main image

DEAD CLOWN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Earth-88469) human mutate

Occupation: Adventurer, singer;
   formerly corporate icon;
   formerly circus clown (as JoJo)

Group Membership: None;
   formerly Liquid Spraymount

Affiliations: Bart (last name unrevealed);
   formerly William "Bull" Davidovich, Petro Global Inc.

Enemies: Burning Skull, William "Bull" Davidovich, Death, Deathbird (formerly Birdboy/Swallow), Five Angry Inches, Force America (Birdman, Captain Hero, Clue, Cyberhead, Mother Earth, Shotgun, U-Boat), General (name unrevealed), Mutations (Bazooka, Clawfoot, Eyeglare, Hairball, Slush), O-Men, Power League, Sadistic Six (Dr. Chia, Homewrecker, Rat Bastard, Resentment, Satan-in-a-Box), Skywomen, Professor Steinrine

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Ghastly;
   formerly JoJo, briefly impersonated Burning Skull

Base of Operations: Mobile in the USA (Earth-88469)

First Appearance: Dinosaurs for Hire II#1 (February, 1993)

Powers/Abilities: Ghastly had a crass sense of humor and found violence funny. He had localized reality-warping powers that focused on keeping himself alive and sustaining his clown comedy persona. He could ride a custom motorbike while completely occupied with a newspaper and enjoyed smoking. He used standard weapons, such as guns and grenades, but also modified clown-themed items, such as an acid-streaming seltzer spray bottle and a candy dispenser that extended to a long mace. He showed superhuman dexterity (from heightened molecular density) and regenerative abilities, including the ability to separate his skullish head, and was a strategic thinker, albeit with cruel intentions. His mutation left him skeletal looking with an unexplained seeming bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red
Hair: Red

History:

(Dead Clown#1 (fb)) - JoJo the clown was paid to participate in an experimental process by Petro Global Inc. to augment his abilities to be a super entertainer. "Bull" Davidovich showed a US military general the process as Professor Steinrine injected JoJo with a secret formula, bombarded him with beta rays, then doused him in an electrified saline solution. Briefly dead, he "awoke" in his mutated form, his now dense skin stretched across a malformed skull. Shocked, the general collapsed while Davidovich saw marketing opportunities using the clown as a corporate icon.

(Dead Clown#1 (fb) - BTS) - Petro Global Inc. trademarked the clown's new name as Ghastly the Dead Clown

(Dead Clown#3 (fb) - BTS) - At the cosmic level, JoJo's resurrection caused grievance to the demigod Death.

(Dinosaurs for Hire II#1) - Outside a movie premiere party, Dead Clown offered free giant cigarettes to children.

(Dinosaurs for Hire II#2) - Dead Clown was asked to comment on the Dinosaurs for Hire comic. He promised his series would be "much better".

(Dead Clown#2 (fb)) - Ghastly became a marketing sensation for the firm, improving their novelty arm's profits, partly due to Ghastly's role in international trade restrictions.

(Dead Clown#1) - A year after his rebirth, Ghastly derided the efforts of a feature film and comic promoting him. Quitting his role defiantly, he deliberately sprayed Davidovich, now corporate Petro Global CEO, with acid from a seltzer dispenser. Bull's skin turned bubbling green; swearing revenge, he bullied the US premier team, Force America, to hunt Ghastly down. Meanwhile, Dead Clown revisited the lab where he was reborn when Birdboy, desperate for recognition as a sidekick, tried vainly to arrest him, but was clobbered by Ghastly instead. Realizing a big super team were after him, he stocked up on weaponry at Bart's Boom Saloon (dispensing guns and drinks). In order to gain further information on his opponents, Ghastly deceived Birdboy into thinking he was his sidekick, then abandoned him to brutal thugs. Ghastly sent a false distress call to bring in Force America, then used the team's clashing egos and internal rivalries to cause a major fight on the street (while being untouched himself).

(Dead Clown#2) - After long combat, Captain Hero emerged the victor, but was knocked out by Ghastly's giant hammer. Dead Clown then rode his customized motorbike, reading the newspaper at the same time, seeking a band to join as a new form of employment. At the same time, daytime news reporter Lee-Anne Rictus profiled "the Clown crisis" with a superficial report. Ghastly sneaked into the hospital where the severely injured members of Force America lay and killed several while Davidovich tried to calm journalists wanting answers on how Ghastly's efforts impacted profits. Elsewhere, The Sadistic Six team leader, Satan-in-a-Box, wanted Ghastly as a new member; the villainous team confronted Ghastly just as the remaining Force America members (Captain Hero, Shotgun and Birdman) found him and destructive fighting ensued. Ghastly slipped away and joined grunge band Liquid Spraymount, showcasing his monstrous abilities to score a gig.

