Hop Harrigan

Hop Harrigan (also known as The Guardian Angel and Black Lamp) is a fictional character published by All-American Publications. He appeared in American comic books, radio serials and film serials. He was created by Jon Blummer, and was a popular hero originally through the 1940s, during the events of World War II.

Hop Harrigan
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAll-American Comics #1 (April 1939)
Created byJon Blummer
In-story information
Alter egoHop Harrigan
Notable aliasesThe Guardian Angel; Black Lamp
AbilitiesNone (though Hop does have excellent aviation skills)

Publication history

The character first appeared in the anthology comic book series All American Comics #1 (April 1939) by the All-American Publications publishing company, as one of the early aviation heroes in comic history.[1][2] He was a recurring character by the publishing company appearing in many magazines including anthology magazines like All-Flash, All-Star Comics, Green Lantern, Mutt & Jeff, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade, Sensation Comics and Flash Comics.[3]

For a brief period in 1941, Blummer considered turning Hop Harrigan into a superhero, as many other strips were converting to follow the new trend. Harrigan appeared in costume from March to July, and then Blummer dropped the idea.[4]

Fictional summary

Hop Harrigan had been orphaned by his father, a legendary pilot, who disappeared on a flight to South America to see his wife. Hop's story begins with him being raised by his neighbor, the cruel farmer Silas Crane, who gets legal guardianship of him in order to obtain Hop's inheritance.

When Hop Harrigan is a teenager, Crane tries to destroy a biplane that had once been in the possession of Hop's father. Seeing this, Hop angrily knocks the old man to the ground and escapes in the biplane, not planning to return. He arrives at an airport where he saves the life of mechanic Tank Tinker, who became his friend and companion.[5] Tank gives Harrigan his nickname when he said, "Some hop, Harrigan".

Later, Hop, Tank and Prop Wash (the pilot who accidentally endangers Tank), along with help from an heiress (who later becomes Hop's girlfriend), set up the All-American Aviation Company, and they have a variety of exciting adventures. Hop briefly takes on the costumed identity of the Guardian Angel.[6]

By the time World War II comes, as with most other comics of the time, the Hop Harrigan comic has World War II themed adventures as Hop, Tank and Prop join the US Army Air Corps in service of the war effort.

Shortly after the war, the character appears for a while under the alias the Black Lamp.[7]

21st century

Hop Harrigan returns in the pages of Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 #1-3 when a mysterious package containing a ring & a map with the secret message 'Save Me' is sent to Clark Kent, who as Superman travels to the coordinates, finding a hidden mountain fortress known as the Eidos Citadel. After infiltrating the citadel, Superman is incapacitated within a Kryptonite dungeon with Harrigan, who apparently hasn't aged. Harrigan reveals he and Tank crashed while pursuing a villain named Robomb, and while Hop survived, Tank perished from his injuries in the crash.[8] The capture of Harrigan and Superman is revealed to be the plot of Dr. Anthelme, who intend to erase Superman from the memory of the world the same way he erased Harrigan (who at the time of his disappearance had a popular TV series including toy 'decoder rings' that fans would wear). While Superman is being tortured by Anthelme, Harrigan uses the ring retuned to him by Superman to escape, rescuing a still-weak Superman from Anthelme before taking off in a plane. However, it is revealed that he has forgotten how to fly due to manipulation from Dr. Anthelme and the plane crashes in the ocean. Superman survives, but with no memory of Harrigan or even what he was doing before being rescued by a cargo ship.[9]

Media adaptations

On radio, Hop Harrigan was broadcast on ABC from August 31, 1942, until August 2, 1946, and on Mutual from October 2, 1946, until February 6, 1948.[10] Charles Stratton appeared in the title role with Ken Lynch as Tank. Lynch was later replaced by Jackson Beck, voice actor for Bluto (Popeye), King Leonardo and Perry White (Superman). Mitzi Gould played Hop's girlfriend, Gail Nolan. One of the writers for this series was noir novelist David Goodis.

The Hop Harrigan 15-chapter movie serial (March 28, 1946) was produced by Columbia Pictures with William Bakewell as Hop and Sumner Getchell as Tank.

Hop Harrigan is mentioned as a childhood bully of Sylvester Pemberton in Season 2 Episode 10 of Stargirl. Pemberton, appearing in a flashback, recounts how Harrigan beat him up and stole a watch that he believed was given to him by his parents but was instead secretly left for him by Pat Dugan.

See also

References
  1. Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1930s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Edited by Sheldon Mayer, the title contained newspaper reprints and puzzle pages alongside original material such as Mayer's own 'Scribbly'...The features 'Hop Harrigan' and 'Red, White, and Blue' also debuted in this issue. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Markstein, Don (2005). "Hop Harrigan". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on 2016-02-05. Hop was introduced in All-American's first release, appropriately titled All-American Comics #1, which was dated April 1939.
  3. "Mike's Amazing World of Comics". www.mikesamazingworld.com. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 978-1605490892.
  5. Thomas, Roy (2006). The All-Star Companion: Vol 2. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1893905375.
  6. Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  7. "All-American Comics #78". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  8. Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 #2
  9. Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 #3
  10. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
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