Super Goof in action. Artist: Paul Murry.

SUPER GOOF

Original medium: Comic books
Licensed from: Disney
First Appeared: 1965
Creators: Del Connell (writer) and Paul Murry (artist)
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When Super Goof was introduced, in 1965, he wasn't exactly a new character. In fact, he was part of Disney's original triumvirate of top stars, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck

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… and Goofy. It simply took him until then to become a superhero. It was one of those periods when that genre was king in American comic books, and the urge to become one overcame even such unlikely characters as Archie (who became Pureheart the Powerful) and Herbie (The Fat Fury). It's not too surprising one of the Disney guys succumbed.

It first happened in The Phantom Blot #2 (February, 1965). The Blot had been a villain in the Mickey Mouse daily strip in 1939; and tho his story had been reprinted by Dell Comics and adapted into serial form for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories, and the serial was collected for yet another printing in 1955, he didn't appear in subsequent adventures in America. But he became a recurring villain in European comic books, especially those done by cartoonist Romano Scarpa, and published in Italy. Giving The Blot his own short-lived comic book was part of a strategy to re-introduce him to America after a quarter-century absence.

In that second issue story, The Blot was on a crime spree, when Goofy absent-mindedly drank a chemical invented by Gyro Gearloose and thought it had given him super powers. Putting on a costume based (like those of The Red Tornado. Supersnipe and other superhero spoofs) on red long underwear, he set out after his villainous quarry and, with freak circumstances reinforcing his belief in his super powers, triumphed. The story was written by Del Connell, whose scripts were appearing throughout Disney comics, and drawn by Paul Murry, who had been illustrating Mickey Mouse comic books for years.

A few months later, Super Goof was back — tho since freak circumstances tend to wear thin after a few repetitions, Connell and Murry gave him real super powers this time. In the back pages of Donald Duck #102 (October, 1965), Gyro invented a cape for him, which conferred super powers on the wearer.

That same month, he got his own title, and Super Goof #1 (also by Connell and Murry) provided yet another origin story. This one involved a goober patch in Goofy's back yard, which, irradiated by a nearby meteorite, yielded super goobers which powered him up when ingested. One final tinkering with the origin story appeared in the 31st issue (August, 1974), where the meteorite was thrown out and Goofy was said to have gotten his first seed goober from a Mexican superhero named Super Señor.

With a variety of writers and artists (but with the Murry look predominating), Super Goof battled Mickey's Phantom Blot, Uncle Scrooge's Beagle Boys, and villains of his own such as Emil Eagle, for years to come. His last issue was #74, dated July, 1984 — part of Gold Key's final release before getting out of the comic book business. He still appears from time to time in Europe, and recently, his adventures have started appearing in America again.

Super Goof's first animated appearance was Feb. 2, 2002, when an episode of House of Mouse, Mickey's 21st century Saturday morning show, was devoted to him. (One plotline in this show involved trying to figure out his secret identity, which must have struck younger viewers as rather dense — the more so when it was concluded he was in reality Dumbo.) His/Goofy's voice was done by Bill Farmer, who also did Pluto, Horace Horsecollar and Practical Pig on the same show. While he may not be Disney's biggest or best known property, Super Goof seems to have staying power.

— DDM

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Text ©2004-10 Donald D. Markstein. Art © Walt Disney Co.