HANK CHAPMAN

Real Name: Henry Chapman

Identity/Class: Magically transformed human; 1950s

Occupation: Comicbook writer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Mr. Oppenheimer (grocery store owner), Stan Lee (editor)

Enemies: A group of dream demons

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Henrick (as called by Mr. Oppenheimer)

Base of Operations: An unidentified nightmare world; originally from New York City

First Appearance: Astonishing#4/3 (June, 1951)

Powers/Abilities: As a human, Hank Chapman was a talented comicbook writer whose specialty was horror stories; he got the ideas for his stories from the nightmares he had while under the influence of his unusual meals (whipped cream and pickles).

In his transformed state, Chapman had a hairy ape-like body and the ability to see past the "fourth wall" (i.e. he could perceive the reader of the story).

History: (Astonishing#4/3) - After eating a plate of whipped cream and pickles, Hank Chapman was plagued by a nightmare where monstrous creatures tore him apart. When he awoke, Chapman wrote the dream down as inspiration for a story for the latest issue of Marvel Tales.

The next morning, Chapman took the story to his editor, Stan Lee, who was so impressed with it that he gave Chapman his next assignment -- a special edition of Astonishing. Stan wanted a horror story that would be better than any one ever published before -- "a story about a man who gets lost in a weird, fantastic nightmare!!" Chapman promised Lee a story that would read "...like it was written by a guy who's been there and back a dozen times!"

Afterwards, Chapman stopped at Mr. Oppenheimer's grocery store and purchased two quarts of ice cream and some pickles; Mr. Oppenheimer could only react with stunned amazement -- "Ach, you iss a strange one, Henrick! Pickles mit cream...dot giffs bad dreams and a bellyache, jah?"

That night, Chapman read all of the past horror stories he had written to put him in the proper mood, then ate his inspiring meal. After leaving a pencil and paper handy so he could write down the dreams right after he had them, Chapman turned out the lights and fell asleep.

Moments later, Hank Chapman was accosted by the horrible nightmare creatures. After they tortured the hapless writer with a branding iron, they transformed him into a monster as well!

When he awoke, Chapman exclaimed "Wow! What a plot! I better write it down!" But then, he saw the STORY'S READER looking at him! Pinching himself to see if he was awake, Chapman realized to his horror that he WAS awake, and he was now caught in the nightmare! With no way out, Chapman could only beg the reader, "For heaven's sakes, write to the editor of Astonishing and tell him where I am! Hurry! Please...before it's too late!"

Comments: Created by Hank Chapman and Wayne Boring.

Hank Chapman was actually an employee of Timely Comics in the early 1940s, then returned to Timely-Atlas from 1951 to 1954. He would later work for DC from 1959 to 1967. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The fate of the Earth-616 Hank Chapman is unknown -- it's possible he was later returned to normal, or he could still be transformed and living in that nightmare world...

If it was a nightmare, a connection to the lord of a certain realm is likely -- I'm talking about Nightmare, and the demons in this story could've been some of his Netherdemons.
--Markus Raymond

Hmm...given that his form was altered, and his affinity for comicbooks, maybe Hank Chapman later return as...X, The Thing that Lived!
--John Kaminski

And a big THANK YOU to the Atlas Tales site for allowing me to use the scans for this story!

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
Hank Chapman has no known connections to:

The Dream Demons have no known connection to:

dream demons

A group of unidentified demonic entities, they tortured and tormented Hank Chapman in his dreams and eventually transformed him into a monstrous form.

--Astonishing#4/3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images:
Astonishing#4, p18, pan3 (body shot)

p17, pan2 (head shot)
p19, pan5 (Chapman transformed)
p16 (dream demons tear Chapman apart)

Appearances:
Astonishing#4 (June, 1951) - Hank Chapman (writer), Wayne Boring (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

Last updated: 10/28/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Back to Characters