The comic strip Big Chief Wahoo debuted on November 23^rd, 1936.

It was the creation of writer Allen Saunders (better known for Mary Worth and Steve Roper) and Elmer Woggon (the brother of Bill Woggon, who is best known for bringing Katy Keene to life). Allen Saunders went on to write Mary Worth and Steve Roper for many years.

Comic hijinx were initially intended to arise from his naïve vulnerability to swindle and his limited command of English. His engagement to the shapely Princess Minnie Ha-Cha was mostly played for laughs. By 1939, however, his adventures took on a somewhat more serious tone. An exploration of Big Chief Wahoo as a rare Native American lead of a comic strip, however humorous, is long over due.    

Big Chief Wahoo: Noble Savage or Comic Buffoon?

Big Chief Wahoo is described as a Seminole Indian of short stature, though his residence in Teepee City would suggest he is from one of the Plains tribes. Wahoo is wealthy due to the sale of some oil leases but doesn’t know how to read or write and thus vulnerable to swindle. Princess Minnie Ha-Cha was promised to him as a bride since she was a child, but their romance never really gets started as Minnie goes away to New York City to receive a college education.

As the narrative opens, Wahoo sets out for NYC to prevent Minnie from marrying the Duke of Burpingham. He has not seen Minnie since she was an overweight adolescent. He is not prepared for the beauty that he meets and is hospitalized from shock.

The narrative is all comic melodrama the likes (though not the quality) seen in other comic strips such as Thimble Theatre (featuring Popeye), the Gumps, and early Wash Tubbs narratives.

Big Chief Wahoo Gets Serious

Wahoo is willing to step aside when he falsely assumes Minnie is in love with the handsome Captain Lance of Sylvania, a country seriously threatened by civil war. In despair, and no longer certain he wants to live without her, Wahoo signs on for what could very well be a suicide mission in 1939 to aid in the Sylvanian cause. An official tells Minnie as much when she discovers that Wahoo has left without saying goodbye.

The fact that some humorous characters emerge on Wahoo’s mission doesn’t take away from the fact that are diminuitive protagonist is showing genuine pathos. Wahoo has become a genuine hero, if an often humorous one. Wahoo is brave, unusually strong, good with a bow and arrow, and a fierce fighter despite his size.

Enter Steve Roper, Hero or Oblivious Jerk?

It is possible that the number of newspapers running Big Chief Wahoo plateaued or were even dropping. Whatever the motivation, Allen Saunders opted to add a virile white male character to the narrative. This was likely intended to give the strip’s predominantly white readership someone Saunders felt they could better identify with and who could more credibly handle action sequences. The same set of circumstances, a strapping white supporting character teaming up with a less physically imposing lead of color occurred in the Charlie Chan comic strip.

Wahoo becomes Steve Roper’s friend after the photographer parachutes into Indian country in 1940. They remain so for some seven years. Wahoo almost immediately plays second fiddle to Roper, though a conflict with the sinister Black Eagle has Wahoo returning to center stage. It is interesting to note that Black Eagle is college educated and wears an ascot. The implication is that Black Eagle has been corrupted by the white man’s ways. Here Wahoo takes on the trope of the noble savage, though a decidedly more comic one than is typically the case.

Wahoo continues to have flashes of pathos in the first years of his association with Roper. (It is hard to call it a friendship, though the narrative portrays it as such.)                  

Wahoo does become jealous when he sees a romance developing between Steve and Minnie. And for a moment Minnie fears that Wahoo might actually shoot him. She seems to have had some cause to worry.

The Complex Case of Minnie Ha-Cha

Minnie Ha-Cha as a character is a decidedly mixed bag. She is a rare instance of a comic strip character of color in the 1930s and 1940s to be presented as sexually attractive and the object of romantic interest. But in order to do, the artist makes the choice to draw her with Caucasian features. If it weren’t for her skin color and attire, one would assume that she was white. Having gone away to college, Minnie also appears to be largely if not entirely acculturated. On the plus side, Minnie is proud of her heritage and challenges the bigotry of Roper’s mother in decidedly direct fashion as seen below. Minnie is increasingly referred to as “princess” even though this is a term associated with white royalty and incongruent with American indigenous culture.

