ZELDA
Real Name: Zelda Witch
Identity/Class: Human magic user (1950s era) (see
comments)
Occupation: Witch, adventurer
Group Membership: Ghost Gang, Witches' Union
Affiliations: Alice, Annie, Dugan, Genie in a bottle (loose), Homer Ghost,
Gobby Goblin, Goldplate,
Invisible Irwin, Joe the Genii (loose), Little
John, "Martian"
monocycle pair (Ooog,
one
other), Melvin,
Robin Hood, Stringbean
Enemies: Bank
Robber Brown
and his two thugs,
Black
Witch, Bongo
Brothers,
Dan [DeCarlo], Doctor
Doom, Gorilla
Grogan, Stan
[Lee],
Mad
Scientist, "Martian"
bipedal pair, Monstro,
Redbeard and his pirate gang, Robert the Robber (loose), Sheriff of
Nottingham, Tony
Toughguy
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile, notably around
Ghost Town, USA
First Appearance: Homer the Happy Ghost I#1/1
(March, 1955)
Powers/Abilities: Good-natured Zelda is a
powerful witch
with excellent spell-casting abilities, but due to forgetfulness, she
is reliant in magic texts to cast the spells. She
can instantly summon creatures, transfix, levitate, become intangible
and adjust the
molecules in her body so that she stretch her appendages, although she
rarely uses this latter skill, possibly due to the strain. She has a
magical broom that is linked to her thoughts and can fly through the
air, carrying her through the air at speeds up to 40 mph, although the
upper limits have not been tested. Due to her age (over 600 years old),
Zelda relaxes a lot
and can be careless. She is self-conscious about her distinct visage
and is quick to anger at insults about her looks. She is fond of fairy
tales and watching boxing matches.
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: Black
Hair: White
History:
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/13 (fb) - BTS) -
Zelda's
origins are unrevealed, but she is an aged and skillful witch, and
became a member of the Witches' Union; membership required regular
spell-casting, being nasty and alienating people.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#1/1) - Newly arrived in
Ghost Town (populated
by ghosts and not far from a human city), Homer
Ghost went out to make friends and first encountered the belligerent
bully
Dugan,
dim-witted Melvin, Invisible Irwin and the scatter-brained witch Zelda.
Zelda showed off a spell by summoning a fire-breathing dragon, but
forgot how to get rid of it. Thinking she had the correct spell, she
instead summoned a second friendly dragon and the two creatures
wandered off.
Zelda commanded her magic broom to go home, but forgot to sit on the
broom, so it flew off by itself.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#1/3) -
Homer and Dugan came
across Zelda, weeping that Gobby Goblin had stolen her flying
broomstick. Homer and Dugan pursued Gobby
to the city and played a trick to retrieve the broom and return it to
Zelda, but she was annoyed that their trick allowed Gobby to convince
the city folk that he was a TV star.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#2/2) - Homer and Dugan
watched
Zelda mix a concoction in her cauldron, only to discover it was
vegetable
soup!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#2/10) - Zelda caused a small ruckus among the gang when she found a treasure map, but Gobby grabbed it and streaked ahead selfishly. After Zelda fumbled two spells, they chose her broomstick to pursue Gobby but scared city folk, and all ended up at the U.S. Mint at Fort Knox. They left the gold behind and on the journey home on Zelda's broomstick, they agreed that being an American was the greatest treasure!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#3/2) - Flying on her broom,
Zelda stopped at a gas service station and asked the helpful attendant
to trim her broom's bristles. Frightened, the attendant ran off,
leaving Zelda confused.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#3/11) -
Tipped off by Zelda,
Homer, Dugan and Melvin used Zelda's broomstick to investigate a flying
saucer and discovered two lost bipedal "Martians" (the aliens' generic
term for
extraterrestrials). The Martians took them for a quick ride but stole
Zelda's broomstick for its value. Homer angrily phased in and took the
broomstick back; the two groups parted ways.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/3) - Homer and Dugan
watched as Zelda tried a new magic trick and summoned a magical
servant, but Joe
the Genii was a giant burly worker unable to perform magic feats
himself --
instead he charged by the hour. They couldn't escape him, even flying
on Zelda's broomstick, so Homer came up with an idea and got him a job
as a wrestler.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/8) - Gobby Goblin
interrupted Zelda's spellcasting and duplicitously sold her a new
spell, but it was just the letters that spelled the word "cat".
