WHACKER

Real Name: Whacker (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human technology user, presumably alternate reality (Earth-333333333) (see comments)

Occupation: Documentary presenter

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile around Earth's solar system

First Appearance: Future Tense#40/2 (December 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Whacker was a skilled travel documentary presenter.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History:
("Whacker's World", Future Tense#40/2) -Traversing the solar system in his space hopper, presenter Whacker informed his viewers that over the next few months they'd be learning all there was to know about everything, starting with the Sun, which he claimed was the most dangerous star in our galaxy after Oliver Reed. Per Whacker, the Irish Sun-shot of 1986 provided a little new information about the topic before their choice of wooden heat-resistant tiles became a problem. Whacker noted that the Americans overcame the heat problem by landing at night.

   Whacker moved on to sharing interesting facts about the Sun, noting that on a hot day the sun used up enough heat every minute to fry two million eggs, something he demonstrated with a massive frying pan. He noted that eggs aside, living on the sun was no joke, because as always where there was heat there were mosquitoes. As he strode over to interview a Sun resident who was only visible via the end of his pipe through the insect swarm, the man reassured Whacker that you stopped noticing them after a while. Looking at a couple lying down to sunbathe, only to literally melt, Whacker stated that many came there in search of sun, only to never leave. Surrounded by a large crowd pressing into him, Whacker informed the viewers that in the summer the swimming pools were chock-a-block, but ice cream vendors could make a fortune at the height of the season. He closed out his broadcast with a face full of pimples, stating that the greatest hazard of living there was that there was no cure for sunspots.

Comments: Created by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett.

   Whacker's World was a single page humor strip by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett, the creators who also produced numerous other comedic strips across the Marvel U.K. range of titles during the early 1980s. Several of these other strips were set on Quinn & Howett's Earth-331/3, a.k.a. Earth-333333333, so it is fairly safe to assume the same hold's true for Whacker's World. However, Future Tense ended with #41, so despite clearly being intended to run for several more episodes to cover the rest of the solar system Whacker's World ended after a single installment. As such, it had no chance to cross over with any other Quinn/Howett strips. If it wasn't for it depicting regular humans on the sun, in theory it could even fit into Reality-616. 

   Whacker's World was a parody of the long running documentary series Whicker's World, presented by Alan Whicker from 21st March 1959 to 18th December 1994. By the time this strip was published his show had been a feature of British television for 22 years, so to any British reader Whicker would be very recognizable. Though as a journalist Whicker actually covered a range of topics, he was especially well known for travel documentaries, hence why this SF parody saw Whacker traveling the solar system.

   This profile was completed on 09/28/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Future Tense.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Whacker has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Future Tense#40, p25, pan1 (main image)
Future Tense#40, p25, pan8 (headshot)
Future Tense#40, p25, pan7 (attempting an interview)
Book cover (real Alan Whicker)

Appearances:
Future Tense#40/2 (December 1981) - Tim Quinn (writer), Dicky Howett (art), Paul Neary (editor)

First Posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 09/28/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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