The story of Steve Roper and Mike Nomad is one of a comic strip that never quite found firm footing.

It began as a humor strip called Big Chief Wahoo, but became Big Chief Wahoo and Steve Roper when the daring news photographer joined him in 1940. When the creators of the strip pushed Wahoo out in 1947, it was just plain Steve Roper. Rough around the edges Mike Nomad joined him in 1956.

Steve Roper and Mike Nomad were the newspaper’s funnies page number one bromance from 1956 to 1987, when Roper retired to investigate the Bermuda Triangle. (It didn’t entirely make sense even then!) Roper, restless for adventure, returned a decade later. The guys finally shut off the lights on the their heroic narrative in 2004.

The thing that makes Steve Roper and Mike Nomad an interesting comic strip to consider is how its creators efforts refkected an evolving sense of male heroics and friendship. But before looking at Roper and Nomad, it’s necessary to take a quick look at a far less successful male friendship, that of Roper and Big Chief Wahoo.

Wahoo in Context

As already noted, the comic strip Steve Roper was originally called Big Chief Wahoo.

Wahoo was created in 1936 by writer Allen Saunders (better known for Mary Worth and Kerry Drake) and Elmer Woggon (brother to Bill, who brought Katy Keene to life).

Big Chief Wahoo was described as a Seminole Indian of evident short stature. 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 character in a comic strip can be found here.   

Enter Steve Roper, Hero or Oblivious Jerk?

Wahoo becomes Steve Roper’s friend after the photographer parachutes into Indian country on assignment. The two remain so for seven years. Wahoo does become jealous when he sees a romance developing almost immediately between Steve and Minnie. It never seems to occur to Roper that he has done his supposed friend a serious wrong. Nor are readers intended to think that such behavior reduces his heroic stature. It is assumed to be self-evident that Roper is the more desirable choice. And the college educated Minnie clearly seems to think so.

Once the potential for conflict between Wahoo and Roper over Minnie Ha-Cha has been resolved, Wahoo now suggests that he never expected that Minnie and he would marry, despite earlier narrative evidence to the contrary. Steve and Minnie are soon engaged.

Not Just Born with a Silver Spoon

In the early forties, Allen Saunders gradually develops a backstory for his new hero.  Playing the role of a spoiled if adventurous wealthy young man—as Steve Roper is initially portrayed—was quickly becoming a dated trope. Bruce Wayne at least had a family trauma to generate his heroic bonafides. So Saunders adds a decided wrinkle to Roper’s origins, which also helpfully nixes his impending marriage to Minnie Ha-Cha.

As the backstory evolves, readers learn that Roper is unable to join the military service due to a trick knee he got while playing football at Yale (!). As a result, Roper roams the country in search of adventurer as a tough-talking action photographer. Roper later learns to his considerable surprise that he is adopted. In search of his biological mother in March of 1942, Roper recounts to Wahoo what he’s learned about his mysterious childhood: “A young man from New Orleans married my mother against his rich parents will. They turned him out. After I was born, my father went to war—and didn’t come back! My grandparents then tried to get me away from mother! They even set thugs on her trail. One night she hid me in a parked car—the Ropers’ car! When she came back, the car was gone—and so was I!”

In an artful twist, once Princess Minnie Ha-Cha’s tribal chief learns that Roper is not from a prestigious white family, it is he and not Roper’s snooty high society mother who withdraws his permission for the union!

From Soldier of Fortune to Investigative Crusader

With the resolution of World War II, a new image of masculinity began to become increasingly dominant. Educated, middle class and urbane, this new post-War heroic ideal necessitated changes in how Steve Roper was portrayed. Drawn by new artist Pete Hoffman, beginning in 1946, Steve Roper took on a more sophisticated look. No longer the brash soldier of fortune, Roper was now a thoughtful, pipe smoking fellow of manly sophistication.

One needs look no further than Milton Caniff and Roy Crane’s new heroes to confirm the trend. Soldier of fortune Pat Ryan of Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates was abandoned for a new comic strip featuring Steve Canyon. Captain Easy was similarly left to other hands so Crane could focus on his new creation, Buz Sawyer. While both Canyon and Sawyer remained resolutely masculine, capable of more than holding their own in a fight, they were also, well, far more respectable. So too with the ever evolving Steve Roper.

While still capable of taking out a bad guy with his fists, Steve’s journalistic investigations into various varieties of fraud were more cerebral, at least in the early stages of each new case. Roper’s emerging romance with his boss at Snapshot magazine, Kit Carson, aspired to the snappy repartee of Hepburn-Tracy movies. This new Steve Roper would never think of cavalierly stealing another man’s girl. But Roper consistently faced death at the hands of often brutal con men.

Steve Roper’s Rogues Gallery

Beginning in 1944, with Big Chief Wahoo still in tow, Roper began squaring off against some of the same sort of visually distinctive villains that Dick Tracy popularized and a new comic strip named Kerry Drake was emulating. Debuting in 1943, Saunders was ghost writing Kerry Drake. While not a detective as such, Roper was an investigative reporter. It may have been a natural for Roper to begin facing a similar array of foes. Distributed by the same syndicate, however, Steve Roper and Kerry Drake did at times resemble each other.