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/10) - Excited by a rodeo
show coming to town starring Tex Yewall, the Ghost Gang (Homer, Dugan,
Irwin, Melvin, Zelda) rushed to the stadium, although Zelda had to stop
at a red traffic light on her flying broom. Zelda and Melvin sat in the
grandstand as Dugan and Homer snuck into the to ride a bucking bronco.
But the animals and
crowd were
soon spooked by the playful ghosts and witch, and the stadium emptied.
The gang
went home on the back of a tamed bull.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#5/9) - Homer tossed around
an
idea to create a local circus with his friends; Zelda had a spell
mishap and conjured a miniature giant that was the size an ordinary man.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#5/11) - Homer and Irwin took Zelda bowling, but the witch misunderstood all the rules and used magic, and they baffled several onlookers.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#6/3) - Zelda was upset
because Gobby the Goblin stole Zelda's magic book of spells. Homer
and Melvin confronted Gobby but he refused to return it. In the end,
the magic book defended itself by
whacking Gobby and flying back to Zelda.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#6/5) - Zelda invited Homer
and Dugan to dinner. Greedy Dugan mistakenly downed a bowl of dishwater
thinking it was soup while Zelda was in the kitchen, then ran off ill.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#7/2) - A small masquerade
party was held in Ghost Town. Poppa Ghost awarded Zelda with the best
mask; insulted, she bashed him with the trophy as she wasn't
wearing a mask!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#7/10) -
Homer, Dugan and
Melvin rushed to see Zelda's latest invention: a story-tale machine,
which brought stories to life. Homer chose Sinbad the Sailor and
instantly the storybook Sinbad appeared carried by the giant Roc bird.
After
introductions, Zelda and the ghosts took him to his ship.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#8/3) - Homer invited his
friends to meet his rich seafaring Uncle Goldplate and they went for a
quick sea trip on his yacht. But Redbeard and his
fellow pirates attacked, firing cannons. The ghosts and Zelda flew over
and fought back by damaging their foes' boat, much to the pirates'
shock and the villains surrendered.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#8/8) - Homer encouraged
Zelda
to get a new hat, so she went off shopping in the city. She disliked
every new design until she finally found one she really liked (actually
her old hat). The flustered salesman sold it to her cheap and she left
happy with her "new" hat!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#9/1) -
Homer,
Dugan, Melvin and Zelda went to a baseball game between the Lions and
Eagles
at the local city stadium. Zelda was baffled by the game and caused
many supernatural interruptions on field, particularly flying on her
broomstick. Homer encouraged them to all
leave quickly before tensions rose further.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#9/9) - Zelda hinted to
Homer,
Melvin and Dugan that she wanted the special lipstick advertised in
shop signage as a birthday gift, but the boys mistakenly bought the
lipstick signboard for her instead.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#9/10) - Zelda and Melvin
joined Homer in hunting bear with his new shotgun. They soon found one
and, very scared and each fumbling with gun, they
fled on foot before climbing a tree. The bear followed but fell while
the others levitated. The bear swiftly recovered and just wanted to be
friends, and the trio rode on the bear's back for everyone's enjoyment.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#10/1) - Homer took his
shotgun on a jungle expedition to shoot beavers to make his mother a
fur coat. Keen for adventure, Zelda and the Ghost Gang joined him, but
ran from
various dangers including wild carnivorous animals and cannibals, until
they found a cute beaver. But Homer Homer was unable to bring himself
to shoot it and took it home as a pet instead.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#10/4) - Zelda bought a
beauty mud pack from a flattering salesman. She wanted more but the
store was sold out; meanwhile, Homer and Dugan
were packing
mud in the backyard, unable to keep up with the store's demand.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#10/10) - Gobby and two of
his
bullying goblin pals decided to kick out all the ghosts from Ghost Town
and claim it as their own and sent a home-built robot to wreak
havoc. At Homer's suggestion, Zelda magically created a more powerful
robot that dismantled the goblins' robot and dumped it before the
goblins.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#11/1) - Homer, Melvin,
Dugan
