THE MERRY MALADIES

Membership: Beastmaniac, Captain Sheepdog, Elmer Strange, Hawky, Rawhide Le Pew, Ringo Gonzales, Thor O. Coyote, Victor the Martian)

Purpose: Defeating the Loonies

Affiliations: Shadowcat (creator) and the rest of Excalibur (Captain Britain, Lockheed, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix [Rachel Summers], Widget)

Enemies: Arcade, Loonies

Base of Operations: Murderworld in Britain

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1 (mid December, 1989)

History:
(Marvel Comics Presents I#32/1 - Marvel Comics Presents I#37/1 - BTS) - Shadowcat found and reprogrammed the Merry Maladies like she did with Rochester or she built them with the technology of Murderworld.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1) - When the Loonies jumped into the castle to attack Excalibur, Shadowcat brought in her special precaution: The Merry Maladies. They pummeled the Loonies and Excalibur got the chance to fly away in a hot air balloon.

Comments: Created by Michael Higgins and Erik Larson

There were a lot more spoofs in this storyline than the Looney Tunes characters.

The names used for the members of the Merry Maladies became official in Marvel Atlas#1.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

Profile updated/edited by Kyle Sims using info from Will U

CLARIFICATIONS: The Merry Maladies should not be confused with:

Victor the Martian is based on the Warner Bros character Marvin the Martian and should not be confused with:

Elmer Strange is based on the Warner Bros character Elmer Fudd and should not be confused with:

Beastmaniac is based on the Warner Bros character the Tasmanian Devil and should not be confused with:

Ringo Gonzales is based on the Warner Bros character Speedy Gonzales and should not be confused with:

Rawhide Le Pew is based on the Warner Bros character Pepe Le Pew and should not be confused with:

Captain Sheepdog is based on the Warner Bros character Sam Sheepdog and should not be confused with:

Hawky is based on the Warner Bros character Henry Hawk and should not be confused with:

Thor O. Coyote is based on the Warner Bros character Wile E. Coyote and should not be confused with:

List of Spoofs

Captain Britain met in his illusion:

Meggan met in her program:

Nightcrawler met in his program:

Phoenix met in her program:

Lockheed and Widget met in their program:

I also recognized KFC Spokesman Colonel Sanders, the Katzenjammer kids and several other characters from my Grandfather's Sunday Comics pages. I think Nightcrawler's cage is a spoof of the popular Roddy McDowell episode of the Twilight Zone. --Will U

End sequence notations by Loki:


Victor the Martian

He had a ray-gun and used it against Billy Bird, shooting Bird right through the head.  He wasn't given a name but he wore the colors of Dr. Doom and so I named him Victor the Martian.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 

 

 

 

 


Elmer Strange

He flew through the sky with the mystic cloak of Fudd and shot Guns Gummy right into the butt with a powerful magical blast.  He made Guns jump around.  He wasn't given a name but he wore a cloak like Dr. Strange and so I named him Elmer Strange.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 


Beastmaniac

He hit the Ham so hard, that he flew through the whole room.  He wasn't named either but I didn't get the point which Marvel Character was taken to give him a personality so I just named him Beastmaniac for no good reason.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 

 


Ringo Gonzales

He tied up Southpaw like a cow after he was taken down by Rawhide Le Pew.  The mouse wasn't given a name but he looked like an old Western hero and so I named him Ringo Gonzales.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 


Rawhide Le Pew

He took down Southpaw with a shot from his finger.  Probably smelled a lot because Southpaw really looked sick afterwards.  The skunk wasn't given a name but he looked like an old Western hero and so I named him Rawhide Le Pew.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1


Captain Sheepdog

The star-spangled dog lifted the Rooster up and gave it to him.  A "D" for dog on the costume, a winged mask with a star and no name was given.  I named him Captain Sheepdog.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 


Hawky

Cap needed a partner to sit on the head of Rooster Cockburn and peck it.  Like the others the hawk was left nameless.  I gave him the name Hawky.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 


Thor O. Coyote

The hammer ACME hit Tailgunner hard on his head while the coyote smiled.  No name was given but he had a hammer and a helmet with wings, so I named him Thor O. Coyote.

Marvel Comics Presents I#38/1

 

 

 

 


images: (without ads)
Marvel Comics Presents I#38, p5, bottom right panel (main image)

p6 (Victor the Martian)
p6-7 (Elmer Strange)
p6-7 (Beastmaniac)
p7 (Ringo Gonzales)
p7 (Rawhide Le Pew)
p7 (Captain Sheepdog)
p7 (Hawkey)
p7 (Thor O. Coyote)


Appearances:
Marvel Comics Presents I#38 (December, 1989) - Michael Higgins (writer), Erik Larsen (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)


First Posted: 01/15/2004
Last updated: 02/28/2019

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.
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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