Snapper (1944, 1946, 148) was one of the first Tracy-like rogues, earning his nickname from a compulsive habit of snapping his figures and a distinctive profile that few men, if any, ever sported. Meatless (1944) was extremely thin and Hugo Schwine (1944), well, was rather piggish.

Zebra (1945), who favored black and white striped suits, followed, as did Deadhead (1945), with his vaguely skull-like visage and incongruous tuxedo, and Blowtorch (1945), who constantly smoked cigars.

More such villains soon followed: the the murderous Clipper (1946), who compulsively clipped his nails, Glossy Vaneer (1947), with his oily, slicked backed hair, a dangerous knuckle cracking dwarf named Crunch (1949), and the toothy counterfeiter, Beaver (1949). While not as grotesques as, say, Chester Gould’s Pruneface, they shared the idiosyncratic attributes that marked other Tracy foes like Itchy, Shaky, and Shoulders.

A Slow Fadeout for Wahoo and Minnie

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. In the post-War era,  Wahoo more and more seems to merely tag along with Roper, often not even speaking. And then, in 1947, he simply disappears from the narrative without explanation. Nor is Roper ever shown wondering what the fellow who saved his bacon on more than one occasion.

Months later, Princess Minnie Ha-Cha gets a more respectful send-off. Minnie’s singing career (she got her start at Manhattan’s trendy Wigwam Club) takes off. Seeing her off to Hollywood, Roper suggests that it would be best for her career if the two parted ways.

Other Masculinities

The post-War period in the United States also saw a rise of interest in bodybuilding and a greater objectification of the male form. Saunders introduced Sonny Brawnski, a handsome and husky football star at Midwest College. His brawny good looks infatuate both Kit Karson and a nail stylist named Cupcake DeVine. But once Sonny meets Cupcake, he only has eyes for her. The two lovebirds dominate the storyline from 1946 to 1948, marrying in 1947 and giving birth to a son the following year. Saunders invites readers to submit names for the baby and the response is overwhelming. In all likelihood, this marks the strip’s greatest popularity.

Sonny and Cupcake are beloved characters, and Saunders brings them back on stage repeatedly over the years (1949, 1953, 1955, 1966, and 1968). While Cupcake remains as beautiful as ever, Saunders allows Sonny to realistically suffer the fate of many a collegiate football hero. His glory days over, Sonny gains weight, begins to bald, and struggles to keep the novelty business he started in the black.

While still single and fit, Sonny signs on with “Monocle Molly” Moran (1947), a manager of professional wrestlers, to raise money to get a paralyzed Cupcake the expensive surgery she needs. Monocle Molly dresses in conventional men’s clothing and conveys such a masculine appearance that Sonny initially mistakes her for a man. Unlike Frisco, a similarly masculine female Saunders created as a villain for Kerry Drake, Monocle Molly is tough but good-hearted. Both Frisco and Monocle Molly seem intended to suggest a lesbian identity in an era where such an orientation might only be hinted at.

Three Saunders narratives for Stever Roper in the fifties all feature villains with suspect masculinity. Gazell, an arrogant ballet dancer, clashed with Roper in 1950. Ballet dancers in the fifties were associated with a lack of masculinity and as such presumed to be homosexuals. And a gazelle-like name clearly didn’t evoke a macho image either. (Though it must be noted that Gazell also had a lovely female companion named  Minuette.) That Gazell turned out to be a communist and a traitor, at a time when gay men were considered security risks and banned from the military in real life, hardly seems a coincidence.

In 1952-53, Dainty—a conman with arched eyebrows, thin nose and thick, indolent lips—poses as a hairdresser in order to gain access to ahousehold full of jewels. A final effete villain, Fancy Feet (1957) earns the nickname due to the stylish shoes he always wears. Using a cigarette holder while smoking, an effete mannerism, Fancy Feet—like  Gazell before him—is also a communist.

Roper’s Rogues Gallery, Part Two

The 1950s saw Saunders beginning to favor somewhat more realistic villains in both Steve Roper and Kerry Drake. Still, crooked fellows like the sleep deprived “Bags” Bacardi (1950), “Brain” Storm (1951), the always shivering Chilly Mac (1954), the acrobatic Limberleg (1955), and Fancy Feet (1957) carried on the tradition. In the sixties, fewer such foes appeared though Neckless (1963), Skin (1967), and Tight-Eyes (1967) deserve mention. Tight-Eyes’ return for revenge in 1975, now calling himself Squints, marked the end of the tradition. By then, Steve Roper’s new associate, one Mike Nomad, was creating a decidedly different vibe. 

Mike Nomad and Blue Collar Ethnicity

Mike Nomad first appears in the narrative on 6/19/56. He was the creation of new artist William Overgard, who took over from Pete Hoffman in 1954. Rough around the edges and conveying an unfiltered masculinity, Nomad provided a stark contrast to Roper, who was beginning to feel lacking in color.