Minnie Ha-Cha Challenges Racism

Big Chief Wahoo as Charlie Chan

Once the potential for conflict between Wahoo and Roper over Minnie Ha-Cha has been resolved, Wahoo loses a good deal of the fire and emotional range demonstrated in his solo adventures. Wahoo now suggests that he never expected that Minnie and he would marry, despite earlier narrative evidence to the contrary. By extension, he seems to accept that Steve Roper is a more desirable suitor for Minnie than he was. In an apparent effort by Allen Saunders to still portray him sympathetically, Wahoo begins to offer a sort of indigenous wisdom, expressed in Charlie Chan like maxims from a stereotypical native perspective. For example on 1/29/45, Wahoo observed the ephemeral ability of wealth as a goal in and of itself: “Wampum without happiness,” he says, “is like bow without arrows.” Wahoo no longer expresses any romantic aspirations or frankly any interest other than tagging along with Roper and aiding his friend in achieving his goals.

A Slow Fadeout for Big Chief Wahoo

It seems clear that as the Steve Roper and Big Chief Wahoo comic strip (as it now was called) moved towards increasing realism, Roper’s Indian pal was an embarassing stereotype. Post-war America and its media began to display greater sensivity to such stereotypes as minority groups began to express their disaproval. The late forties media response to racism in its narratives was generally to eliminate the offending stereotype but not replace them with a more realistic and respectful portrayals. By and large, characters of color simply disappeared from the funny pages. Representation of minority characters went from embarassing stereotypes in the thirties and early forties, to an almost total invisibility by the end of the forties through the fifties.

The offensive stereotype of Steamboat in the Captain Marvel comic books of the 1940s is a prime example of this. Billy Batson’s black valet went from playing a prominent role in the Shazam hero’s adventures to abruptly disappearing. The character of Joe Palooka’s trainer, Smoky is somewhat more complicated. While drawn in stereotypical fashion and playing a subservient role, Smoky was a heroic character and a genuinely good friend with many admirable qualities. Nonetheless, he needed a serious visual makeover in the 1940s if he was to remain a viable character. This Ham Fisher was apparently unwilling to do or felt constrained by racist public sentiment not to do. Both characters disappeared circa 1942. Rare exceptions to the resulting invisibility of minorities in the comic strips were the portrayals of Siberia in Brenda Starr and Joe Otterfoot in Secret Agent Corrigan.

Big Chief Wahoo suffered an ignomious fate. He simply disappeared without explanation. He increasingly seems to tag along with Roper in the final months of their association, often not speaking. In his final appearance in the narrative, he and Roper arrive at the hospital to see an ailing friend. Wahoo is only seen in silhouette in a hospital corridor. Roper goes in to see the friend. And Wahoo is simply forgotten.

Months later, Princess Minnie Ha-Cha gets a more respectful send-off. Minnie’s career takes off and she is last seen heading for Hollywood but still is hurt when Roper suggests that it would be best for her career if the two parted ways. The comic strip belongs to Steve Roper.

That said, it is not until the following year, in 1948, that Big Chief Wahoo’s name is officially removed from the title of the comic strip. At that point, it is doubtful too many folks even noticed.

A Postscript

It may be that Allen Saunders got an occasionally piece of mail wondering what happened to Wahoo. If so, he declined to revisit the characters that gave him his start. But an odd sort of tribute was penned either by Saunders or his son John in 1979 into 1980.

Steve Roper was increasingly suffering the same fate as Wahoo, something of an afterthought in a comic strip now entitled Steve Roper and Mike Nomad. He didn’t appear at all in this particular narrative. It turns out the father of Mike Nomad’s boss at the taxi company was missing. Bucknell Bancroft was a visionary who had found the perfect location for his plan to turn the ocean tide into energy. The only problem was that his plan would decimate the lobster fishing enterprise of a group of Native Americans.

