Hop Harrigan
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox comics character
|image = Hop Harrigan.jpg
|caption =Hop Harrigan as depicted in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #10 (December 1985). Art by Terry Beatty.
|character_name = Hop Harrigan
|real_name = Hop Harrigan
|publisher = DC Comics
|debut = All-American Comics #1 (April 1939)
|creators = Jon Blummer
|alliances =
|aliases = The Guardian Angel; Black Lamp
|powers = Aviation
}}
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 comic book character in 1940s, during the events of World War II.
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.{{cite book|last=Wallace|first= Daniel|last2=Dolan|first2=Hannah, ed.|chapter= 1930s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9|page= 24|quote = 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 web|url= http://www.toonopedia.com/harrigan.htm|title= Hop Harrigan|first= Don|last= Markstein|date= 2005|website= Don Markstein's Toonopedia|archive-url= https://archive.today/20240527172616/https://www.webcitation.org/6f3wXPT8I?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/harrigan.htm|archive-date= 2024-05-27|url-status= live|quote= Hop was introduced in All-American's first release, appropriately titled All-American Comics #1, which was dated April 1939.}} He was a recurring character, 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.{{cite news |title=Mike's Amazing World of Comics |url=http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/character.php?page=appearances&characterid=31 |access-date=27 March 2020 |work=www.mikesamazingworld.com}}
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.{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=75}}
==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 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.{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Roy |title=The All-Star Companion: Vol 2 |date=2006 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1893905375 |page=85}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=124}}
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.{{cite web |publisher=Grand Comics Database |title=All-American Comics #78 |url=http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=5366 |access-date=8 September 2009}}
=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.Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 #2 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 returned 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.Batman: The Brave and the Bold vol. 2 #3
In other media
- Hop Harrigan appears in a self-titled radio series, voiced by Chester Stratton.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn |url-access=registration |last=Dunning|first=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/n349 328]|edition=Revised|access-date=2019-11-17}}
- Hop Harrigan appears in a self-titled film serial, portrayed by William Bakewell.{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/3468/William-Bakewell|title=William Bakewell|website=The New York Times|access-date=September 28, 2024|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325143512/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/3468/William-Bakewell|archive-date=March 25, 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.toonopedia.com/harrigan.htm Hop Harrigan] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [https://archive.today/20240527172616/https://www.webcitation.org/6f3wXPT8I?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/harrigan.htm Archived] from the original on February 5, 2016.
- [http://www.comics.org/character/name/Hop%20Harrigan/sort/chrono/ Hop Harrigan] at the Grand Comics Database.
{{DC Comics War Titles|state=collapsed}}
{{GoldenAge|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrigan, Hop}}
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1939
Category:All-American Publications characters
Category:Golden Age superheroes
Category:1940s American radio programs
Category:Mutual Broadcasting System programs
Category:DC Comics military personnel
Category:DC Comics superheroes
Category:Fictional World War II veterans