and Zelda were chatting about the fairytale Jack and the Giant
Beanstalk when an old man sold Homer magic beans. Planting them,
the
beanstalk shot up and took them up to the giant's kingdom in the cloud,
where the
son proposed to Zelda but wanted to cage the ghosts. They escaped with
Zelda. Homer chopped down the beanstalk, but Zelda looked for the
man with the beans as she was attracted to the young giant's proposal.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#11/2) - The framisstat of
Zelda's broomstick broke and had to go in for repairs at a local
garage. Homer and Dugan
helpfully fashioned a
pogo stick from an old lawnmower. However, she lost control of the
device and caused havoc, so she claimed her old unready and unsteady
broom back. Homer and Dugan were unhappy that she rejected their help.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#11/4) - Zelda overheard two
pretty models complain about men winking at them and commented that she
must be more beautiful as men shut both eyes when they saw her.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#11/10) - Zelda, Melvin,
Dugan
and Gobby spotted Homer baking a cake at home. Once the gang found out
it was for $100 prize money, they all joined in; Zelda's magic effort
created a cake that looked spectacular but tasted disgusting. The Gang
created a huge mess
for which Homer received a spanking his mother. Homer still won
the competition, but they were stunned when they discovered the prize
was $100 worth of cakes.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#12/1) - Relaxing in the forest with Zelda, Dugan and Melvin, Homer chanced upon Robin Hood's bow and arrow and they were amazed when Robin Hood and Little John appeared. Zelda used magic to beat Robin Hood at a friendly accuracy contest.; Zelda and the ghosts helped the duo storm the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle, but discovering that Robin's paramour, Maid Marion, had grown obese waiting, Robin and Little John ran back to the forest followed by the surprised Ghost Gang.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#12/2) - Admiring
fancy-named perfumes in a department store, Zelda was approached by a
rude salesman who suggested a fragrance called "How To Get Along
Without Men" because he considered her ugly.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#12/7) - Homer, Dugan and
Zelda
chided Melvin after he was swindled buying a fake gold brick from a con
artist. But a passing reporter identified it as the missing uranium
brick wanted by an atomic lab with a huge reward. Hoping for the same
returns, Homer, Dugan and Zelda then called out seeking more fake gold
bricks to buy.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#13/1) - Homer showed Zelda,
Melvin, Dugan and Gobby a giant egg he had found. It hatched and
rapidly grew into a brontosaurus-type dinosaur, instantly taking to
Zelda as a mother figure. Unsure what to do with it and because it
responded to Zelda riding it, they put it in a
horse race; it won because of the chaos it caused. Zelda guided the
dinosaur to help the police open a safe, but found everyone was scared
of the creature. Eventually they
sold it to Ghost Town Amusement Park as part of a roller coaster track
and Zelda was happy with the cash.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#13/8) -
Outside her house,
Homer and Dugan were duped by Zelda into thinking she had a date that
evening because she had stolen a male mannequin for her window.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#13/9) - Initially frightened when they heard Bank Robber Brown and his two thugs were hiding out in Ghost Town, Homer, Melvin, Dugan and Zelda found bravery when they heard of the reward. Finding the thieves in a "haunted" house, the gang deliberately scared the crooks toward the police, but missed the reward when they were scared by a fluttering sheet.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#14/1) - Discussing flying saucers, Homer, Dugan, Melvin and Zelda were shocked when two "Martians" (Ooog plus one other) in a flying saucer (X-13) suddenly arrived. These Martians' lower parts were monocycles; friendly, they took the Earthlings to Mars, revealing a society where Martians weren't afraid of anything--except ghosts. When Ooog found out his guests' true nature, he quickly returned them to Earth.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#14/2) - Zelda went to a
photographer's studio to her personalized picture taken, but the
photographer thought her best angle was from behind where her face was
hidden.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#14/5 [coloring page]) -
Zelda
was impressed that Homer was reading ghost stories while Dugan admitted
they scared him.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#14/10) - Homer discovered a
Genie in a bottle.
