GREGGY GHOST
Real Name: Gregory "Greggy" Ghost
Identity/Class: Humanoid ghost (late 1940s era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Junior,
Squeemy Skeleton
Enemies: Winnie Witch
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Ghost Town,
USA;
formerly Pleasantville, USA
First Appearance: Kid Komics I#11/3
(Summer, 1946)
Powers/Abilities: Like others of his
particular ilk, Greggy Ghost is invisible and requires a white sheet to
be seen (and to haunt); sheets are regularly washed to stay
ultra-white. Ghosts of his type can suddenly "disappear and reappear"
by simply pulling their sheet up over their head, their bodies
naturally bending light around them and anything immediately close to
them, such as clothing. Sheets also serve a psychological purpose so
they can see themselves and others. Culturally, these Ghosts can adorn
themselves with individual body attire, although Greggy needs
spectacles. Ghosts can be bruised by a hit although it is unrevealed if
anything could be truly lethal to a Ghost. While these Ghosts can
levitate, squeeze through keyholes and roar, Greggy has not learned
these, despite studying books; his introverted nature generally keeps
him away from crowds and he is especially scared of humans. Most of
these Ghosts have a limited stretching ability, if only in the short
term; however, in his quest to exercise Ghost powers, Greggy
unwittingly demonstrates slightly more elasticity than most others.
Height: 4'
Weight: 0 lbs. (without sheet) (?)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Bald (white curl that's
part of his body)
History:
(Kid Komics I#11/3) - Someone was stealing soap from
the nearby soap factory and the police offered a reward of bone polish.
Greggy Ghost's bony friend Squeemy Skeleton was keen for the prize and
duped his pal into investigating. Once inside the factory, their
reluctance and friendly bickering increased their fear, and the
villainous Winnie Witch almost eluded them. But the duo nabbed the soap
stealer and forced her to the police. Greggy fainted at the revised
reward, which was a ticket to New York, as he was scared of people.
(Comedy Comics I#33/7) - Eager to
learn more skills
of being a ghost, Greggy followed small Junior to Pleasantville Haunt
School.
The small building hid a fast lift to a large basement where many
ghosts went to stone rooms. There he met Squeemy, who tried to help
Greggy squeeze through a keyhole, but the young ghost couldn't make it
through, partly stuck on the apparent impossible physics of it. Squeemy
directed Greggy to a hall of mirrors to try out scary faces. A funhouse
mirror distorted his features so much that it boosted his confidence
thinking he appeared scary, so he went back to the surface and tried
unsuccessfully scaring a little girl. Instead, she made a funny face at
Greggy and he dashed off scared. He later passed by the School, gruff
and frustrated with himself.
(All Surprise Comics#11/6) - Now in Ghost
Town, Greggy settled in for a quiet night alone reading, but got a call
assigning him to haunt a house. Concerned he might encounter people,
Greggy asked Squeemy to accompany him (although Squeemy was a little
scared when he discovered a dog when they got there). The dog turned
out to be friendly and Greggy crept around the house, scaring small
creatures like mice, moths and a goldfish while Greggy relaxed.
However, the residents returned, scaring Greggy to hide, but the dog,
madly fighting a cat inside a sheet, rolled past. Indignant when the
couple deemed there were no ghosts, Greggy confronted them, pulling a
funny face, but the tenants just brushed him outside with a broom
thinking him another animal in a sheet. Later back home, Greggy
reported a successful haunting over the phone, his butt still aching
from where he'd been hit by the broom.
