View source for Joe Palooka

{{more fn|date=April 2024}}
{{short description|1930–1984 American comic strip}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox comic strip
|title      = Joe Palooka
|image      = Joepalooka62539.jpg
|caption    = [[Ham Fisher]]'s ''Joe Palooka'' (June 25, 1939)
(Full size [https://static1.cbrimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/goodcomics/2014/05/joepalooka1.jpg here])
|author     = [[Ham Fisher]] (1930–1956)
| current = Moe Leff (1956–1959)<br />[[Morris Weiss]] (1959–1984)
|illustrator = [[Ham Fisher]] (1930–1955)<br />Moe Leff (1955–1959)<br />[[Tony DiPreta]] (1959–1984)
| altnames = ''Joe the Dumbbell''
|url        =
|status     = Concluded daily & Sunday strip
|first      = April 19, 1930
|last       = November 24, 1984<ref name="Holtz" />
|syndicate  = [[McNaught Syndicate]]
|publisher  = [[Columbia Comics]]<br />[[Harvey Comics]]<br />[[IDW Publishing]]
|genre      = [[Sports comics|Sports]]
}}
'''''Joe Palooka''''' is an American [[comic strip]] about a heavyweight [[boxing]] champion, created by cartoonist [[Ham Fisher]]. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930<ref name="Holtz">{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=978-0-472-11756-7}}</ref> and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984.

The strip was adapted to a 15-minute [[CBS]] radio series, 12 feature-length films (chiefly from [[Monogram Pictures]]), nine [[Vitaphone]] [[short film|film shorts]], a 1954 [[television syndication|syndicated]] television series (''The Joe Palooka Story''), [[comic book]]s and merchandise, including a 1940s [[board game]], a 1947 New Haven Clock & Watch Company wristwatch, a 1948 metal lunchbox featuring depictions of Joe, Humphrey and Little Max, and a 1946 [[Wheaties]] cereal box cut-out mask. In 1980, a mountain in [[Pennsylvania]] was named for the character.

== Publication history ==
In his home town of [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], Fisher devised the character in 1921 after he met a boxer, [[Pete Latzo]], outside a [[Billiard room|poolroom]]. As Fisher explained in an article<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fisher|first=Ham|date=1948|title=Joe Palooka and Me|journal=Collier's Magazine|volume=122|issue=October 16}}</ref> in ''[[Collier's Weekly|Collier's]]'':
{{blockquote|Here, made to order, was the comic strip character I had been looking for—a big, good-natured prize fighter who didn't like to fight; a defender of little guys; a gentle knight. I ran back to the office, drew a set of strips and rushed to the newspaper syndicates.|sign=|source=}}

Many rejections followed before Fisher's strip was finally syndicated by the [[McNaught Syndicate]] after Fisher, while employed as a McNaught salesman, sold it to over 20 newspapers. It debuted April 19, 1930, and by 1948, it was ranked as one of the five most popular newspaper comic strips.

After Fisher committed suicide in 1955, his assistant Moe Leff drew the strip for four years. Leff had been [[ghostwriter|ghosting]] on the strip's art since the late 1930s; his first credited strip was September 17, 1956.<ref name="Holtz" /> [[Lank Leonard]] recommended [[Tony DiPreta]], who stepped in starting September 7, 1959, to illustrate scripts by [[Morris Weiss]] (early 1960s to early 1970s) and Ed Moore (mid 1970s on).<ref name="Holtz" /> DiPreta stayed with the strip for 25 years until it ended its run November 24, 1984, when it had dropped to only 182 newspapers. DiPreta then moved on to draw ''[[Rex Morgan, M.D.]]''

==Toppers==
The ''Joe Palooka'' Sunday page had many different [[topper (comic strip)|toppers]] over the course of the run.

One of the early toppers was ''Fisher's Looney Legends'', which ran from January 10, 1932 to August 27, 1933. During this run, the strip had many alternate titles, including ''Fisher's Dopey Dramas'', ''Fisher's Foolish Fables'', ''Fisher's Historical Hysteria'', ''Fisher's Neolithic Narratives'', ''Fisher's Nursery Rhymes'' and ''Fisher's Poet's Corner''. This was replaced by three longer features: ''Fisher's History of Boxing'' (Sept 3, 1933 – June 20, 1937), ''Joe Palooka's Boxing Course'' (June 27, 1937 – May 1, 1938) and ''Joe Palooka's Album'' (May 8, 1938 – Nov 14, 1943).<ref name="Holtz" />

From 1943–1946, the topper strip rotated between a variety of different features. The most often used titles during this period were ''War Time Anecdotes'' aka ''Fisher's Wartime Whoppers'' (Nov 21, 1943 – Sept 9, 1945), ''Miss Jones'' aka ''The Estimable Miss Jones'' (March 12, 1944 – Nov 11, 1945), ''After It's Over'' (April 8 – Oct 7, 1945), ''Sidewalks of Manhattan'' (Nov 18, 1945 – Feb 24, 1966), ''Charlie the Cook'' (Oct 15, 1944 – Sept 23, 1945), and ''Lady De Van'' (March 3 – July 7, 1946). Other titles used during this period include ''The Atom Age'', ''Captain Tommy'', ''Could Be'', ''Guy Who Married a WAC Sergeant'', ''Fisher's Follies'', ''How To Be Popular?'', ''Letter From Home'', ''Mebbe I'm Wrong'', ''Now That It's Over'', ''Smythe the Murp's Ex-Butler'', and ''Two Thousand A.D.''<ref name="Holtz" />

