INKY
Real Name: Inky
Identity/Class: Imp (circa 13th
Century (see
comments); early
1940s era)
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Gretel, Hansel, mice of Hamelin
(Spike, others), Pied Piper, children of Hamelin (loose)
Enemies: Dextrose Dora, Spirit
of Magic Hill,
Sugar-Robots (Cain,
others)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile, notably Magic
Hill
(near Hamelin, Germany)
First Appearance: Krazy Komics I#7/2
(April, 1943)
Powers/Abilities: Inky is a small, long-lived
imp with
magical powers. He is invisible to most people (unless he chooses
otherwise or by those who summon him) and can magically alter
his size and that of others at will. He can change and alter the
properties of items when he wishes, but is selective when he uses his
powers and who he helps (usually innocents in dire trouble or
unjustifiably mistreated). He sometimes uses a wand for magic, but
mostly it is via hands with a small lightning bolt and incantation. He
is capable of flight, but rarely uses this and it appears to be at
average adult human running speed. Inky has used a large grasshopper as
a steed when in miniature form.
Height:
Variable (usually 2'6")
Weight: Variable
Eyes: Black
Hair: Black
History:
(Krazy Komics I#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - Inky the magical
imp is invisible to almost everyone and as such, has been witness to
many events.
(Krazy Komics I#7/2 (fb)) - Circa 1284 (see
comments), he saw the German village of Hamelin overrun by mice,
although the carefree Pied Piper just played his musical pipe all day.
The mice liked his music but the villagers didn't, and it resulted in
his pipe being damaged. A bounty on the mice's heads led to a shared
plan with their pal the Pied Piper to collect the reward, and the mouse
leader Spike summoned Inky for help. The munificent Inky magically
repaired the pipe and hatched a plan. At midnight, the Pied Piper
played his pipe to nearby Magic Hill (Inky's hidden home) and all the
mice followed willingly; Inky mystically opened Magic Hill and when all
the mice were inside, Inky zipped the entrance. The Pied Piper went to
collect the reward, promising Inky half the money.
(Krazy Komics I#8/2 (fb)) - However,
the greedy Hamelin mayor refused to pay the Pied Piper, so he sought
help from the mice and Inky, but both declined. Once the Pied Piper had
exhausted his ideas to force payment, Inky appeared and suggested a new
plan. Inky changed the pipe's shape and musical properties so that it
now attracted children to come hear him play. All the children followed
the enchanted music as the Pied Piper led them to Magic Hill where
Inky, hidden, let them inside but closed it when the panicked adults of
Hamelin arrived.
(Krazy Komics I#9/6 (fb)) - The
children played and Inky told them they had to return home once the
Pied Piper was paid. However, the craggy giant form of the Spirit of
Magic Hill suddenly appeared, frightening all except Inky, who was
puzzled by the Spirit's unusual aggression. Inky challenged him to a
fight, then used his magic to transform himself to giant size and
quickly pulverized the Spirit into rubble. The Spirit meekly
surrendered and Inky put the Spirit back together but in a much smaller
size. Inky opened up the hill and the Pied Piper collected the money he
was owed and more for the release of the children. The Pied Piper
returned and the children cheerfully returned home; the Piper and Spike
looked gleefully at all the money they now had with Inky satisfied at
the outcome.
(Krazy Komics I#10/6) - (WWII era) - Inky saw a
wanted billboard for the witch-like Dextrose Dora, who had been
hoarding sugar (illegal during wartime). The boy Hansel ran up panicked
and recognized Inky. The boy asked the imp's help to find his sister
Gretel who had wandered into the dangerous Witch's Wood. They entered
the dark forest and followed Gretel's trail to a large cake-and-candy
house surrounded by a fence of gingerbread children. Both realized that
other lost children had become part of the gingerbread fence but the
pair were suddenly bundled up by a large Sugar-Robot and taken to the
house's owner, Dora Dextrose. Forced into the observatory room, Inky
and Hansel watched helplessly as Dora magically transformed Gretel and
three other children into gingerbread children-shaped fence posts. Inky
magically brought down their prison room then punched up Cain the
Sugar-Robot, but the other robots fled. Inky summoned a raincloud that
melted the Sugar-Robots into a slush; with the source of her power
eliminated, her magic was undone and the gingerbread children all
returned to life. Dora was quickly arrested and the reward money went
to Hansel, Gretel and Inky, who gleefully declared that they would
spend it on war bonds and stamps.
Comments:
Creators not credited.
The Pied
Piper
of Hamelin (folkloric) story is dated to about 1284. Several
versions
exist, some or none may contain elements of historical fact, although
rats were apparently first added to the story around 1559.
Is this the story of the "real" Pied Piper, or did
the Imp live in/visit Fairy Land, a place
where fairy tale beings exist, as shown only several stories before
this one in the same issue? I think Hansel and Gretel characters have
appeared elsewhere, so perhaps these are just recurring archetypes.
I suggest that Inky is a bit like Doctor Who in that
he can visit different eras and intervene in (fairy tale-themed)
adventures for good as he chooses.
