Hugo Hercules

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Hugo lifting a car.
Hugo lifting a car.

The creation of cartoonist William H.D. Koerner, Hugo Hercules was the titular hero of a comic strip that ran from September 1902 to January 1903 for the Chicago Tribune.

A good-natured man endowed with superhuman strength, the character of Hugo wandered about town, helping people with their problems and shocking them with his surprising displays of power. He was so strong he could pick up an elephant,[1] kick a house like a football,[2] wield an artillery cannon like a handgun, [3] and lift a locomotive engine off the tracks and pull its cargo behind him at train speeds.[4]

Often referred to as the first superhero, the strip was not a great success and Koerner eventually left comics to become a painter.[5]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ William H. D. Koerner. Hugo Hercules performs another prodigy. The Chicago Sunday Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  2. ^ William H. D. Koerner. Hugo Hercules misses the football, but—. The Chicago Sunday Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  3. ^ William H. D. Koerner. Hugo Hercules does a little holding up himself. The Chicago Sunday Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  4. ^ William H. D. Koerner. Hugo Hercules comes to the rescue of the Cannonball Limited. The Chicago Sunday Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  5. ^ Bill Blackbeard & Dale Crain, The Comic Strip Century. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1995. 2 volumes. 480 pp. ISBN 0-87816-355-7

[edit] References

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