As his story unfolder, it emerged that Nomad came to the United States with an uncle. He worked the oil fields, construction jobs, any way to raise the money to bring his parents to the U.S. After paying a man named George Gumbo five thousand dollars to smuggle his parents into the States, Gumbo told him there had been an accident and his parents were dead. Nomad believed he shot and killed Gumbo, but actually the con man was saved by a cigarette case. Now Nomad was seeking revenge.

Steve Roper helps Nomad find Gumbo and his parents, still alive. He helps stifle Nomad’s worst instincts, a role that he will adopt thereafter. In the early years of the narrative, Steve attempts to mento Nomad, getting Nomad a delivery driver job for Snapshot Magazine.

Nomad travels a decidedly different social realm than does Roper. The narrative now shifts between Roper’s more sophisticated investigations and Roper’s more haphazard adventures. Nomad struggles making ends meet and has girl friends who are exotic dancers and owners of motorcycle shops.

As Mike Nomad gradually and inexorably takes over the narrative, the tone of the comic strip naturally evolves as well. Through the sixties, it is increasingly blue collar in tone, though remaining steadfastly urban. Nomad’s new job as a taxi driver reflects.

Mike Nomad, Women and Feminism

Mike Nomad is an intriguing figure in comic strips, in that he is a one woman man, but is serially unsuccessful in his relationships. These relationships are typically not one story romances but reoccur in a couple or several storylines before inevitably ending things. The women in his life often have blue color backgrounds, also different from most “story strips” of the day. Heroes no longer needed to be emotionally diffident but sexually successful, ala James Bond. Scruffier heroes increasingly had their appeal.

The first of many Nomad girlfriends is Aloha Lee, a dark-hairedlounge singer (1956-1959), followed by show girl Dolly Grafton (1963, 1965), motorcycle shop owner Tiger Towers (1966, 1970). One of the only women Mike ever proposed to was a nurse named Kasey O’Hare (1970, 1971), a romance derailed by one of Mike’s exes, Caryl Starr (1969, 1970).

An interesting non-romance in 1971 was with a “women’s libber” named Peggy Pulaski, whose name nonetheless suggests a Slavic background similar to Mike’s. It is Steve Roper who first encounters her at a protest over his magazines hiring practices. Steve responds to her demands of equal representation at the workplace calmly but also glibly.

“Men and women share most talents, Miss Pulaski, but how many lady prizefighters can you name?”

“Typical male evasion of the issue,” Peggry retorts. “I’m only saying I can handle any job around here—including yours!” (4/1/74)

Roper takes up the challenge, assigning Peggy to be Nomad’s trucking partner to allow her to prove her point if she can. Nomad is none to happy but the two gradually gain grudging respect for each other. That said, Peggy also falls for Mike and wants to become his girl, uttering an unfortunate bit of dialogue.

Mike gently turns her down, still holding a torch for Kasey O’Hare.

Steve Roper and Women’s Lib

That same year, Roper hires a talented young reporter named Trudy Hale. “Let’s hope you make a permanent place for yourself here! Both of the girl interns we had last year quit to get married.”

“I won’t!” Trudy declares. “I want a career before I settle down … cook and clean for some man.”

This time, both Roper and Trudy develop feelings for each other. But there is a policy against bosses and workers marrying. Trudy Hale declines Roper’s offer, all the more so when Roper wonders if they could maintain a relationship in secret. (6/7/74)

The two end up figuring a way around this and marry in 1976. Unfortunately, Trudy immediately becomes something of a damsel in distress, first being lost at sea, then suffering amnesia, and finally losing her mind and divorcing Roper altogether.

More Nomad Romances

Mike Nomad is more successful than his pal and finding romantic interests but no better in maintaining them. Joy Holgate (1975-77, 1978, 1980)is a buxom young woman of uncertain employment, whose impending marriage to a muscularhealth spa entrepreneur sends Nomad into a bit of a tailspin. Mike runs into her again, a now wealthy widow, flirting at romance but thinking better of it.  When Joy and a new woman, bounty hunter Cory Canfield, both reject Mike in 1978, it sends Mike into a crisis of confidence. Nomad might be something of a macho throwback, but he is no stoic superman. He cares about the women he presumably sleeps with, even if he is unable to make commitment work for him.

Dana Bera (1981, 1984), a female bodybuilder, isn’t hurt when Nomad gives her a vague reassurance that he’ll be in touch at the end of their second shared adventure. She assures him that he is a man best experienced in small doses.

Ma-Jong, the “Other” Woman in Nomad’s Life

Ma-Jong is a Chinese restaurant owner and landlady of the room above it that Mike rents. Ma-Jong is short, plump and round faced, a quality only reinforced by her large round glasses. She is fond of smoking cigarettes and offering Confucian aphorisms such as “A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.” Despite a number of stereotypical features, she always gave better than she got and was never the target of humor.

