MR. WHIMPLE
Real Name: Whimple (first name(s?) unrevealed) (see comments)
Identity/Class: Unknown (see comments) (1950s era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Mrs. G (full last name unrevealed; landlady), Mr. Arbuckle (fellow boarder)
Enemies: Henry Simpson
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Ya dumb cluck!" (as called by Simpson)
Base of Operations: Mrs. G's boarding house, unidentified city, United States
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#8/5 (May, 1953)
Powers/Abilities: Mr. Whimple had two identical heads on the shoulders of his body. It is unknown if both heads functioned independently (see comments). To pass as normal, he initially hid his right head inside a wooden box, and later hid the left one instead; additionally, he concealed his two necks by wrapping them with a red scarf. Other than his unusual appearance, Mr. Whimple displayed no other extraordinary characteristics.
Height: 5'10" (by
approximation)
Weight: 165 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Black
History: (Journey into Mystery I#8/5 (fb) - BTS) - The past of the two-headed Mr. Whimple is unknown, but he would pass himself off as a normal man by concealing his right head in a wooden box. He eventually took up residence in Mrs. G's run-down boarding house. Whimple was friendly with Mrs. G and his fellow boarders, but he always ate all of his meals alone in his own room instead of the dining room, and he never sat and relaxed in the communal living room with the others. Although they always saw him go in and out carrying a box on his right shoulder, the simple, hard-working tenants of the boarding house respected each others' privacy, so they overlooked Whimple's eccentricities.
(Journey into Mystery I#8/5) - Criminal Henry Simpson took a room at the boarding house while he hid from the law and planned his next crime. But his curiosity was aroused when he saw Mr. Whimple always carrying a wooden crate on his shoulder. Simpson asked Mr. Arbuckle about Whimple, but Arbuckle only scolded him ("We mind our own business here, sir! We don't ask questions of anyone!"). Simpson became obsessed about what Whimple might have in the box--Tools? Money? Jewels?--and he was determined to find out what valuables Whimple might be carrying around.
One night, Simpson waited outside the boarding house until Mr. Whimple came walking out, still carrying the wooden box. Simpson stalked the box-carrying man through the streets and byways until Whimple was in an isolated section of the city, near some railroad tracks. Then Simpson jumped upon Whimple and struck him several times on his head with a blackjack. Whimple collapsed and Simpson assumed he was dead, and he tried to pry the box away, but it seemed to be stuck to Whimple's shoulder. So Simpson broke the box apart to see what was inside, and he was horrified when he saw Whimple's second head! Fleeing in terror, Simpson was struck when he inadvertently ran into the path of an oncoming train. As Mr. Whimple cradled his left head in his hand, his right head was concerned that he'd have to get another box.
A few days later at the boarding house, Mr. Arbuckle was
talking with Mrs. G when Mr. Whimple came passing by. The landlady
noticed that Mr. Whimple was now carrying his box on his left
shoulder--she figured he must have been tired from carrying it on the
other shoulder all the time. Then she wondered what might have
happened to her newest boarder--Henry Simpson--who just seemed to have
disappeared without a trace.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and
Fred Kida (artist)
Mr. Whimple's true nature was never divulged. He could have been an alien, or possibly he was a mutant and an extreme case of "conjoined twins". But there was no indication in the story that Whimple's heads had their own separate and distinct personalities (i.e. one didn't talk to the other), or if his second head was just a "spare" into which he transferred his consciousness.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Mr. Whimple has no known connections to:
Henry Simpson has no known connections to:
A criminal on the lam, Simpson was armed with a knife, a gun, a rope, and a blackjack. He rented a room at Mrs. G's boarding house, where he hid out and plotted his next crimes. But Simpson noticed one of his fellow boarders--Mr. Whimple--who was always carrying a box on his shoulder. Thinking the box contained valuables, Simpson became determined to rob Whimple.
Simpson followed Whimple one evening, and savagely beat him with the blackjack. Then Simpson tore the box open and was horrified when he saw what it contained. Fleeing in terror, Simpson accidentally ran into the path of a speeding train and was apparently killed.
--Journey into Mystery I#8/5
images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#8/5, p4, pan1 (main image, Mr.Whimple's left head exposed, right head in box on right shoulder;
Simpson stalking Whimple in background)
Journey into Mystery I#8/5, p5, pan5 (head shot, box broken
open, both of Whimple's heads exposed)
Journey into Mystery I#8/5, p5, pan8 (Mr. Arbuckle and Mrs. G
noticing Mr. Whimple now carries his box on left shoulder)
Journey into Mystery I#8/5, p5, pan3 Henry Simpson tearing
open box
Journey into Mystery I#8/5, p5, pan4 (Simpson's shocked
reaction at seeing Whimple's heads)
Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#8/5 (May, 1953) - unidentified writer, Fred Kida
(artist)
First Posted: 08/16/2015
Last updated: 08/16/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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