The Genie obeyed Homer's commands, including bringing his friends
together and
bringing fun rides, but considered making Zelda beautiful an impossible
task. However, the Genie demanded a hefty fee for his work, so
Homer slyly made one last request and locked him inside the bottle
again, throwing it onto a passing goods train.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/1) - In the city, Homer, Dugan, Melvin and Zelda heard from roving police that the criminal Tony Toughguy was on the loose. They chanced upon him in disguise and were fooled, but still unwittingly helped in his arrest.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/3) - Homer found Zelda crying on the street. She revealed she won first prize for best mask at a masquerade ball, but she hadn't worn a mask to the event!
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/4) - Homer, Dugan, Melvin and Zelda supernaturally sneaked into a cinema to watch the movie Moby Dick from atop a chandelier. Inspired, Zelda suggested they travel out to sea to find a real whale and were eaten whole by a real white sperm whale. Through trickery, Homer had the whale return them home, beaching itself. To avoid fishing fines, Homer had to adopt the whale as a pet.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/7) - Dugan challenged Melvin, Homer, Alice, Zelda and Gobby to a race around Ghost Town to determine the fastest. They were surprised to find Homer at the finish line ahead of them until he revealed he chose not to race.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/10) - Dugan, Melvin, Gobby and Zelda were surprised to find Homer reading fairy tales; Zelda declared she loved fairy tales. Homer later fell asleep while reading Sleeping Beauty and struggled to escape a dangerous dream adventure. Homer eschewed fairy tales to the confusion of his returning friends.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/12) - Zelda was surprised to see Alice at the dance with Dugan instead of Homer, but Alice had unwittingly tired out Homer with too many chores.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#15/1) - Broke, the Ghost
Gang
(Homer, Dugan, Melvin, Zelda) answered a newspaper ad from a fraternity
to haunt a house as part of an initiation for a new student. They
instead scared witless a new door-to-door salesman for Live Magazine as
the student never showed, so the ghosts were never paid.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#15/7) - Homer called Melvin
and Dugan to join him watching Zelda prepare what he thought was a
powerful spell, but she was just using new soap to clean her clothes!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#15/11) - Dugan found an old
stove abandoned in a vacant lot. He took it for cookouts with his
friends, but thought he needed coal. Homer, Melvin and Zelda joined him
on an
adventure to find a coal, but caused an explosion in a
coal mine. Despondent, they returned only to find it was an oil stove.
Dugan said he had that fuel, but the others were fed up and left.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/3) - The Ghost Gang saw a panicked man running in the street and Zelda hoped for romance if she rescued him. Instead, the mad scientist Doctor Doom fooled Homer, Dugan, Melvin and Zelda into helping him evade police. In his lab, he unveiled his destructive robot Monstro and sought to eliminate them to keep their silence, but realizing their supernatural nature, he fled. The Ghost Gang pursued and Zelda stopped him with a spell.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/4 [coloring page]) - Homer laughed at the notion that Melvin discovered a dinosaur egg, but it hatched behind him as Zelda and Dugan stood shocked.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/5) - Zelda went to
Club Creepy, hoping to enjoy the company of senior ghosts and witches,
but they didn't want to play cards with her as she had a reputation for
casting a spell on the cards so that she would always win. Instead this
time, she revealed she had made every card an ace to even it all up!
