FIFI
FIFI
Real Name: Fifi
Identity/Class: Terrestrial genetically engineered anatine (duck)-humanoid hybrid
Occupation: Former maid
Group Membership: None
Affiliations:
Howard the Duck;
presumably Carlo, Lassie, and the rest of Bong's animal people
formerly Doctor Bong
Enemies: United States Air Force;
I doubt she cared too much for Beverly Switzler, her rival for Howard's affections
Known Relatives: Dr. Bong (Lester Verde, creation)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Formerly Dr. Bong's castle (mobile, but based at the time on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and then atop the Himalayas)
First Appearance: Howard the Duck I#17 (October, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Fifi was compassionate, curvaceous, and courageous. She performed such skills as serving a meal, making tea, shattering an overloading piece of equipment, and piloting a Flying Bonger. She spoke in an OUTRAGEOUS ACCENTE! She intermixed English and French, and would have been a great mascot (if not more) for Batroc the Leaper.
History:
(Howard the Duck I#18 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Bong "evolved" (presumably genetically
engineered) Fifi from an ordinary duck (presumably in his "Evolvo-Chamber"). She
acted as a French maid in his castle.
(Howard the Duck I#17) - When Howard was taken to Bong's castle and placed in a room, Fifi arrived to comfort him, offering him compassion and food: "les beans et les franks." As he dug in, she told him that if he cleaned his plate she would give him a cigar. She told Howard that she saw Bong as a humanitarian, but Howard responded, "So clucking what--from our point of view" (meaning they weren't humans). She told Howard that she was a woman, and that soon he would be a man...literally, as Bong had marked him for reconstruction so that she and Howard could produce offspring. Unwilling to put up with being anyone's laboratory animal, Howard took off to stop Bong, only to be easily incapacitated and sent to the "Evolvo-Chamber."
(Howard the Duck I#18) - When Beverly Switzler's efforts to
stop Bong's mutation process caused the Evolvo-Chamber to overload, Bong left
Howard for dead. After Bong ignored her pleas to save her would-be mate, Fifi
rushed forward and hurled a chair at the chamber, shattering it and freeing
Howard. She picked up his stunned form and rushed him out of the room just
before the chamber exploded. She brought him up to her private chambers--unseen
by Bong--and tended to his recovery, shedding a tear when the delirious duck
called out for Bev. She went and got him some tea to help him relax, but she
dropped the tray in shock upon finding that he had transformed into Howard the
Man. Recovering her composure, Fifi tried to help Howard adapt, offering him
anything, and bringing him clothes and a fresh cigar when he asked for it.
Howard was distraught when Fifi told him that Bev had departed with Bong on
their honeymoon (though she didn't tell him that Bev had only consented to marry
Bong to save Howard's life). When Howard asked her to help him escape Bong's
castle, she offered to do so on one condition: "We blow zis joint together, eh?"
Responding with "Fooey!" to Howard's attempts to convince her
otherwise--and since he couldn't pilot one of Bong's ships himself--Fifi flew
Howard and herself out of the castle in a Flying Bonger. Some hours later,
however, as they approached New York, they were detected by Air Force ships,
which mistook them for hostiles. Since the Bonger could only communicate with
the radio at Bong's castle, Howard and Fifi were unable to convince the pilots
otherwise, and the Bonger was shot out of the air. Howard survived, his
featherless body only mildly ruffled, but Fifi was trapped in the burning ship.
Firemen extinguished the flames and pulled her motionless body from the
wreckage, mocking her form and her human clothing, and Howard stormed off.
(Howard the Duck I#19 (fb) - BTS) - The Daily Bugle reported the UFO crash in Central Park, noting the duck-like creature found inside; there was no mention of Howard.
(Sensational She-Hulk#5 (fb) - BTS) - Fifi survived the crash--or perhaps Bong cloned a new Fifi. She returned to his employ, caring for the Bong Quintuplets (infant clones of Dr. Bong created by Beverly Switzler). She further assisted Bong in his plot to alter television programming, making it more educational.
(Sensational She-Hulk#5) - Fifi informed Bong that his machine was experiencing power fluctuations from inside the program--as result of She-Hulk and three other people being transported into the program when they happened to hit the remote control at the exact same time Bong was altering the programming. Entering the program himself to terminate the interference, Bong commanded Fifi to watch the children while he was gone, and to monitor the disturbance, but to touch nothing--especially the large, red, labeled manual off-switch. Despite Bong's instructions, Fifi used the remote control to follow the She-Hulk and the others from channel to channel. Suddenly the She-Hulk tore through the page (this was when she knew she was in a comic book), knocking Fifi into the large, red, labeled manual off-switch. Having been inside the program when it was shut off, and only being able to activate himself from the outside, Bong was unable to escape back to the real world. The distraught Fifi explained what had happened to the She-Hulk, also explaining that she was not wearing a mask when She-Hulk tried to pull her beak off.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber, Gene Colan, and Klaus Janson.
Fifi: "Am I not a woman? Have I not neez?"
If Howard wasn't even knocked out, why would he assume Fifi was killed? Then again, maybe he just chose to ditch her since he had no more use for her.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
images:
Howard the Duck I#17, p6, panel 3 (full body)
#18, p12, panel 1 (face, profile)
Sensational She-Hulk#5, p10, panel 2 (face, front view)
p11, panel 1 (better costume image)
Appearances:
Howard the Duck I#17-19 (October-December, 1977) - by Steve Gerber
(writer/editor), Gene Colan (artist), and Klaus Janson (inker)
Sensational She-Hulk#5 (September, 1989) - by John Byrne (writer/penciler), Bob
Wiacek (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Last updated: 05/12/12
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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