Strongman and the General

 
 
I mentioned a couple of posts ago under Captain Flash another character from the 1950s called Strongman so I thought I'd go ahead and feature him this time around. Some of these characters were kind of interesting and this is one of them. Strongman is just that - basically a circus strongman, so there's an element of showmanship about him. He is advertised as the strongest human being alive who has also trained in judo, performs feats of prestidigitation and is an expert trip roper - all skills he uses to help the helpless and overcome the wrongdoer. He does this without the benefit of superpowers or some magic word that turns him super - he has trained himself to a level of physical perfection through hard work, exercise, clean living and eating the right foods. Of course other heroes - Batman springs to mind - are also not super powered, but I suppose I'm being picky. He seems to wander around and has a lot of friends who keep getting themselves into jams so Strongman can get them out. He has a short side-kick, but this is not some kid buddy, but an adult short person named The General. They also drive around in some hot machines, one of which (Jaguar XK120) I customized, which came out pretty well. Strongman only lasted four issues of his own comic in the mid-1950s published by Magazine Enterprises. The action figure of Strongman was made using a Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Dark Warrior body and the head from a Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Jack Tenrec. The General was made using an approximate 75mm figure in a line called the Mask, which was about the right scale. The car is a Matchbox approximately 1:64 scale Jaguar XK120.