(Dead Clown#3) - Delayed by encores of band Five Angry Inches, Ghastly electrocuted their lead singer and kicked them off the stage so that Liquid Spraymount could perform; the crowd were enthusiastic. Soon, his debut solo single climbed the charts while Davidovich was fired from Petro Global for losing the Dead Clown account. Davidovich and Captain Hero conspired to have the still-bandaged Davidovich secretly transformed to replace Ghastly, while also recruiting many super-heroes to kill the original Dead Clown. Keen to uncover the plot, Ghastly disguised himself to look like hero Burning Skull; easily fooled, Captain Hero revealed the battle plan. But the real Burning Skull soon appeared and, enraged, Captain Hero's super-powered team tracked down Ghastly with Slush encasing Ghastly in a block of ice. Internal bickering let Ghastly escape again and formulate a plan. Meanwhile, the deceased Birdboy was resurrected by angry Death to become his sidekick, the super-hero Deathbird, to eliminate Ghastly. By this time, Ghastly had secured the original script for issue 3 of his comic. The assembled super-heroes, marching with flaming torches, confronted Ghastly, who quickly wrote and revised the script's completion, warping reality to ensure a quick but messy death for many, until Captain Hero stopped him. Davidovich then revealed his new face, matching Ghastly's, just as Deathbird swooped in, knocked out Captain Hero, and erroneously carried the imposter away. Ghastly was happy, yet unsurprised, that he had survived with a satisfactory ending.

Comments: Created by Chris Ulm, Tom Mason, and Mitch Byrd.

Malibu's Dead Clown follows the violence and parody of DC's Lobo (and later Marvel's Lunatik - with a dash of What The--?).

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Ghastly the Dead Clown has no known connections to:

Burning Skull

The Burning Skull was a local hero and rode a motorbike with flaming wheels. He was called in during the hunt for Ghastly the Dead Clown. However, Ghastly impersonated him to dupe Captain Hero into revealing his strategy. Burning Skull later joined the combined attack on Ghastly, who instead warped localized reality by rewriting a script to have Burning Skull's flaming head explode.

The Burning Skull, with his outfit, look and motorbike, was a clear parody of Marvel's Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Dead Clown#2 (3

Five Angry Inches

Five Angry Inches were a loud grunge band, popular with the crowds, but took too many encores for Ghastly's liking. They were slotted in before Ghastly's band, Liquid Spraymount, and Ghastly didn't like the delay. Taking matters into his own hands, Ghastly electrocuted the lead singer and Liquid Spraymount quickly took the stage.

The band's name may be a reference to Nine Inch Nails, which gained popularity in the early 1990s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Dead Clown#2

Liquid Spraymount

Based at Phoenix Recording Studio, Liquid Spraymount was a four-piece grunge band, but their lead singer, Todd, scored a plumbing gig and left the band. Ghastly the Dead Clown impressed the remaining band members with his esoteric tricks, including spinning his head around, and joined as new lead singer. He quickly garnered the crowd's attention at a concert and it launched a brief solo career for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Dead Clown#2 (3

Professor Steinrine

Professor Steinrine (first name unrevealed) was the German-accented mastermind behind the process to create super entertainers with enhanced durability for the military. He was relieved that the subject JoJo had survived the (literally) shocking process.

He appears to be a take on Marvel's Prof. Josef Reinstein (a.k.a. Abraham Erskine), who developed the Super Soldier Serum used to create Captain America.

 

 

 

 

 

--Dead Clown#1

images: (without ads)
Dead Clown#3, p18, pan3 (main image)
Dead Clown#1, p13, pan5 (headshot, pre-transformation)
Dead Clown#2, cover (headshot, post-transformation)
Dead Clown#2, p4, pan1 (on custom motorbike)
Dead Clown#3, p25 (with script)
Dead Clown#3, p10, pan3 (Burning Skull)
Dead Clown#3, p1, pan5 (Five Angry Inches band)
Dead Clown#3, p3 (Liquid Spraymount band)
Dead Clown#1, p14, pan 5 (Steinrine)

Appearances:
Dinosaurs for Hire II#1 (February, 1993) - Tom Mason (writer), Mitch Byrd (pencils), Bruce McCorkindale (inks), Chris Ulm (editor)
Dinosaurs for Hire II#2 (March, 1993) - Tom Mason (writer), Mitch Byrd (pencils), Bruce McCorkindale (inks), Chris Ulm & Roland Mann (editor)
Dead Clown#1 (October, 1993) - Chris Ulm (writer), Joel Thomas (pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
Dead Clown#2 (November, 1993) - Chris Ulm (writer), Joel Thomas (pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)
Dead Clown#3 (February 1994) - Chris Ulm (writer), Phil Gosier (pencils), Bobby Rae (inks), Roland Mann (editor)

First posted: 10/28/2018
Last updated: 02/18/2022

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.

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix!

Back to Characters