smith-mr-sinking-dinnersmith-mr-sinking-fullishMr. SMITH

Real Name: Smith (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human; see comments
    active circa 1968 (and likely at least 30 years before that)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None known

Enemies:None known

Known Relatives: Unidentified wife/widow (deceased, but years after Mr. Smith died), Ted and Chuck (sons), Tracy (daughter)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed suburban community, presumably in the USA

First Appearance: Sinking (1992)

Powers/Abilities: Mr. Smith drank alcohol heavily and smoked. He was apparently not able to hold a job for any length of time, and he did not do much to interact with or support his family.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (
he was never shown in full color)
Hair: Unrevealed (possibly brown, dirty blond or red, including beard; he was never shown in full color)

smith-mr-sinking-smokeHistory: See comments

(Sinking (fb) - BTS) - As a child, Smith allegedly walked ten miles every day to school through the snow. The school was so poor that they had two students for every book.

(Sinking (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Smith and his wife lived in a small house with their children, Tracy, Ted and Chuck.

(Sinking (fb)) <According to his son Ted> - Mr. Smith apparently had a hard time dealing with life and all of its burdens. When not at work or at a bar, he rarely interacted with his family unless he was angry about something, and he spent a lot of time passed out on the couch.

    He spent a lot of time unemployed and drunk, and his wife had to work hard to cover expenses and take care of the kids.

    Every so often, Mr. Smith would sit down next to Ted on the couch when Ted was watching television and tell him about his lousy childhood. He apparently realized that Ted wasn't really listening, but he kept on talking anyway, only pausing to take drags on his Lucky Strike cigarettes.

    Ted later considered that this was his father's way of trying to explain why he was such a bad father.

(Sinking (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Smith was killed in a car accident.

    Mrs. Smith called and informed the principal, Mr. Benning, who told Ted and noted that he was being sent home to take the rest of the day off. Considering that his father did not have to worry about life and all of it's burdens, Ted laughed.

    Part of this response was due to Ted's not being able to believe his father was really dead, as his only concept of death was from movies and TVs. smith-mr-sinking-ghost

    Even when Ted saw his father's body at the funeral home, a sense of unreality descended on him.

    When he finally realized that his father wasn't coming home, Ted considered that all his father had left them were some cigarette burns on the furniture, some clothes, a box full of junk in the garage and enough debt to force his widow into working two full-time jobs.

    Soon after, Ted at least believed that he was visited by his father's ghost, which stood there silently looking at him before starting to cry. Although Ted could not hear him, he could feel the tide of his sorrow washing over him in palpable waves.

    When Ted told his mother and siblings about this, his siblings called him a liar, and his mother told him that she did not want him talking about this ever again.

Comments: Created by James D. Hudnall and Robert P. Ortaleza as part of the creator-owned Epic Comics line.

    Sinking was a journey in the life of a young man with schizophrenia, and so any of his commentary about his father and the rest of his family may or may not have 100% accurate. Regardless, I am reporting what was said in-story.

    I know he wasn't the focus of the story, but I'm always frustrated when a character doesn't get a full name.

    As a creator-owned character from Epic, it is unlikely that this story was intended to be part of Reality-616, but there's also nothing to exclude it...the events involved a small number of people in a localized area.. There's no reason it could not have taken place in 1992, which due to Marvel's sliding timescale in is over 20 years and counting before the Fantastic Four's space flight.

    This profile was completed 05/27/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mr. Smith
should be distinguished from:



images
: (without ads)

Sinking, pg. 6, panel 3 (upper, eating dinner);
          panel 5 (most full; "come here, you!");
       pg. 13, panel 4 (face, smoking);
       pg. 16, panel 1 (apparent ghost)


Appearances:
Sinking (1992) - James D. Hudnall (writer), Robert P. Ortaleza (artist), Marie Javins (editor), Carl Potts (editor, Epic Comics)

First posted: 09/11/2026
Last updated: 05/27/2025

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:
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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