Nomad and his boss’ search is redirected when they encounter a tall, handsome and muscular Indian man named Juno. His lovely sister was named Anna. They’ve been holding Bancroft in “protective custody” of sorts. The tribe is none to happy with what he has in mind. All of the tribal members dress in conventional “Western” dress and speak grammatically correct—a far cry from Wahoo portrayal over thiry years earlier.

The thing is, Bancroft and Nomad use insensitive terms, referring to Juno variously as “Tall Tonto” and “Injun Joe.” Juno, for his part, refers to Nomad as “Eagle-beak.” The “tribute” of sorts was made clear when Nomad happens to call Juno “Big Chief Wahoo.” And later he gives Anna the same treatment, calling her “Minnie.” Nomad never met either in the narrative, all of this being an authorial conceit.

Thankfully, Saunders gives Juno the final word and allows him to one up Nomad consistently. Not only is Nomad no physical match for Juno, but Juno saves Nomad’s life and devises the contraption that allows Nomad and his associates to survive when their limo crashes and sinks into the ocean.

When a grateful Nomad takes a look at the contraption Juno rigged up, he unthinkingly credits Yankee ingenuity. Juno just grins. “You forget, Eagle-beak, we are the original Americans.” (1/16/80)

It wasn’t much, but it was at least a wink and a nod that Wahoo and Minnie had existed at all. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

Big Chief Wahoo’s Friends and Allies

Minnie Ha-Cha. A beautiful Indian princess with whom Wahoo is infatuated and who is devoted to him. That said, Minnie’s heart seems easily swayed. Promised to Wahoo as a child, Minnie is heavy set when she leaves for New York City and college. As the narrative declares, “six years of college and city life have transformed Chief Wahoo’s promised bride into the toast of Broadway,” where she is a torch singer for the popular Wigwam Club. Besides Wahoo, Minnie is variously engaged to the Duke of Burpinham and Captain Lance of Sylvania. Minnie Ha-Cha runs a dude ranch while living in Teepee City as featured in Sunday strips but pursues a career as a singer at the Wigwam Club when in New York City. When Steve Roper makes the scene in 1940, the photographer is attracted to Minnie, who he attempts to impress with this unfortunate line: “Hmm! Some classy squaw! Heap much pleased to meetum, babe!” (as portrayed in Famous Funnies #89). Later, he becomes more sensitive and romantic, noting how he can get lost in her eyes and the two fall in love. Minnie stands up to Steve’s mother in 1941 when he objects to her marriage on racial grounds. Minnie’s career takes off and she is last seen heading for Hollywood but still is hurt when Roper suggests that it would be best for her career if the two parted ways. 11/23/36-11/47.

J. Mortimer Gusto. AKA “The Great Gusto,” a good-hearted schemer who joins Wahoo on his journey to New York City when Gusto is kicked off a train for lack of funds. Gusto seeks to help Minnie’s career in whatever way he can. Gusto is last seen trying to make a carnival in which he has half ownership successful.11/28/36-8/39.

Oscar the Octopus. A highly intelligent, glove-wearing octopus who helps Wahoo defeat the evil Captain Pegleg and who thereafter is adopted by Wahoo as a pet. The most fantastic element of the narrative, soon dropped when Oscar is sent to a zoo. 4/4/38-9/22/38d, also featured on some Sunday pages.

Lucky. A seemingly abandoned baby, the tribe names the child Lucky, The foundling turns out to be the endangered Prince Michael of Sylvania. When Wahoo and Minnie learn his true identity, they return Lucky to Sylvania, where they meet Captain Lance, Lucky’s commoner father. When civil war breaks out in Sylvania, Wahoo and Minnie take Lucky back to Teepee City and once again hide him for his own safety. Steve Roper almost endangers the toddler when he innocently plans to run a story about the child. After killing the story to insure Lucky’s continued safety, the child disappears from the daily narrative and is only featured in light-hearted Sunday strip vignettes. 2/16/39-5/15/39d, 12/4/39-5/6/40d, also many Sunday humor strips circa 1940 on.