Mike’s lack of financial success even means he has to share apartments and even his room with a series of men, beginning with Roper himself. Once he finds his own place at Ma-Jong’s, he often falls behind on his rent—a source of narrative humor but also a marker of Mike’s inability or unwillingness to make a regular paycheck a priority. Subsequently he takes on the uncle of Roper’s secretary, Cran Mellon, and a formerly homeless young man and mechanic, Lank Botkins. But there is nothing to suggest anything other than financial need in these arrangements. It does allow for Ma-Jong to make some extra appearances. Her dry commentary and grudging affection for Nomad contribute to the enjoyable narratives of the strip at its peak.

Embracing a Southern Trucker Vibe

In 1980 Nomad begins to question whether taxi driving is the career for him. Nomad makes a somewhat logical shift to truck driving. This allows him to travel across the country and have stories that center on a more small town or southern rural life. All of this is consistent with developments in popular culture. Burt Reynolds is a box office star with the series of good ol’ boy Smokey and the Bandit movies that take off beginning in 1977. The Dukes of Hazzard strikes television gold in similar fashion from             –     .

The rough and anything but elegant artwork of Fran Matera (who begins drawing the strip in 1985) is a perfect fit for the new rural, deep south blue collar vibe.

When Nomad begins working as a private detective in 1989, his cases often take him to out of the way corners of the States. When eccentric Emma Stopp becomes Nomad’s most frequent client in 1991, the transformation of the narrative is nearly complete. Stopp owns a troubled chain of motels that stretch from New England to Florida. The cases she involves Nomad in take him far afield from New York City and rarely have a big city focus.  

Steve Roper’s Decline and Fall

The entrance of Matera in creative partnership with longtime writer John Saunders clearly impacts the direction of the narrative. Or, perhaps better put, intensifies a direction it was already taken. But this shift in tone also required Steve Roper getting knocked off his comfortable perch of upper middle class respectability.

Three years earlier Steve Roper had already entered a downward spiral with the end of his marriage to Trudy. Letting himself go and neglecting his administrative duties at Consolidated Publications, the Major has no choice but to fire him. An increasingly irrelevant player in the narrative, Saunders and Matera usher him off stage in 1987 with Roper’s decision to retire and (rather inexplicably) write a book about the Bermuda Triangle.

The comic strip retains its title, Steve Roper and Mike Nomad, but Roper is unseen for a full ten years.

Mike Nomad’s New Career

Without the publishing backdrop of the strip that Roper’s presence required, Nomad clearly needed a profession more suitable to his character. The answer arrives in 1989 with Nomad meeting up with Francis Hogan, a retired, hard nosed cop who left the force under a cloud of suspicion. Believing Nomad owes him for the time his cab hit Hogan’s motorcycle, Hogan guilts Nomad into using some of his casino winnings to start the Hogan Security Agency.

 “Name one reason I should set up an ex-Keystone cop up in business?” Nomad wants to know on 7/17/89. “Penance,” Hogan replies. “You owe me something for the sleepless nights I’ve suffered because of my damaged knee.” Mike ends up working for Hogan and is sent on various cases by him—often accompanying him.

During this same period, the theme of Nomad’s revolving door of romances comes to an end. Mike finally settles down with Meg Carey (1988-2000, 2004), a fierce social worker, whose face increasingly suggests she’s lived a hard life. With her father, a recovering alcoholic named the Admiral, and Hogan’s hard nosed concern, Nomad finds a new famly of sorts. His room remains over the top of Ma Jong’s restaurant, though the feisty matron’s appearance are few and far between.

Nomad, Roper and Aging Heroics

When Roper returns after a ten year absence, it appears he may be trying to reclaim his status and prestiege as a successful journalist. He has signed on to write the authorized biography of one of the richest men in the world, Manchester York. Nomad expresses mild disappointment that Roper has become “one of those” kind of guys, too nice to say Roper has sold out.

Roper has to learn the hard way that York is up to no good. In the end, it is Roper who has to ask Nomad if the Hogan Agency might have room for him. The power dynamic is temporarily reversed. A necessary adjustment. Thereafter the two men operate fully as equals.

Roper now takes a job at a small town newspaper in Cove City, Florida, far removed from the urgency evoked by his earlier New York City adventures.  As drawn by Matera, the bearded Roper—who is now presumably in his late fifities, or even early sixties, looks frankly tired. Even the virile Nomad, now in his forties it would seem, begins to seem dragged down as well. It is a new, increasingly popular trope of aging masculinity still hanging on to increasing challenging heroic ideals.

The centrality of Frances Hogan in the narrative, also apparently in his sixties, echoes these themes of the vicissitudes of advancing age. In 1996, Hogan appears to have been kidnapped, but it is actually a disappearance engineered by the ex-cop himself. Hogan fears his past an adolescent gang member haunts him as Obie Davis, a lifelong adversary since adolescence, returns as a threatening presence. But both of the antagonists are getting up in years. The conflict has a decidedly melancholy flavor.

Storylines that now go on for seven, eight, even nine months at a time do nothing to counter the sense that our heroes are slowing down. Their bromance has quieted down to an unspoken but tangible acceptance of the other as they are.  Nomad is satisfied with his relationship with Meg Carey, though it rarely feels passionate.