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/6)
- Homer, Melvin and
Gobby saw Zelda furiously stirring her cauldron, only to discover she
was cleaning her petticoat!
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/7) - Zelda encouraged Homer, Melvin and Dugan to join her on a rare-egg hunt, but they unwittingly claimed a golf ball, thinking it a prize egg.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/11) - Zelda rocketed and whirled in the air on her broomstick. She landed in a carnival, but refused a ticket on the roller coaster ride as she deemed them too dangerous.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/13) - The nasty Black Witch had been sent by the Witches' Union to replace Zelda as she was considered too nice, and she was cast off to Africa. Homer and Dugan rescued her and restored her faith in herself. Zelda outwitted the Black Witch and banished the villain, and the gang were happy again.
(Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/14) - Homer bought a camera, but everyone in the Ghost Gang wanted to be in the photo, therefore no one would take it. Homer returned it for tiddlywinks instead.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/1) - The fiendish Mad
Scientist sprinkled his shrinking powder randomly over people,
including Homer, Dugan, Melvin and Zelda. Despite her being small, the
broomstick still responded to Zelda and they gave chase. The villain
wasn't fooled by Homer
pretending to be his conscience. The fiend was nevertheless soon caught
and the powder's effects eventually wore off.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/2) - Gobby Goblin made
large demands to substitute for the absent Dugan before a baseball
match, pushing aside Zelda as batter; Homer reluctantly assented until
Dugan turned up.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/10) -
Homer was happy with
his camera, but became sad
when he realized he had no film in the camera, and told Zelda of his
plight.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/12) - Homer was
impressed
that Zelda won first prize cup in a beauty contest until she revealed
there hadn't been any other contestants.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/14) - Relaxing, Homer
pondered how good it would be to have a million dollars. Zelda cast a
spell to help out, but it yielded a map to the creepy Dead Man's Cave.
All were scared, but dug at the correct spot until they found the
treasure chest--which was empty. Zelda's spell called only for a chest,
not money. The ghosts left her in the hole they'd dug.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#17/3) - The Ghost Gang went
to see a prize fight and Zelda helped keep bullying spectators away
from their seats. The
opponent for the massive boxer Gorilla Grogan didn't show up, so Homer
volunteered. Zelda helped by directing her broom to thump Grogan while
Homer's other supernatural abilities helped him win the prize
money. The Gang sped home on Zelda's broomstick.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#17/4) - Zelda bought one
ticket to the cinema, insisting she only needed one seat, as her three
ghost friends (Homer, Dugan, Melvin) levitated in a stack above her.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#17/9) - Zelda went to a
cosmetics store, hoping for something to make her look even more
beautiful, but the rude saleswoman handed her a clown mask as the only
suggestion.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#17/13) - Homer, Dugan,
Melvin
and Alice made fun of Zelda for reading the "fairytale" Alice in Wonderland,
so the witch cast a spell that dropped them into a fantasy world where
they were faced various Wonderland threats
until they escaped back to the real world with Zelda. Trying to
reorient themselves, the ghosts took to reading, much to Zelda's
amusement.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/1) -
Unhappy with how
they
were being represented in their magazine, Homer, the Happy Ghost,
the Ghost Gang (Homer, Alice, Dugan, Melvin, Zelda) traveled to
Brooklyn to confront pretzel-munching Stan and golf-putting Dan. The
gang pushed their way into the office, their supernatural nature
shocking Stan and Dan, who didn't realize that the characters they
wrote and drew were real. Having said their piece, the gang flew out
the upper-story window.
Later, the Gang wondered if Stan and Dan knew how lucky they were to
receive advice from their characters (but the creative duo were being
chased by mental health workers with big nets!).