Captain Lance. Loyal member of the Sylvanian palace guard, Lance is also Lucky’s father, having been married to the late princess of Sylvania. When Lance meets Minnie upon the return of his son, the two are immediately infatuated. Despondent, and not wanting to stand in the way of Lucky having two parents, Wahoo takes on a suicidal mission to assist Sylvania. When open civil war breaks out in Sylvania, Lance insists Minnie and Wahoo take Lucky back to America for his own good, thus ending a budding romance.

4/21/39-5/15/39, 12/4/39-12/39.

Rita Rio. The girl friend of gun runner El Garlico who takes a fancy to Wahoo. And Wahoo wonders if he could forget Minnie in Rita’s arms. Just as he is about to marry Rita (an action that, according to an Aztec curse, would have turned him into stone), Wahoo’s attachment to Minnie leads him to flee the ceremony. Rita and Wahoo meet again not long after, when Wahoo becomes sheriff of Bordertown. But when El Garlico breaks out of prison and regains his wealth, Rita proves fickle. 5/20/39-7/19/39, 11/20/39-11/25/39.

Spike Naylor. Adventurous pilot who Wahoo convinces to fly him back to Sylvania. 11/27/39-2/4/40.

Residents of TeePee City. Typically only featured in light-hearted vignettes on the Sunday page, residents include Wahoo’s friend Mooseface, heavy set Sadie, and mischievous children Tommy Hawk, Pigtails, Wildcat and the aforementioned white prince, Lucky.

Steve Roper. Originally a devil may care reporter who parachutes onto tribal land to obtain a story, he soon falls for Minnie Ha-Cha and paradoxically befriends Wahoo. Roper seems oblivious to the degree he has wronged Wahoo. Wahoo, for his part, becomes a loyal friend and valuable aid, accompanying Roper on various adventures and journalistic assignments. The ending of his association with Wahoo happens circa 1947 but is never fully told. Later that same year, Roper breaks things off with Minnie Ha-Cha, ostensibly to not hold her back as she heads out to Hollywood to further her career. Roper enjoys a long career in journalism thereafter. 3/23/40-c/87, 12/4/97-12/26/04

Juno. A member of an Atlantic coast Indian tribe who make their living off of lobster fishing. Their livelihood is threatened by an energy guru named Bucknell Bancroft when he tries to claim ownership of the cove which in actuality is only half his. Juno is tall, handsome, and a commanding presence. Juno rescues his sister Anna, Nomad, Bancroft, and Bancroft’s daughter from a watery grave when Nomad’s limo plunges into the ocean. Juno never met Wahoo, but is referred to as “Big Chief Wahoo” by Nomad on one occasion and so is included here. 10/20/79-1/20/80.

Big Chief Wahoo Enemies

Black Eagle. A very tall, well-built, suit and ascot wearing Indian and  a college graduate, Black Eagle operates a kidnapping operation out of modern office hidden in an ancient pueblo. Broke upon graduating, Black Eagle “soon got wise to the fact that the white man would never make room for me in his world (and) my own people wouldn’t give me a break either!” He kidnaps the loved ones of the wealthy (in this case Minnie Ha-Cha) “with a nifty new twist that only an Indian would think of!” If the loved ones fail to pay off, he makes them suffer “the Fate of Nakoma,” a secret powder that destroys youth. His ultimate aim is to obtain 50% of the Wahoo’s tribe’s valuable oil royalties. 1/41-2/41 (Famous Funnies 119-123).

Captain Pegleg. Seafaring villain who captains the Suzy Q who Wahoo, Minnie and Gusto unfortunately charter for a treasure hunt on the island of Glub. The captain not only has a pegleg but sports a black eyepatch to boot. 3/38-4/26/38.

The Duke of Burpingham. Wealthy and aristocratic suitor of Minnie Ha-Cha. When Wahoo arrives in New York City to see Minnie, the Duke attempts to murder Wahoo by means of a time bomb. Afterwards, Minnie hopes the Wahoo and the Duke can be friends (!) and the Duke becomes a rival for Minnie’s affections but no longer a dangerous one. 11/36-10/37.

El Garlico. Gunrunner operating just south of the border who supports the rebels in Sylvania. His former girl friend, Rita Rio, helps Wahoo see him jailed. But El Garlico soon breaks out prison to vex Wahoo, who now is the sheriff of Bordertwon. 5/20/39-6/16/39, 10/11/39-11/25/39 (Big Chief Wahoo 7).