As for Roper, the end of his narrative drama is not finding true love, but rather in discovering that he has a heretofore unknown daughter by ex-wife—an aspiring journalist named Sadie Baxter.  The two of them standing at Trudy’s grave is the final image of the narrative. A melancholy ending that is a fitting ending to a comic strip which—like the lives of its heroes—has reached its inevitable conclusion.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

Steve Roper’s Family and Friends

Mr. Roper. Steve’s very wealthy, businessman father. Initially dead set against Roper’s soldier of fortune ways, he comes around to be more supportive. He is charmed by Minnie-ha-cha unlike his wife. It only later emerges that the Ropers are not Steve’s biological parents. 11/10/40-1/1/41, x/41, 12/41-2/42 (Famous Funnies 114-118, 124-127, 152-153).

Mrs. Roper. Steve’s rather snooty, high society adoptive mother. She is supportive of her son’s engagement with Lulu Gubbs but is fiercely opposed to his engagement to Minnie-ha-cha who she repeatedly refers to as a squaw and beneath his station. After seeing Minnie’s bravery in saving the life of Gloria Van Debb, Mrs. Roper finally grants her blessing. The sachem of Minnie’s tribe, Gray Cloud then arrives and wants to see Steve’s birth certificate to confirm the Ropers are from a worthy line. It is only then that the Ropers confess that Steve was a foundling they adopted. Gray Cloud declares the wedding off. 11/13/40-1/1/41, x/41, 12/41-2/42. (Famous Funnies 114-118, 124-126, 152-154, 158-159).

Lulu Gubbs. Steve’s high society and overweight fiancé whom Steve schemes to undo the engagement. 11/13/40-12/40. (Famous Funnies 114-116).

Gloria Van Debb. A former girl friend of Steve’s that Mrs. Roper invites to their home in the hopes of breaking up her son’s engagement to Minnie-ha-cha. But Gloria comes to deeply respect their relationship when Minnie goes to extraordinary lengths to save Gloria’s life. 12/41-1/42.

Vic Windsor. Handsome painter and secret jewel smuggler, Windsor facilitates his operation by also disguising himself as the elderly Granny Tuttle. Windsor turns out to be an American agent smuggling industrial diamonds for the government. 7/23/41-9/22/41 (Famous Funnies #137-144).

Yvette Beaumont. A French girl Steve knew in college, he runs into her while on a government mission in Brazil and again in France. Secretly working against the Nazis, Yvette declares her love for Steve but (engaged to Minnie) demurs. Soon after, Yvette is killed by a Nazi bomb blast. 11/5/43-2/8/44.

Jimmy Strong. Publisher of Snapshot magazine and former college friend who hires Roper as a photographer. 9/44-x/45.

Kit Karson. The new owner of Spotshot magazine—tough, smart and brunette—and Roper’s boss. There is romantic tension between the two though she has variously pursued Sonny Brawnski and fallen under the influence of Swinn Galli. Karson and Roper were briefly engaged in 1951, but she didn’t stand by Steve when he was framed for a crime he didn’t commit, leading to their break-up. They begin seeing each other again, only for Kit to balk at being a mother to So-Hi. 2/46-7/53, 11/54 (Famous Funnies 174-xx).

Sonny Brawnski. Just out of the Navy, Brawnski becomes a nationally recognized football star for Midwest College. His brawny good looks infatuate both Kit Karson and a nail stylist named Cupcake DeVine, but Sonny only has eyes for Cupcake once they meet. When Cupcake is paralyzed, Sonny becomes a professional wrestler under Monocle Molly in order to raise funds for a costly surgery. The surgery is a success and the two are promptly married in 1947. A family soon ensues. By the sixties, now middle-aged, Sonny runs a plastic novelty factory and is frequently struggling financially. His final adventure with Steve in 1968 involves getting in trouble with a loan shark and features his now teen-age son, Buster. 8/46-4/20/48, 8/7/48-10/23/48, 10/49-11/49, 9/53-2/54, 4/55-7/55, 12/25/57, 2/66-4/66, 12/67, 10/27/68-1/69 (Famous Funnies 178-201, 206-208).

Kochanie “Cupcake” DeVine. Cupcake is genuinely infatuated with Sonny Brawnski, but is hired by Snapper Cassino to influence his football performance once she is reported kidnapped. Cupcake is later shot and paralyzed by Clipper Kleeg, but ultimately recovers. Cupcake is TooToo’s twin sister, also a shapely platinum blonde, but is far more innocent. 8/46-4/20/48, 8/7/48-10/23/48, 10/49-11/49, 9/53-2/54, 4/55-7/55, 12/25/57, 2/66-4/66, 10/27/68-1/69 (Famous Funnies 178-81, 183-201, 206-208).

