APACHE THE WONDER FROG
Reality-78423

Real Name: Apache Frog

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Reality-78423) extraterrestrial

Occupation: Former laundry attendant, space cadet, actor

Group Membership: Space Patrol/Imperial Starfleet (Capt. James T. Croak, Miss Tasty Freeze, Luke Frogwalker, the Shryners, Mr. Spok, Chief Engineer Scotch Tape, Flash Toaden, Yoohoora), an unidentified federation of planets

Affiliations: Ensign Feline, Howard the Duck, Mellow, Laidback & Groovy, the Space Patrol/Imperial Starfleet, Beverly Switzler

Enemies: CHICKEN, Gustave Schwartz;
    formerly Howard the Duck

Known Relatives: Bernie Frog (father), Gertie Frog (mother)

Aliases: Kong the Deadly, Kong the Mighty, Kong Starkiller

Base of Operations: Hollywood, California, USA;
    formerly mobile throughout outer space

First Appearance: Howard the Duck newspaper strip - "Close Encounters of the Fowl Kind" (April 23, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Apache demonstrated no known superhuman powers or abilities. As a humanoid frog, he likely was an amphibian and had some innate abilities such as being good at swimming and jumping.

    It is unrevealed if he possessed an elastic tongue able to lash out to catch food with. He was shown to be below average for his species and lacked any leadership skills. He was a mediocre laundry attendant and capable of flying and using advanced technology such as spaceships and devices common to the Space Patrol/Imperial Starfleet.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 150 lbs)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: None

History:
(Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 14, 1978 (fb)) - Apache Frog was born to Bernie and Gertie Frog. Apache's father was owner of Bernie's Aluminum Siding and Taco Stand. Three days after his birth, he was tadpole-napped by Gustave Schwartz, an infamous gypsy tadnapper who grew easily annoyed by Apache's irritating behavior and begged his parents to take Apache back. Apache proved unpopular in school for not liking to eat flies and once had a fly as a pet. As a teenager, he was never a B.F.O.C (Big Frog on Campus) and girls would not date him, preferring an uprooted tree stump to him. He eventually graduated high school with 108 degrees (or 28 degrees centigrade). During a long trip off world to discover his purpose in life, Apache's luggage was lost in space, which made him believe that his heart now lay in the stars and he joined his planet's Space Patrol alongside Luke Frogwalker and Flash Toaden, and with hard work, he achieved the rank and position of laundry frog to the stars. His next promotion would make him a mailman.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 2-May 15, 1978) - One day, Apache's ship captain accidentally dropped the crew's laundry instead of "Shudder," the package containing Alien Shryners, and the laundry ended up landing outside Cleveland, Ohio, right on top of Howard the Duck and Beverly Switzler. After pleading with his captain to retrieve the laundry, Apache took a small flying saucer and landed in Cleveland with a picture of Howard. He then began asking on the streets if anyone knew the duck but, much to his ignorance about human lifeforms, he had only questioned fire hydrants. After discovering Howard's location, Apache, having disguised himself as Kong Starkiller, abducted Howard and Beverly aboard his flying saucer and tried to frighten Howard into giving up the ship's laundry. Discovering Apache was simply using a robotic puppet from behind a curtain, Howard confronted him and the two began negotiating, with Apache coming out ahead and he soon ejected them from his spacecraft, returning to his mothership with the laundry.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 16-June 12, 1978) - While falling to Earth from Apache's spacecraft, Howard and Beverly were caught in a large net by Earth's top secret alien task force CHICKEN and recruited to prevent the Alien Shryners from causing destruction to Earth. Gaining entry aboard the alien mothership, the pair once again encountered Apache. Apache took them on a tour of the ship and introduced them to Captain Croak, an alien resembling Star Trek's Captain Kirk who was influenced by watching endless reruns of Star Trek. Croak, along with Apache, took Howard and Beverly to further tour the ship and introduced them to the rest of the crew. Sneaking off from the tour, Howard discovered the Shryners' location and tried to destroy them but was discovered by Captain Croak, who jettisoned the "Shudder" package alongside Howard into space, which slowly crashed to Earth, releasing a hoard of Alien Shryners onto Cleveland. Apache, feeling some remorse, assisted Howard and Beverly's attempt to recapture the prankish aliens but they were unsuccessful. After a few days when the Shryners convention was almost over, the failing Hollywood talent agency of Mellow, Laidback and Groovy convinced the Shryners to stay on Earth and become celebrities with their firm representing them. They also offered Apache a million-dollar contract to star in the movie The Frog Prince, which Apache readily accepted.

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and Alan Kupperberg.

    The main image of this profile was originally only done in black and white so I chose to color it based on Apache's color images using Photoshop.

    The story arc featuring Apache was titled Close Encounters of the Fowl Kind and was a satirical take on popular sci-fi movies that were at the time of publication playing in theaters across the country. The story made references to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, Star Trek and other current and past tv shows and movies.

    The Alien Shryners and the Space Patrol, along with Apache's fellow crew, will get their own profile page eventually.

    This profile was completed on 08/28/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by AvatarWarlord72.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Reality-78423's Apache the Wonder Frog should be distinguished from:

Bernie & Gertie Frog

Apache was born to Bernie, owner of Bernie's Aluminum Siding and Taco Stand, and his wife Gertie Frog. Three days after Apache's birth, he was tadpole napped by Gustave Schwartz, an infamous gypsy tadnapper who grew easily annoyed by Apache's irritating behavior and begged his parents to take Apache back.

--Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 14, 1978 (fb)
Gustave Schwartz

Three days after Apache Frog was birthed, he was tadpole napped by Gustave Schwartz, an infamous gypsy tadnapper. As a baby tadpole, Apache's irritating behavior drove Gustave mad and he begged Apache's parents to take Apache back.

--Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 14, 1978 (fb)
images: (without ads)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 2, 1978, pan3 (Apache, main image)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip - June 26, 1978, pans3-4 (baby Apache, & Bernie & Gertie Frog images)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 14, 1978, pans5-7 (growing up)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 8, 1978, pans1-3 (as Kong Starkiller)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip - May 14, 1978, pan3 (Gustave Schwartz)

Appearances:
Howard the Duck newspaper strip (April 24-June 13, 1978) - Marv Wolfman (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils, inks), uncredited editor

First posted: 09/27/2026
Last updated: 08/28/2026

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, Master List, etc.!

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