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/2) - Zelda told Homer
that
she was disappointed that her blind date was female, despite the date's
positive characteristics.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/4) - Homer, Dugan and
Zelda warned Melvin as he set off alone that a dangerous fugitive named
Robert the Robber was loose. Melvin obliviously led to his capture and
later met his friends for a soda.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/5) - A talent scout for
a
ghost movie role had the Ghost Gang excited, but they dismissed Dugan
as he
was too rough and dirty looking, but this was exactly what the scout
was looking for and Dugan got the part.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/6) - In order to attack
Zelda, the maleficent and power-hungry Black Witch cursed Zelda's
broomstick to do the opposite of what was asked of it. Homer, Alice,
Dugan
and Melvin warned Zelda, but it was too late and the Black Witch turned
Zelda to stone. Homer tricked the Black Witch
and made her reverse her spells. Although Zelda was forgiving, her
broomstick chased the villain away.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/7) - Ambitious Gobby
Goblin had to bring a ghost prisoner to his secret goblin society and
he almost hypnotized Homer for this, but Zelda came to Homer's aid by
reversing the hypnosis. To teach him a lesson, the Gang painted Gobby
white to look like ghost and sent him back to his secret clubhouse to
get in
further trouble.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#19/1) - Homer, Dugan,
Melvin
and Gobby discovered Zelda had secretly created a time machine in the
form of a telephone booth(!). She took them to ancient Rome, but
Dugan's rambunctious behavior brought an immediate death sentence from
the passing Julius Caesar. They escaped only to land in the arena
before fleeing back to the time machine and returning to their own
time. But then Caesar followed them out...!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#19/2) - Dugan challenged Homer to see who could fly the highest with Zelda the judge using a telescope. The two ghosts accidentally caused chaos with the Soviet satellite Noodnik. Meanwhile, Zelda and Gobby were distracted by radio reports of Martians knocking out a Soviet satellite and so couldn't give the ghosts a competition result.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#19/3) - Zelda walked scared
at night through the town streets and was accosted by a robber, who
told her to "reach for the sky!" Confused he was asking for tricks, she
stretched her arms about 10' long, at which the robber fainted.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#19/10) - Homer built a
lifelike snowman and Zelda, as a prank, cast a spell that made her
friends and nearby people think it was alive and wreaking havoc.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/1) - The Ghost Gang
(Homer, Dugan, Melvin, Zelda) discussed dragons and Dugan asserted they
didn't exist, so Zelda conjured one up to change
his mind. But the magical dragon proved too fierce and followed
them into the city until Zelda could magically banish it away. After
all that, Dugan still refused to believe in dragons!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/2) - Gobby was jealous
that the Ghost Gang had earned money to buy sodas, but his begging
caused
damage to the soda shop that he had to work to pay off.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/5) - Alice was hopeful
that Homer would ask her to a dance, but Zelda advised her to play hard
to get. After briefly doing so, Homer moved on to find another date.
Alice angrily chased Zelda away.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/8) -
Homer saw Zelda
arrive home excitedly with a long box. She told him it was a garage and
Homer remembered she only drove a broom!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/10) - Dugan, Homer and
Melvin pitched in to get Zelda a new book of magic spells for her
birthday, but it led to her unintentionally casting a chaotic
pinballing of extreme weather conditions that earned her a fine for
"spooking the weather without permission" from Officer White.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#21/1) - After a successful
prototype, Homer's friends (Dugan, Melvin, Stringbean, Gobby, Zelda)
were excited and
helped him make a larger moon rocket.
They zoomed up, thinking they were headed to
the moon, but instead landed in the Grand Canyon, Colorado, where they
mistook a local farmer for a moon-man until he corrected them. The
troop headed home frustrated.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#21/3) - Zelda showed off a movie camera she received for her birthday and the gang (Homer, Alice, Dugan, Melvin, Stringbean) wanted to appear in her home movies, performing awkward and exhausting tasks, until she revealed she hadn't yet put film in!