TooToo DeVine. A burlesque performer with a heart of gold, the saucier identical twin sister of Cupcake who arrives in town looking for her sister, not knowing she’s been kidnapped. TooToo remains in town to care for her sister after her paralysis, but leaves after her regaining her mobility.11/46-c7/47 (Famous Funnies 183-193 or 194)

Buster Brawnski. Oldest son of Sonny and Cupcake. Born prematurely at the weight of only two pounds, his name was determined by a contest ostensibly run by Kit Karson and open to all readers of the Steve Roper comic strip. 3/48-4/20/48, 8/48, cameos, 10/68-1/69 (Famous Funnies 201).

“Monocle Molly” Moran. A masculine appearing stout woman who manages a group of professional wrestler. She first recruits and subsequently befriends Sonny during his brief foray into the squared circle. When Sonny first meets her, he mistakes her for a man. 3/47-8/47 (also Famous Funnies #187-192).

Valerie Vance. Kit Carson’s loyal secretary, a beauty in her own right. Affectionately called Vance by Kit and Steve, she often plays an important role in the narrative.

Drift Carson. Kit’s handsome, long lost younger brother, Drift proves to have poor judgement in women, falling for the hard-edged beauty of Biceps Barr’s criminal sister. x/51-x/51, 7/52-11/52.

Stormy McCloud. Beautiful 19-year old daughter of an old professor of Roper’s, Stormy initially attempts to seduce Steve until she learns he’s engaged to another woman. Her father is a scientist who is keeping a dangerous invention a secret from his former student. 4/52-7/52.

Major J. Calhoun McCoy. Major McCoy arranges a meeting with Roper as soon as he learned that Steve had resigned from the Major’s chief rival in publishing, Spotlight (formerly Spotshot) magazine.Now working for Tell, later Proof magazine, Steve must deal with the Major’s niece, Honeydew Mellon. While the Major is hard-nosed, he proves more reliable than Roper’s old boss, Kit Carson. McCoy promotes Steve to be editor-in-chief of a line of magazines he’s purchased in 1970. In 1972, the Major is being seriously considered by the President of the U.S. to be his Secretary of Defense when his secret past as having briefly been a member of the communist party threatens to come to light. In 1983, The Major reluctantly fires a despondent and increasingly erratic Roper. 6/11/53-3/83.

So-Hi Chong. Korean war orphan who Steve informally adopts for a time. So-Hi quickly picks up some English, but persists in calling Steve “Steeb.” So-Hi shuttles between staying with the more settled Brawnski family and Roper. So-Hi slips out of the narrative in 1956 without explanation, though is portrayed with Steve and the Brawnskis on Christmas Day 1957 and presenting a Korean poem on New Years Day. 7/26/53-10/56, 12/25/57, 1/1/58 (presenting poem).

Sally Schultz. Attractive brunette social worker who first meets Steve while investigating So-Hi’s custody situation for child welfare. The two ultimately begin to date, her maternal instincts for So-Hi favorably contrasted to those of Kit Karson. 8/53-x/xx, 12/54-7/55, 4/56, 7/56, others, referenced 8/57, 2/58.

Honeydew Mellon. Major McCoy’s attractive, bright, but very idiosyncratic niece whom he hires to be Steve’s new secretary in his role as editor. …3/55-3/83.

Auntie Fayme. Mrs. “Auntie” Fayme Ripple is the eccentric fifty-something sister of Major McCoy who asks Steve to “chaperone” her during her visit. She becomes the object of a scheme by Countess to bilk her out of money she doesn’t really have. 8/57-10/57.

Alexandra “Zandra” Kleft. Editor of Fashion First, one of several magazines to suddenly fall under Steve Ropers’ editorial supervision after Major McCoy purchases it along with several others. Zandra is initially wary of Roper, assuming he will be intrusive but the two develop a respectful, non-romantic relationship with each other. 2/25/70-5/10/70, 8/71-8/71, 6/72, 6/24/73-9/23/73.

Leslie Ramm. Editor of World Times, which was also purchased by Major McCoy. In 1972, he joins Roper in investigating whether a feeble old man might actually be Adolph Hitler. 1/72-3/72, 6/72.

Delta. A physically formidable bodyguard, Delta Haskins is hired by Major McCoy to protect Steve when his life is threatened by the mob. Delta develops feelings for Roper and Nomad warns her off, trying to protect their marriage. 9/82-2/83.

Trudy Hale Roper. A young, attractive reporter with whom Roper initially clashes, but whom perennial bachelor Roper ultimately falls in love with and marries in August 1976. When Trudy suffers from a post-traumatic nervous breakdown due to being caught in explosion in 1983, she is psychiatrically hospitalized and ultimately divorces Steve. Years later, after her death, it is revealed she gave birth to a daughter while in the hospital, unbeknownst to Roper. 3/10/74-6/74, 10/74-1/30/75, 6/27/76-9/17/76, x/77x/81?, referenced 9/82, 2/11/83.

Captain Jenny. Jenny Sloop is an older woman captain and owner of the Zephyr, a small yacht. In retirement, Steve hires her to take him on a survey of the Bermuda Triangle. She is assisted by Jib, her beautiful dark-haired daughter and first mate. On the first leg of their journey they are kidnapped by a terrorist named Toro. Steve presumably speads many months with Jenny researching his book, though there is no hint of a romance between them. 2/87-7/87.

