Ding-A-Ling Family

 

Membership: Pa, Ma, Auntie, Sister, Brother, Cousin Bee, Cousin Bye, and Grandma

Purpose: Evil doin'

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Dawn Greenwood, Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Thor, Sif, Volstagg, other Asgardians

Base of Operations: Their astral RV which was formerly located in a terrestrial trailer park

First Appearance: Hostess Fruit Pie ad "The Ding-A-Ling Family" from Avengers I#167 (January, 1978) and other publications in that month 

Powers/Abilities: Pa was armed with an atomic shotgun. Cousin Bee and Cousin Bye (possibly mutants) had an undefined "cousin power" which allowed them to resist the force of Thor's hammer blows, but only while they concentrated on using their power. The other family members showed no special skills or abilities, using only force of numbers to overwhelm their enemies.

History: A quirk in the space/time continuum caused the Ding-A-Ling family's trailer-home to suddenly appear in the divine realm of Asgard, home of the Norse gods. Grandma ordered the rest of her kin to attack the deities and to "hornswoggle" (?!!) Thor (ouch!). As the hyperspatial hillbillies overwhelmed the forces of Asgard, the thunder god fought the combined might of Cousins Bee and Bye. Then Sif showed up with a tray of Hostess Fruit Pies. The sight of the tasty snacks broke the Cousins' concentration and they ceased their struggles (leavin' ol' Grandma madder 'n a nest o' hornets in July! Dumb Cousins!).

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Silver Surfer VI#7 - BTS) - Ma and Sister left the family for some undisclosed reason.

(Silver Surfer VI#7) - Drifting through space, the Ding-A-Ling family bushwhacked the Silver Surfer and his female travelling companion from Earth Dawn Greenwood. Desiring a new bride (since Ma left him), Pa attempted to make Dawn his bride by way of a shot-gun wedding while Cousin's Bee and Bye held down the Silver Surfer and two other unnamed family members restrained his surfboard. Slipping free of Bee and Bye's grip due to his metallic skin, the Silver Surfer transformed all the wedding fruit pies into replicas of Pa's wedding ring which caused a distraction allowing both he and Dawn to escape.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and artist.

    The Ding-A-Ling Family is the primary reason why cousins are forbidden to marry (or, to quote Albert Einstein: "Everything's relative").

    Of all the Hostess villains, only Icemaster has shown up in an Earth-616 title. He could have crossed over to Earth-616 from "Earth-Hostess," but I say leave them on Earth-616 until proven otherwise. Nonetheless, until they do show up in regular continuity, they remain outside regular canon. Surely someone will write a story teaming them all together.---Snood.

This is not true anymore as some Hostess ad villains were mentioned in the Fantastic Four Encyclopedia as natives of Earth-616. And lets not forget about Printout Man in the New Avengers Most Wanted Files.

You can get the whole story, and some clever commentary from Seanbaby's The Hostess Page. It might not meet with the Comics Code Authority's approval, so kids, ask your parents before checking that out!---Kyle

Profile by John Kaminski. Update by AvatarWarlord.

Clarifications: The Ding-A-Ling Family has no known connection to

images:
Avengers I#167, hostess ad, panel 1 + 3

Appearances:
Avengers I#167 (January, 1978) - Hostess ad
Silver Surfer VI#7 (January, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer), Mike Allred (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 03/20/2005
Last updated: 08/14/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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