==Characters and story==
Fisher originally changed the appearance of Palooka to fit each reigning real-life champ – until the coming of African-American [[Joe Louis]] in the 1930s, at which time the image of the cowlicked blond Palooka remained unchanged.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} Though his adventures were mostly low-key, he was pumped up by a supporting cast led by girlfriend Ann Howe, boxing manager Knobby Walsh, his mute orphan sidekick Little Max, Smokey, his black valet and later sparring partner, and lovable giant Humphrey Pennyworth, a smiling [[blacksmith]] who wielded a 100-pound (45&nbsp;kg) [[War hammer|maul]]. Like [[Ozark Ike]] McBatt in baseball, ''Joe Palooka'' was intended to exemplify the sports hero in an age when uprightness of character was supposed to matter most. The character was part of an effort among top newspaper cartoonists to sell [[World War II]]-era [[Series E bond]]s to the public as a wartime financing initiative.<ref>[http://cartoonician.com/presarvin-freedom-al-capp-treasury-man/ ''Presarvin’ Freedom: Al Capp, Treasury Man'', "Hogan's Alley," 1998]</ref>
[[File:Joepalooka1949.jpg|thumb|center|620px|Joe Palooka plays golf with [[Bob Hope]] and [[Bing Crosby]] in a 1949 ''Joe Palooka'' strip by Ham Fisher and Moe Leff.]]

The strip garnered much publicity when cheese heiress Ann Howe and Joe were married on June 24, 1949. The engraved invitations for the event, sent to a select list of celebrities, read: "Mr. Ham Fisher requests the honour of your presence at the marriage of Ann Howe to Mr. Joe Palooka on the afternoon of June 24th in your favorite newspaper." Fisher received formal acceptances from Chief Justice [[Fred M. Vinson]], General [[Omar Bradley]] and Attorney General [[Tom C. Clark]]. At the time, the strip was carried in 665 American newspapers and 125 foreign papers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080613143012/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800462-1,00.html "Mr. and Mrs. Palooka," ''Time'', June 27, 1949.]</ref>

==Etymology==
Of uncertain origin, the word ''palooka'' was found in print as early as 1923 and widely used to mean a lout or an inept fighter.{{fact|date=April 2024}}

== Comic books ==
[[File:Joe3palooka42.jpg|thumb|''Joe Palooka'' #3 (1942)]]
Over decades, ''Joe Palooka'' appeared in comic books from several comic book publishers. Early comic books offered strip reprints, but eventually the character was seen in original comic book stories. Secondary characters Little Max and Humphrey Pennyworth each had their own [[Harvey Comics]] series.

[[Joe Antonacci]] owns the trademark to and has recreated Joe Palooka. A brand new comic book version of the character created by Antonacci and his creative team was published by [[IDW Publishing]] in 2012.<ref>[http://www.cbr.com/idw-publishing-brings-joe-palooka-back-to-comic-book-ring/ IDW Publishing brings Joe Palooka back to comic-book ring]</ref> Palooka is reborn as a [[mixed martial arts]] (MMA) fighter. Antonacci's team has also created a sister series of MMA-themed comic books entitled ''Legion of Combat''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fightnetwork.com/news/11956:introducing-full-length-mma-comic-book-joe-palooka/ |title=Introducing Full-Length MMA Comic Book 'Joe Palooka' - The Fight Network<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=December 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728090102/http://fightnetwork.com/news/11956:introducing-full-length-mma-comic-book-joe-palooka/ |archive-date=July 28, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==Radio series==
On radio, ''Joe Palooka'' was broadcast on [[CBS]] from April 12 to August 18, 1932. With [[Teddy Bergman]] in the title role,<ref name="rs">DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2834-2}}. P. 223.</ref> the 15-minute series was heard on Tuesdays and Thursdays, sponsored by Heinz Rice Flakes. Elmira Roessler, Elsie Hitz and [[Mary Jane Higby]] played Ann Howe. Knobby Walsh was portrayed by [[Frank Readick]] and Hal Lansing. Others in the cast: [[Karl Swenson]] and Norman Gottschalk. The announcer was [[Harry von Zell]].

==Films and television==
Joe Palooka made his film debut in ''[[Palooka (film)|Palooka]]'' (1934) with [[Stuart Erwin]] in the title role, [[Jimmy Durante]] as Knobby, [[Lupe Vélez]] as Nina Madero, and [[Marjorie Rambeau]] as Mayme Palooka. Now in the public domain, the film can be seen online. ''Palooka'' was followed by a series of nine two-reel [[Vitaphone]] shorts (1936–37) starring Robert Norton as Joe and [[Shemp Howard]] as Knobby.

