Oz-Wonderland War'' #2 (1986), where he fights alongside the Zoo Crew. In ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely ...

'', Hoppy makes a minor appearance as a resident of

Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...

. In ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' reboot, Hoppy is a non-anthropomorphic rabbit and the pet of Mary Bromfield who she inadvertently gives superpowers.

Powers and abilities

Hoppy has powers roughly similar to those of Captain Marvel/Shazam. He is empowered by a different group of deities, consisting of

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

, Hogules,

Antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

, Zebreus,

Abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

, and Monkury.

Reception

In ''American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944'', Kurt Mitchell and

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

wrote: "It was cover star Hoppy the Marvel Bunny who made ''FFA'' special. Creator Chad Grothkopf struck a balance in his stories between the usual cartoon animal tropes, fairy tale-style fantasy, and full-tilt super-heroics, the strip's only sticking point the tiresome gimmick of Hoppy never being able to remember his magic word. Whether battling piscine pirate Captain Kid Perch, the Witch, King Artist of Picture Land, or Simon Spider and his living dolls, Marvel Bunny always delivered big laughs and plenty of action".

References

External links

Hoppy the Marvel Bunny
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 ...