Mrs. Upsnoot. Unethical fundraiser for a charity attempts to use Wahoo’s inability to read to cheat him out of his fortune on behalf of her charity. 5/37-6/37.

Professor Weerd. Demented professor at Cramhard College, the president of which hires Wahoo to uncover the person behind threatening notes signed “The Reaper.” It emerges that the Reaper is a minion of Weerd who has created a time reversal device which can exchange the personalities of historical figures with present day figures. Weerd is captured, but not before Wahoo’s personality becomes that of Napoleon.Only a worried kiss from Minnie Ha-Cha can snap Wahoo back into himself. 10/7/38-11/30/38.

Slug Spumoni. Gangster who seeks revenge on Minnie Ha-Cha when she beats out his girl friend for a part in a movie. 10/1/37-11/29/37.

Von Broot. Revolutionary who attempts to overthrow the monarchy of Sylvania. 12/8/39-2/40.

Watsiki. Foreign agent for the Kymurian government, a pudgy Asian man with round, black framed glasses. One of the few foes to face Roper and Wahoo more than once. Roper and Wahoo first encounter Watsiki in India while Steve is trying get photographs of the elusive Empress Zorena. It emerges that Watsiki is seeking an oil contract with the resource rich country of Kasbah which the British fear may be used against them and America some day by fueling enemy planes. In their second encounter, Watsiki is in America, seeking to steal the formula for Nihilite, a new extremely powerful explosive that chemists working for Roper’s father have developed. Watsiki learns of this through a servant he has placed in the Roper home. Roper and Minnie Ha-Cha develop a scheme to weave the formula into a shawl using her native tongue as a way to safely get the formula to Washington. This time Wahoo temporarily subdues Watsiki who still manages to escape again. He is apparently blown up, the Nihilite formula destroyed along with him. In his third and final appearance, Watsiki explains he escaped as he was a good swimmer. He is now ensconced in a neutral country as the unseen, behind the scenes, “Master” and assited by the lovely Toy Fan. His reference to the money his emperor has sent to this country clearly suggests Kymuria is meant to be Japan. Watsiki meets his apparent final fate in a volcanic eruption. 5/19/40-8/12/40, 5/12/41-7/17/41, 6/4/42-6/24/42 (Famous Funnies 95-97, 99-101, 129-132, 136-137).

Big Chief Wahoo Comic Strip Reprints

Books

Steve Roper and Chief Wahoo, Books 1-2, Blackthorne Publishing Inc.

Comic Books published by Eastern Color (Sunday strips Wahoo only)

Big Chief Wahoo 1-7

Famous Funnies 44-82

Comic Books published by Eastern Color (daily strips with Steve Roper)

Famous Funnies 89-174; Steve Roper 1-5; Famous Funnies 174-187).

Big Chief Wahoo Timeline

1936    Wahoo meets The Great Gusto as he sets out to see Minnie Ha-Cha in NYC.

1937    Wahoo keeps Minnie from marrying the Duke of Burpinham.

1938    Wahoo must face Captain Pegleg and Dr. Weerd. He adopts an octopus.

1939    Wahoo brings Lucky, a foundling, to Sylvania where Von Broot is a threat.

Steve Roper and Big Chief Wahoo Timeline

1940    Wahoo and Minnie meet Steve Roper.Enter Zorena and the sinisterWatsiki.

1941    Black Eagle is educated and evil. Arch foe, Watsiki, returns.

1942    Steve and Minnie almost marry.Wahoo struggles with it.Watsiki meets his fate.

1943    A government mission prevents a second wedding. Enter Yvette Beaumont.

1944    Zircon,Snapper, and Hugo Schwine all menace Roper and Wahoo.

1945    Mrs. MacBeth,Zebra, and Blowtorch threaten Roper and Wahoo in turn.

1946    Snapper returns. Enter Kit Karson, hunky Sonny Brawnski and Cupake DeVine.

1947    Wahoo does a slow fade. Steve breaks up with Minnie, citing her career.