He returned to feature-length films in 1946, when [[Monogram Pictures]] launched a series of 11 low-budget films starring [[Joe Kirkwood, Jr.]] as Joe, [[Leon Errol]] as Knobby and [[Elyse Knox]] as Ann Howe. The first in the series was ''[[Joe Palooka, Champ]]'' (1946); the series ended 1951, with ''Joe Palooka in Triple Cross''.

''The Joe Palooka Story'', popularly known simply as ''Joe Palooka'', was a 1954 syndicated television series starring Kirkwood and featuring former boxing champion [[Maxie Rosenbloom]] as Humphrey Pennyworth.

==Cultural legacy==
The name appears in several episodes of the long-running television show ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', most notably in the 10th season episode 'Heroes' where fictional prize fighter 'Gentleman Joe' Cavanaugh visits the outfit and Margaret remarks "Is that what it takes to get a steak dinner around here, a visit from some Joe Palooka"

South of [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]] on the way to the town of [[Mountain Top, Pennsylvania]] is Joe Palooka Mountain, named in the early 1980s by then-Mayor of Wilkes-Barre Thomas McLaughlin.  A granite monument with the likeness of Joe Palooka is located at the base of the mountain at the intersection of PA 309 and PA 437 between Wilkes-Barre and the town of Mountain Top.

In September 1948, a limestone Joe Palooka statue (in a flowing cape) was erected on a hill overlooking [[Indiana State Road 37]]. In 1984, the nine-foot high, ten-ton statue and its base were moved and rededicated to the Town Hall in [[Oolitic, Indiana]].

In ''[[The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor]]'', sailor Luis Alejandro Velasco refers to a "Joe Palooka" tavern at a port in Mobile, AL, United States, where he and his shipmates, while on leave, went to drink whisky and threw a fight from time to time.

In ''[[Sometimes a Great Notion (novel)|Sometimes a Great Notion]]'', [[Ken Kesey]] skewers one of his characters with this paragraph: "'[[Tsk tsk|Tsk, tsk]],' said Brother Walker. And, as he had learned the comment from ''Joe Palooka'', it came out 'tisk tisk', the way he assumed it was pronounced."{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In the 1977 film ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'', after having been drawn into a fight and taking a beating, character Cledus "Snowman" Snow ([[Jerry Reed]]) tells his friend Bo "Bandit" Darville ([[Burt Reynolds]]) over the [[CB radio]], "Look, you ain't gonna believe this, but I just did my imitation of Joe Palooka."

==Filmography==
[[File:The Knockout 1947.jpg|400px|thumb|''The Knockout'' (1947) with [[Joe Kirkwood, Jr.]] as Joe Palooka.]]
#''[[Palooka (film)|Palooka]]'' (1934)
#''[[Joe Palooka, Champ]]'' (1946)
#''[[Gentleman Joe Palooka]]'' (1946)
#''[[Joe Palooka in the Knockout]]'' (1947)
#''[[Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad]]'' (1948)
#''[[Joe Palooka in Winner Take All]]'' (1948)
#''[[Joe Palooka in the Big Fight]]'' (1949)
#''[[Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch]]'' (1949)
#''[[Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey]]'' (1950)
#''[[Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance]]'' (1950)
#''[[Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle]]'' (1950)
#''[[Joe Palooka in Triple Cross]]''  (1951)

===Vitaphone two-reelers===
(made for [[Warner Brothers]])
#''For the Love of Pete'' (March 14, 1936)
#''Here's Howe'' (June 6, 1936)
#''Punch and Beauty'' (August 6, 1936)
#''The Choke's on You'' (September 12, 1936)
#''The Blonde Bomber'' (November 28, 1936)
#''Kick Me Again'' (February 6, 1937)
#''Taking the Count'' (April 24, 1937)
#''Thirst Aid'' (June 12, 1937)
#''Calling All Kids'' (November 20, 1937)

All directed by [[Lloyd French]] and starring [[Robert Norton (actor)|Robert Norton]] and [[Shemp Howard]] (except the last two with [[Beverly Phalon]] and [[Johnny Burkes]]).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Dave Strickler|Strickler, Dave]]. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. {{ISBN|0-9700077-0-1}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive | id=Palooka | name=Palooka (1934)}}
* {{Webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030308175530/http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/joepalooka.htm | title=Free Old time Radio Shows - Joe Palooka}}
* [http://www.cafemetropolis.com/hamfisher.pdf ''The Incredibly Strange Story of Ham Fisher'']
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/palooka.htm Joe Palooka] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091016105918/http://www.toonopedia.com/palooka.htm Archived] from the original on October 8, 2016.

[[Category:1930 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1932 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1984 comics endings]]
[[Category:American comics adapted into films]]
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[[Category:American radio dramas]]
[[Category:Boxing comics]]
[[Category:CBS Radio programs]]
[[Category:Comics adapted into television series]]
[[Category:Comics adapted into radio series]]
[[Category:Fictional professional boxers|Palooka, Joe]]
[[Category:Fictional mixed martial artists|Palooka, Joe]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics|Palooka, Joe]]
[[Category:Fictional American people|Palooka, Joe]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1930|Palooka, Joe]]
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