(Funny Frolics#5/2) - Greggy was initially excited
that the Tingling Bros. Circus had come to town, but then grew sad as
he had never won anything at the major contest because his ghost skills
were so poor. Junior suddenly appeared, showing off his sudden
disappearing/reappearing trick. Greggy asked Junior to teach him, so
Junior jokingly showed bizarre contortions and Greggy was fooled,
thinking that was the correct method. That night, a crowd of "creeps"
and "phantoms" arrived to see the spectacle of tricks and Greggy hoped
to show off his disappearing act, even though he hadn't achieved it. On
the center stage, many acts passed, including Squeemy, but Greggy was
the last called up. Angry at waiting, he almost missed the call. Once
on stage, Greggy contorted himself into a knot trying to disappear
until the laughing Junior confessed it was a gag. It took several hours
to untie the ghost. Greggy was awarded the "Booby Prize" and the
humiliated Greggy chased after Junior.
Comments: Creators not credited.
The book Greggy was reading in All Surprise Comics#11/6 was "The Rover Boys", which he considered "a horror story." In reality, "The Rover Boys" was a popular American book series published in the early 1900s and featured three Rover brothers (and later their sons), all extroverted, adventurous, flirtatious pranksters who caused trouble, including for criminals; behavior completely foreign to Greggy.
In the grand contest in Funny Frolics#5/2, Ghosts
demonstrate remarkable feats of strength (one lifts 1,000,000 lbs.)
while another shows extreme facial elasticity, and earlier in the
school, it seems Greggy is partly prevented from fully squeezing
through a keyhole because he thinks the physics doesn't match up. As
such, I'd suggest that these Ghosts' powers may be derived/enhanced
from self-belief or self-confidence. Are Greggy's achievements limited
by his self-confidence and accepting that he can do what other Ghosts
can?
Despite both living in Ghost Town (there's probably
more than one in the USA), Greggy Ghost is physically different to Homer Ghost
(published 1955 and another big-name comedy ghost character in Marvel's
character stable), so they're unlikely to be related. At any rate
comedic ghosts proved popular for a
while, especially after the cartoon Caspar the Friendly Ghost in 1945
(later a Harvey comic in 1952).
Thanks to the Grand Comics Database for indicia info & release dates.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Greggy the Ghost has no known connections to:
Junior was a young ghost and a fast learner in the
skills of being a ghost, such as squeezing through keyholes, floating
and
suddenly disappearing. Junior was the one who encouraged Greggy Ghost
to attend Pleasantville Haunt School. Later, junior spotted Greggy at a
traveling circus and showed off his disappearing trick. Wishing he had
some ghosting skills, Greggy asked Junior to show him how, but the
mischievous Junior pretended it was a bizarre set of contortions. Later
on the big stage, Greggy tried the contorting moves but just ended up
in a knot and the audience, including Junior, laughed at Greggy.
--Comedy Comics I#33/7 (Funny Frolics#5/2
Winnie Witch was the soap stealer from a factory near the creepy town of Pleasantville, apparently hoarding it as she liked taking baths. This affected the local population considerably so a small reward was placed for her capture. Keen to capture her and claim the reward, Squeemy Skeleton duped his friend Greggy Ghost into catching her. She distracted the duo with a falling soap bar and almost escaped, but the pair nabbed her and they took her to the police where she was quickly jailed.
Why she was called Witch is unrevealed
as she displayed no magical powers.
--Kid Komics I#11/3
images:
(without ads)
Funny Frolics#5/2, p3, pan2 (main image)
Comedy Comics I#33/7, p8, pan2 (headshot)
Comedy Comics I#33/7, p6, pan2 (stuck in keyhole)
Comedy Comics I#33/7, p3, pan5 (Junior)
Kid Komics I#11/3, p6, pan4 (Winnie Witch)
Appearances:
Kid Komics I#11/3 (Summer, 1946) - uncredited writer, uncredited
artist(s), Stan Lee (editor)
Comedy Comics I#33/7 (August-September, 1946) - uncredited writer,
uncredited artist(s), uncredited editor
All Surprise Comics#11/6 (Fall, 1946) - uncredited writer, uncredited
artist(s), uncredited editor
Funny Frolics#5/2 (December, 1946) - uncredited writer, uncredited
artist(s), uncredited editor
First posted: 09/06/2025
Last updated:
09/06/2025
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!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com.
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix!