SPACE TURNIP

Real Name: Arthur Winslow/Phelch

Identity/Class: Human mutate/Extra-terrestrial (unnamed race)

Occupation: Former security guard, would-be science fiction writer

Affiliations: Beverly Switzler (former roommate) 

Enemies: Howard the Duck

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Turnip-Man, Garden-Fresh Guardian of the Good

Base of Operations: Cleveland, Ohio

First Appearance: Howard the Duck I#2 (March, 1976)

Powers: As the Space-Turnip, Winslow could fly, levitate objects the size of a bus, generate background music, and fire destructive energy blasts.  Phelch possessed telepathic powers and could merge with another being in a form of symbiosis.  Winslow, as a security guard, presumably possessed at least minimal training in hand-to-hand combat and use of a firearm.

History: (Howard the Duck I#2) - Phelch was a member of an ancient race of sentient vegetables.  Overcoming the limits of their roots, the vegetables evolved into space-spanning overachievers.  Unfortunately, they met their doom when in their vanity, they failed to pick themselves at the first cosmic frost.  Phelch, in the form of a turnip, was the sole survivor and wandered the trackless void of space for eons, searching for a more efficient body to frame its superior intellect and incomparable power.  Phelch eventually crash-landed on Earth, where, although the bulk of it was burnt up in the atmosphere, it encountered Arthur Winslow.

Arthur Winslow was a would-be author who dreamed of living the life of a fictional hero, along the lines of the Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, James Bond, or Buck Rogers.  His fictional stories of that genre were rejected, because they were out of fashion.  Instead he was forced to become a security guard to pay his bills.  He spent seven uneventful months in that position before encountering Phelch, having freshly crash-landed on Earth.

Phelch convinced Winslow to allow a merger, enabling him to become the super-hero he'd always wanted to be.  As Turnip-Man he saved the lives of a busload of people whose bus had driven off of a bridge as a result of a scuffle between Howard the Duck and the Kidney Lady. 

When Winslow's friend and roommate, Beverly Switzler recognized him, Phelch took over their combined form in order to experience physical pleasure.  The Space Turnip grabbed Beverly and took her to Sunset Slope.  Howard, following advice from the Kidney Lady, tracked them and confronted the Space Turnip in battle.  Howard, figuring "the brains are in the greens," tore the leaves and stem from Turnip-Man.  The Space Turnip pulled Howard high into the air planning to drop and crush him, but Howard succeeded in maneuvering it too close to a smokestack, where it was destroyed. Arthur was left none the worse for wear, and apparently powerless.

(Howard the Duck II#1/3) - Later, during a confrontation between Howard, the Kidney Lady, and a cab driver, Arthur was present and had a passing moment of deja vu, but nothing came of it.

(Civil War: Choosing Sides) - Winslow seemingly regained Turnip-Man's powers, and was in the line to register at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Howard the Duck was present in a nearby queue, but they didn't interact.

Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Frank Brunner.

Space Turnip was actually used to refer to Phelch, while Turnip-Man was the name of their merged form.  I just think Space Turnip has a nicer ring to it.

Grant Rybicki, the Continental Op, adds: 
Arthur Winslow was Steve Gerber's semi-parody of Marvel writer Don McGregor.  It's also worth noting that Bizarre Adventures#34 features another quasi-appearance of Winslow.  In a parody of the film It's a Wonderful Life, Howard the Duck is shown an alternate reality where Arthur and other people from his past are all happier and more prosperous as a result of never having met him.

In Civil War: Choosing Sides, it's likely Space Turnip had actually gone to comply with the Superhuman Registration Act, but like Howard the Duck, he'd gone to the wrong part of the building.
--Loki

Profile updated/edited by Kyle Sims

CLARIFICATIONS: The Space Turnip should not be confused with:

Appearances:
Howard the Duck I#2 (March, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Frank Brunner (pencils), Jim Starlin (layout assistant), Steve Leialoha (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Howard the Duck II#1 (October, 1979) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Dave Simons (inks), Rick Marshall (editor)
Civil War: Choosing Sides (February, 2007) - Ty Templeton (writer), Roger Langridge (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 09/09/2001
Last Updated: 05/12/2012

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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