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#21/4) - Zelda went to
dating club seeking a handsome man. The man she was presented with
thought she was wearing a mask and so the insulted Zelda punched him
and flew off.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#21/9) -
Flying over New York
with his pals, Homer begged Zelda to turn him into a human so he could
experience it. Unsure, Zelda obliged and Homer's friends,
Dugan, Melvin and Gobby, helped where they could. Finding the
experience too straining, Homer
called for Zelda to return him to ghost form and they returned
home.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#22/1) - At the museum,
Homer,
Melvin and Zelda looked at dinosaur bones. Later, while digging for
worms for bait, Melvin found a large dinosaur egg; Zelda mocked him but
the egg hatched. The brontosaurus-type dinosaur grew rapidly and chased
the
trio into the city, causing panic, until Homer lured it out to sea and
onto a deserted island.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#22/2) - Zelda challenged
the
fastest ghost, the simple-minded Melvin, to a race watched by Homer,
but Zelda fooled Melvin into believing she had outrun him by staying at
the start/finish line.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#22/6) - Homer and Dugan
were
shocked to see Zelda badly injured until she revealed she tried flying
without her broomstick.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost I#22/9) - In their clubhouse,
the Ghost Gang listened to a radio
broadcast warning of dangerous jail escapees, the Bongo brothers, who
soon chose the clubhouse to hide from the police. The ghosts
surreptitiously signaled to police outside, but it was the ghosts'
supernatural nature and Zelda's magic broom that scared villains run
back to the
police. The Gang hoped for a reward, but instead received a fine for
having a club meeting without a license.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Dan DeCarlo.
Zelda the Witch looks and acts basically the same as Widjit Witch, one of the stars of Marvel/Timely's Comedy Comics (with extra appearances in other comedy titles) from the 1940s (including green skin and a sentient broomstick). So is this artistic witch continuity? Stan Lee is the writer-creator for both, but the artist-creator differs (Zelda's Dan DeCarlo vs. Widgit's Kin Platt). We know from Widjit's witch party in the Danny Demon story that witches do not look the same for that era. Are Zelda and Widjit related? In Comedy Comics I#32, Widjit Witch says "A. Witch" is her cousin to a startled doctor, so maybe Z. Witch (i.e., Zelda) is also a cousin. Personally, I think Marvel at that time wanted a familiar witch look but a new witch character for a new comedy book.
Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/3 (June, 1957) shows Zelda upset at coming 1st at a masquerade ball when she hadn't worn a mask. Maybe she was recalling the time in Homer, the Happy Ghost I#7/2 (March, 1956) when it happened at a small party hosted by Poppa Ghost, but Homer didn't indicate it related to that.
In the "meta" story in #18/1, where the Ghost Gang
meet their comic book ("Homer the Happy Ghost") storytellers, the
surnames of Stan and Dan aren't revealed
in-story, but given the real-life creators are Stan Lee and Dan
DeCarlo, it's clear who they're meant to be.
Zelda's time machine modeled as a telephone booth in #19/1 (May, 1958) predates Dr. Who's time-traveling phone booth (1st broadcast in November, 1963). Zelda's time machine seemed a little bigger on the inside too (like Dr. Who's), as Caesar was able to hide in there without the Ghost Gang seeing him (presumably Zelda returned Caesar to his own time afterward).
Given the long life of Zelda (and Homer), I've kept the profile in the chronological order that the stories appear.
A bunch of stories were reprinted by Marvel with slightly modified covers in a 4-issue series in 1969, as well as a 28-issue reprint run by Australian publisher Horwitz (ca. 1956) with new and modified covers.
Is
Homer Ghost in Earth-616 continuity?
