HORACE THE JOKER

Real Name: Horace Wallace

Identity/Class: Human (pre-modern era)

Occupation: Prankster, zoo specimen

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Martians, his victims

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Joker" (in story title)

Base of Operations: Mars (see comments); formerly Earth, somewhere in America

First Appearance: Amazing Adventures I#5/3 (October, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: Horace was a normal human with no paranormal abilities; he enjoyed playing cruel practical jokes on others.

Height: 5'10" (by approximation)
Weight: 165 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown




History:
(Amazing Adventures I#5/3) - Horace was a practical joker whose pranks were usually cruel--he removed road signs warning of closed roads and "slippery when wet" signs from floors, resulting in people having accidents.

   One day, some of Horace's victims decided to teach him a lesson by pretending to be Martians--Horace overheard their plan, so he was going to get the last laugh on them by not being scared when they showed up at his house; however, the victims later cancelled their plan because they didn't want to give Horace a heart attack with their frightening costumes.

   Later on, Horace was confronted by two real Martians, who abducted him. Believing the aliens to be his "friends," Horace went along with them, only to be horrified to find himself on a real spaceship in the middle of space; Horace was headed for Mars, where he would serve as an exhibit in a Martian zoo.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Steve Ditko (artist).

If this 5-page story--The Joker!--is ever canonized, the Martians will probably be revealed as not actually originating from Mars.

Reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl#29 (August, 1974).

Profile by Madison Carter (original profile) & Ron Fredricks (expansion).

Clarifications: Horace/"The Joker" has no known connections to:

The Martians have no known connections to:

Horace's victims

A group of four young men (none identified), they had all fallen prey to Horace's cruel practical jokes.

Wanting to teach the prankster a lesson and give him the scare of his life, they plotted to dress up like Martians and tell Horace that they had come to take an Earthling to Mars--unknown to the four conspirators, Horace was eavesdropping at their window, and he planned to get the last laugh by turning the joke around on them.

But the next night, after they put on their frightening Martian costumes, the four changed their minds and decided to call off their stunt because they didn't want to scare Horace to death.

--Amazing Adventures I#5/3

Martians

Apparently from Mars, two aliens arrived on Earth in their spacecraft and abducted prankster Horace.

Believing that the Martians were just his costumed victims trying to frighten and out-prank him, Horace wanted to get the last laugh, so he cordially greeted the aliens, and cooperated with them as they blindfolded him and marched him to their spacecraft.

The Martians kidnapped Horace so they could make him a permanent exhibit in their zoo, as an example of a living Earthman.

--Amazing Adventures I#5/3

images: (without ads)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Horace laughing at Martians outside window)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p2, pan9 (Headshot - Horace)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p3, pan3 (Horace overhears his victims plotting revenge)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p5, pan5 (caged Horace aboard Martian spacecraft)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p3, pan1 (four of Horace's victims talk about Horace)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p3, pan2 (two of Horace's victims)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p3, pan5 (two of Horace's victims in Martian costumes)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p3, pan8 (Martian enters Horace's house)
Amazing Adventures I#5/3, p4, pan2 (Martians about to blindfold Horace)

Appearances:
Amazing Adventures I#5/3 (October, 1961) - unidentified writer, Steve Ditko (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 02/20/2006
Last updated: 06/06/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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