LITTLE HERCULES

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era)

Occupation: Scientist, teenager

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: "The leading scientists of the world"

Enemies: Two foreign agents

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unidentified location, USA

First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics I#5 (June, 1940)

Powers/Abilities: Although merely twelve years old, Little Hercules was exceptionally strong for his age, proving able to whirl grown men around with ease and smash boulders with his bare fists. Although he was capable of feeling pain, he seemed highly resistant to injury. He was also a brilliant scientist who received doctorates in every scientific field. His inventions included the explosive Dynopop and his airplane, Sky Bird.

Height: 4' 5" (by approximation)
Weight: 70 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: (Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9 (fb) - BTS) - The source of the tremendous superhuman strength and high intellect of the youngster known only as "Little Hercules" is unrevealed.

(Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9) - At the age of twelve, Little Hercules was summoned to a meeting of the leading scientists of the world. The head scientist was astonished by Little Hercules' intellect, declaring to his colleagues that "his brain has made us older men of science look like children." Little Hercules' latest invention, an explosive called Dynopop, was spotlighted at the gathering. The scientists bestowed upon Little Hercules doctorates in all the fields of science.

The invention of Dynopop caught the attention of two foreign agents who wanted to obtain the explosive. One of the agents attempted to knock Little Hercules unconscious so he could take him prisoner and force the formula for Dynopop out of him, but when he clubbed Little Hercules over the head, it just barely stunned the youngster. Surprised, the agent asked Little Hercules if the blow from the club hurt, but Little Hercules answered "not much." When the agent admitted he was the one who hit Little Hercules and demanded he turn over his formula, Little Hercules punched him in the face, giving the agent two black eyes.

Little Hercules prepared to bring Dynopop to Washington D.C. and readied his airplane Sky Bird for the flight. The foreign agents fastened a bomb to Sky Bird's tail which went off while he was mid-flight, but Little Hercules made a successful crash landing. Having followed in their own plane, the two agents tried to gang up on Little Hercules but he fended them off with ease, even smashing a boulder into pebbles when they threw it at him. Little Hercules knocked out both men then commandeered their plane and continued on to Washington, where he turned the agents over to the authorities and presented the formula for Dynopop to the government.

Comments: Created by Bud Sagendorf.

When I was head writer of Marvel Comics' Marvel Mystery Handbook which featured profiles on characters from Marvel's first year of publishing, I chose to omit Little Hercules from that publication on the grounds that he was a humor character and humor-based characters have very hazily-defined relationships with the Marvel Universe which are not easily covered by the rigid structure of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. This character profile is my peace offering to all you Sagendorks out there!

Bud Sagendorf went on to become the artist of Popeye in both comic strips and comic books and he's pretty much universally acclaimed as the #2 best Popeye artist (after creator E. C. Segar). Little Hercules definitely demonstrated his affinity for Segar's art style!

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Little Hercules should not be confused with:

Sky Bird

The Sky Bird was Little Hercules' one-man airplane which he built himself. He used this plane to transport his Dynopop to Washington D.C. The foreign agents who were after the Dynopop fastened a bomb to the tail of the Sky Bird; when the bomb during Little Hercules' flight, the tail of the plane was destroyed and Little Hercules was forced to make a crash landing.







--Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9

images: (without ads, as reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery Comics Vol.2, 2010)
Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9, p1, pan4 (Little Hercules, main)
Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9, p2, pan5 (Little Hercules, closeup)
Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9, p3, pan1 (Sky Bird)

Appearances:
Daring Mystery Comics I#5/9 (June, 1940) Bud Sagendorf (script, pencils, inks), Martin Goodman (editor)

First posted: 07/29/2020
Last updated: 07/29/2020

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!
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