Sadie Baxter. Blonde-haired, television journalist daughter of Steve and Trudy Hale Roper, who gave birth to Sadie while hospitalized without Steve’s knowledge. Sadie works as a reporter for the Florida Sun News. Trudy kept Steve unaware of her existence and Steve only encountered her by chance after Trudy’s death. Sadie goes to interview Emma Stopp regarding events at her motel and drops a locket. Steve picks it up and opening it finds his picture and one of Trudy inside. Father and daughter are reunited in the closing months of Roper’s career, the narrative ending with the two standing together at Trudy’s grave. 9/26/04-12/04.

Steve Roper Notable Adversaries

Ali Baboon. Bald and hulking brawlerin Monocle Molly’s stable of professional wrestlers who becomes homicidally jealous of Sonny Brawnski’s success in the ring as the Masked Meteor. 3/47-6/47 (also Famous Funnies #187-192).

The Avarice Brothers. Identical twins Beauregard and Bonaventure are co-owners of Avarice Development, Inc., unscrupulous land developers. Roper assists an old friend Jenny Marco when the brothers threaten her father’s livelihood in Cove City, where Roper works. 6/15/01-7/2/01.

“Bags” Bacardi. Sporting deep circles under his eyes, Bags Bacardi is the head of a national gambling syndicate that uses its considerable wealth to buy off politicians and thus maintain its viability. Bags is killed when his vehicle, driven by his associate Chewy, hits an enbackment. 7/15/50-10/29/50.

Beaver. Counterfeiter whose facial features and prominent overbite resemble that of a Beaver. His criminal associates are Crunchy, Baldy, and Baldy’s moll, the lovely “Bo” Kay, all of whom he is willing to betray. 6/11/49-9/12/49.

Biceps Barr. Crooked bodybuilder, Biceps Barr is engaged in a counterfeit money scheme. His is very muscular, with a hairy chest and ripped abs. Biceps is assisted in his scheme by his equally criminal sister, Wonder Barr, who seduces Drift Carson as part of their plan. 8/52-11/52.

Blowtorch. Constantly puffing away on his cigar, Blowtorch tortures Roper on a torture rack. He is burned to death when, lighting a cigar, he accidentally ignites a flame thrower. 12/45-2/46.

Bobbie Burnem.  Murderous female behind a crooked furnace repair business. Her criminal associate is “Augie” Augusto and their muscle is Wick (“not for wicked”) Warren. When Bobbie and Augie leave Nomad to freeze to death in the frigid cold, Bobbie has second thoughts. 12/64-2/65.

“Brain” Storm. Dr. Storm is a brilliant, if sour-faced schemer who kidnaps Kit Carson and replaces her with a double named Kate Marvin. He directs Kate to slowly siphon off funds from her magazine. Storm is bald, with a pointy nose and a double chin. He wears thick glasses that gives his eyes an especially intense appearance. He assisted by a huge nurse named Tiny and an underling named Julian. 1/51-5/51.

Captain Skuba. Handsome even with an eye-patch, this European racketeer and scammer starts plying his trade in the United States. He blackmails Mike Nomad’s cousin, Minka Novak, into resuming their criminal partnership by threatening her parents who are locked away in a communist prison in Eastern Europe. 7/66-9/66.

“Chilly” Mac. Constantly cold, Chilly Mac wears a thick overcoat and scarf even in the spring and is constantly shivering. He occasionally stammers as he shakes. Chilly is undone when Roper uncovers his con of passing off cheap watches as very expensive ones. Even in jail, Chilly Mac attempts to do away with Roper. Luring him to his cell with a promise to reveal the secrets behind other cons, he tries to kill Roper with a concealed knife in his shoe. Chilly Mac is assisted by Calory, a chubby thug who enjoys eating frozen treats, much to his boss’ dismay. 4/3/54-7/10/54.

“Clipper” Kleeg. Ruthless mobster who earns his nickname by constantly clipping his nails. He is aided by members of his gang, Voices—a master impressionist, Oxie, and Maw Foglights, the unscrupulous owner of their junkyard hideout. He is reviled for shooting and crippling the beloved Cupcake DeVine. 11/46-3/47 (also Famous Funnies 183-187).

Cosmos. AKA, “The Master” of the Temple of Modern Miracles, a chubby, balding con man who bilks money from his “flock” of teenagers who have taken a vow of poverty on his behalf. 12/77-1/78.

Crunch. The head of an immigrant smuggling ring, Crunch is a broad-shouldered and physically menacing dwarf. He is constantly cracking the knuckles of his large hands in menacing fashion. Always well dressed, Crunch is bald, has a thick mustache and round frames that sit atop his nose. As such he creates a mixed impression of menace and intelligence. His criminal associate is the lovely foreign born blonde, Countess Kavyaar. 2/6/49-5/28/49.