While Inky was a novel concept with a great snazzy
art
design, he didn't quite belong in a comic filled with violence for
comedic effect. And the final panel promoting war bonds just felt
tacked on. It's not much wonder Inky was dropped.
Atlas
Tales suggests the artist for issue 8 (and I propose also issues 7
&
9 given the identical art style) might be Moe Worthman.
This profile was completed 11/08/2024, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the
Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile
by Grendel
Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Inky has no known connections to:
- INKY DINKY @1940s - hopeful but unsuccessful artist, always lands in
comedic strife--Comedy Comics I#2
- any other "Inky" characters
Magic Hill
Magic Hill was located near Hamelin, Germany, and
served as a base for Inky for a while during at least the 13th Century.
It opened on his magical command into a large cavern with wondrous
corridors and rooms lit with giant suspended jewels. It was inhabited
by the Spirit of Magic Hill, which was usually on neutral terms with
Inky. When the Pied Piper sought the money owed to him by the people of
Hamelin for saving them from the mouse plague, he and Inky came up with
a plan to gather(/kidnap) the children and hide them inside Magic Hill.
The parents and adults were locked out of the hill. The children were
not frightened until the Spirit of the Hill suddenly loomed large and
strangely aggressive, but Inky quickly eliminated the threat. Once the
Pied Piper was paid, the children(/hostages) were let out and returned
home.
--Krazy Komics I#8/2 (Krazy Komics I#9/6
Spirit
of Magic Hill
The Spirit of Magic Hill was a giant rock-based
creature that allowed the Hill to open and close; as part of the Hill,
it was aware of everything that happened inside. Inky the imp, who used
Magic Hill as his base, was usually was on good terms with the Spirit.
However, when the Pied Piper had led all the mice and children of
nearby Hamelin inside (as part of Inky's plan), the Spirit loomed large
and threatening, refusing to let anybody leave. Inky challenged the
Spirit to a fight; thinking Inky would remain small, the Spirit agreed,
but Inky magically transformed into a giant form and quickly pulverized
the Spirit into rubble. The Spirit meekly surrendered. Inky put the
Spirit back together, but magically transformed it into the size of a
small rock so it could no longer be threatening.
--Krazy Komics I#9/6
Dextrose
Dora
Dextrose Dora was a nasty witch who lived in Witch's
Wood. She hoarded sugar (illegal during wartime) to build obedient
novelty-shaped Sugar-Robots that would kidnap children she would then
magically transform into gingerbread children for fencing around her
cake-and-candy house in an effort to outdo other witches. However, one
stolen child brought the attention of Inky the magical imp, who
destroyed the Sugar-Robots that were the source of her power.
Powerless, she was quickly arrested and the reward money went to Inky
and his friends.
--Krazy Komics I#10/6
Sugar-Robots
The witch Dextrose Dora hoarded sugar (illegal during
wartime) to build large novelty-shaped Sugar-Robots that would
obediently kidnap children and take them to Dora's house for eventual
magical transformation into gingerbread children. Cain
appeared
to be largest and toughest of the robots, and was the one who
captured Inky the magical imp and Hansel, who were looking for Gretel.
Briefly imprisoned, Inky and Hansel escaped and punched up Cain until
Inky summoned a storm cloud; the rain melted the Sugar-Robots into
slush, eliminating the source of Dora's magical power.
--Krazy Komics I#10/6
images:
(without ads)
Krazy Komics I#9/6, p8, pan5 (main image)
Krazy Komics I#7/2, p7, pan7 (headshot)
Krazy Komics I#8/2, p7, pan6 (magic spell on pipe)
Krazy Komics I#9/6, p4, pan6 (super-sized)
Krazy Komics I#8/2, p8, pan5 (Magic Hill)
Krazy Komics I#9/6, p1, pan3 (Magic Hill, inside)
Krazy Komics I#9/6, p3, pan5 (Spirit of Magic Hill)
Krazy Komics I#9/6, p5, pan6 (Spirit of Magic Hill, miniaturized)
Krazy Komics I#10/6, p4, pan5 (Dextrose Dora)
Krazy Komics I#10/6, p6, pan2 (Dextrose Dora, headshot)
Krazy Komics I#10/6, p1, pan1 (Sugar-Robots carrying Inky)
Krazy Komics I#10/6, p4, pan1 (Sugar-Robot Cain)
Appearances:
Krazy Komics I#7/2 (April, 1943) - uncredited writer, pencils, inks,
Vince Fago (editorial & art director), Stan Lee (consulting editor)
Krazy Komics I#8/2 (June, 1943) - uncredited writer, pencils, inks,
Vince Fago (editorial & art director), Stan Lee (consulting editor)
Krazy Komics I#9/6 (July, 1943) - uncredited writer, pencils, inks,
Vince Fago (editorial & art director), Stan Lee (consulting editor)
Krazy Komics I#10/6 (August, 1943) - uncredited writer, pencils, inks,
Vince Fago (editorial & art director), Stan Lee (consulting editor)
First posted: 09/22/2026
Last updated:
11/08/2024
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!
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