Mike Castle pointed out that because there's a cartoon movie of Homer
Ghost in Millie the Model I#76, the character is therefore not -616 and
should receive his own reality designation. However, other -616
characters have had in-continuity movies made about them, including
Millie the model -- in Millie the Model I#100 (reprinted in Marvel
Milestones), movie producer Darryl DeMille scouts Hanover's models
looking for one to star in his movie "The Life of Millie the Model"
(but ignores the real Millie), while in the next story Chili makes a
nasty comment on Millie's physical appearance compared to how she looks
in her Millie comic magazine (the Millie comic is also seen in "Sherry
the Showgirl" I#2/3). Likewise, Homer Ghost has his own
in-story comic that he reads, so a cartoon movie of Homer sits easily
within -616, given there is source material from comics that people are
familiar with. To reinforce this, Sally in the "My Girl Pearl" comic
passes by both "Homer the Happy Ghost" and "Millie the Model" comics in
a shop. So my view is that Homer Ghost is in Earth-616 until proven
otherwise. Interestingly, both Homer and Pearl separately confront Stan
Lee and Dan DeCarlo in their own comics in a "meta" style story to
complain how they're being portrayed.
Thanks to Grand
Comics Database for additional credits information.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Zelda the Witch has no known connections to:
Joe the Genii was summoned by Zelda when she tried
out a new spell. He was a giant burly worker unable to perform magic
feats himself -- instead he charged by the hour as per his union
regulations. Zelda and her friends couldn't escape him, even flying on
Zelda's broomstick, so Homer came up with an idea and got him a job as
a wrestler. He was a smashing success and headlined wrestling night at
the local arena.
--Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/3
images:
(without ads)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/6, p2, pan1 (main image)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/8, p1, pan1 (headshot)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#1/1, p5, pan9 (zapping a spell)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#9/1, p4, pan2 (flying on broom)
Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/3, p1, pan1 (with cauldron)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#18/1, p3, pan2 ("Zelda Witch")
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/3, p3, pan1 (Joe the Genii)
Appearances:
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#1/1, 1/3 (March, 1955) - Stan
Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#2/2, 2/10 (May, 1955) - Stan Lee
(writer
& editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer,
the Happy Ghost I#3/2, 3/11 (July, 1955) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#4/3, 4/8, 4/10 (September, 1955) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer,
the Happy Ghost I#5/9, 5/11 (November, 1955) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#6/3, 6/5 (January, 1956) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#7/2, 7/10 (March, 1956) - Stan Lee (writer
& editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#8/3, 8/8 (May, 1956) - Stan
Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#9/1, 9/9, 9/10 (July, 1956) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#10/1, 10/4, 10/10 (September, 1956) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer,
the Happy Ghost I#11/1, 11/2, 11/4, 11/10 (November, 1956) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#12/1, 12/2, 12/7 (January,
1957) - Stan Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer,
the Happy Ghost I#13/1, 13/8, 13/9 (March, 1957) - Stan
Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#14/1, 14/2, 14/5, 14/10 (May, 1957) - Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Adventures of Homer Ghost I#1/3, 1/4, 1/7, 1/10, 1/12 (June, 1957) -
Stan Lee
(writer & editor), Tony DiPreta (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#15/1, 15/7, 15/11 (August, 1957) - Stan
Lee
(writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/3, 2/5, 2/11, 2/13, 2/14 (August, 1957)
-
Stan Lee (writer
& editor), Tony DiPreta (pencils & inks)
Adventures of Homer Ghost I#2/6, 2/7 (August, 1957) - Stan Lee (writer
& editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#16/1, 16/2, 16/10, 16/12,
16/14 (November, 1957) - Stan Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo
(pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#17/3, 17/4, 17/9, 17/13 (January, 1958) -
Stan Lee (writer & editor), Tony DiPreta (pencils & inks)
Homer,
the Happy Ghost I#18/1, 18/2, 18/4-18/7 (March, 1958) -
Stan
Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#19/1-19/3, 19/10 (May, 1958) -
Stan Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#20/1, 20/2, 20/5, 20/8, 20/10 (July, 1958) -
Stan
Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#21/1, 21/3, 21/4, 21/9 (September,
1958) - Stan Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
Homer, the Happy Ghost I#22/1, 22/2, 22/6, 22/9 (November, 1958) -
Stan Lee (writer & editor), Dan DeCarlo (pencils & inks)
First posted: 10/31/2025
Last updated:
10/31/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
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