Dainty. A conman with arched eyebrows, thin nose and thick, indolent lips, Dainty poses as a hairdresser in order to gain access to the household of former monarch King Zugg and the jewels he is rumored to possess. 12/52-2/53.

Deadhead. With his gaunt cheeks, sunken eyes and flat nose, Deadhead’s face resembles that of a skull. Incongruously, Deadhead likes wearing a bowtie, tux and fashionable hat. He is in the extortion business and assisted in set-ups by the lovely, blonde temptress, Doodles. 9/45-11/45.

Fancy Feet. The nickname of a communist operative of “the people’s government” in Europe, his actual rank and surname is Colonel Magyarr. While he has a severe appearance with a narrow, bald head, Magyarr is also known as Fancy Feet due to the stylish shoes he always wears. Magyarr also dresses in a turtleneck sweater and uses a cigarette holder while smoking. When he fails in his mission in Paris, due to Mike Nomad’s interference, his superior gives him a gun to kill himself. A shot is heard, but it is unclear whether Magyarr shot himself or his superior. 5/57-8/57.

Gazell. A sharp-featured ballet dancer who secretly is a communist agent. He possesses a register of all the fifth columnist traitors in the United States. He is assisted by the lovely and relatively innocent Minuette. 11/5/50-1/27/51.

Glossy Vaneer. Crooked and decidedly jealous former dance partner to the beautiful and tempestuous Torreodora. Vaneer’s hair is slicked back and oily. 12/47-3/48 (Famous Funnies 198-xxx).

Hugo Schwine. A doctoral professor of physics, Schwine commits a series of campus murders in order to steal a formula that could be a cure for the common cold. Schwine has a snout like nose and overweight build that gives him a piglike appearance. 12/3/44-1/29/45.

Jezebel Jones and Monte Carlo. Jezebel is a beautiful and vicious blonde-haired con woman who wields a cat-o-nine tails and is just as willing to punish her husband as Roper. They are in a marriage made in hell, kept together by their desire to make a fortune through an illicit gambling/counterfeiting scheme. 9/47-11/47 (also Famous Funnies 194 or 195-197).

Limberleg. An acrobat of considerable ability, when he has an injury that results in a healthy settlement, he realizes the money that can be had in faking such injuries. He is assisted by the beautiful Icey. 12/6/54-2/27/55.

Manchester York. Described by Roper as the world’s richest man, York is a media mogul who own over 50 newspapers, though many serving smaller markets. York initially hires Roper to write his official biography. As Roper gets to know the man, however, York demonstrates an unusual belief in UFOs. At first appearing to be a Southern gentleman, York’s “Colony” for UFO believers is likely in reality a land scam. Bertie, York’s daughter, supports her father’s actions. x/97-x/98.

Meatless. The tall, gaunt and balding owner of the 7/11 Club, a gambling den that preys on veterans. Mister Deal, aka Meatless, meets his end swallowed up by quicksand. 1/31/45-3/31/45 (Steve Roper 2-3).

Mrs. MacBeth. This slender, stern-faced woman understudied under her magician brother. After his death, MacBeth uses her magician trickery to commit crimes. 4/45-6/45 (Steve Roper 3-4).

Needlenose and Big Ben. Last names Purke and Baxer respectively, the two mobsters team up to try to pull off a beauty contest scheme involving stolen jewels. Big Ben is bald and a noted jewel thief. Needlenose, not surprisingly has a noteworthy nose. 8/21/58-10/23/58.

Penny Ember. Attractive criminal who describes her skill set as the “fine art of arson.” 8/6/77-9/25/77.

Professor Gudge. Fish-eyed, bespectacled and jowly, Gudge is surprisingly agile and physically dangerous despite his burly, somewhat overweight build. He hides diamonds in his seemingly precious microscope. Gudge is also an experienced diver. 5/44-8/44 (also Famous Funnies #165-170).

Snapper. In his first appearance, “Snapper” Cassino—so called because he is always nervously snapping his fingers—is the well dressed, bow-tied manager of the Totem Pole Night Club. He is also a jewel thief. His nose is so prominent that his forehead and the bridge of his nose form a single, smooth ark. In his second appearance, Snapper kidnaps Cupcake in order to influence Sonny Brawnski’s performance in a college football game, thus insuring high profits for bets that he has placed. He is assisted by the notably homely Horseface and short in stature, Stubby. In his third appearance, Snapper adopts large, one framed dark glasses and the title of the Chief and is joined by Glitter DeCoye in an illegal hotel gambling operation.The Chief is particularly afraid of Brawnski, who badly beat him up after having kidnapped his girl friend. 9/44-11/44, 8/46-10/46, 7/48-10/48 (also Steve Roper 1; Famous Funnies 178-183, 206-208).

“Still” Waters. Born Stillman Watero, Waters uses a mechanical robot dinosaur from an old movie to make local residents believe a monster actually swims in Devil’s Lake. It’s all a ploy to make sure his uranium mining operation adjoining the lake is not uncovered, nor his deal with a foreign government to buy the material. 4/21/48-7/9/48 (also Famous Funnies 203-205).

Swinn Galli. A former vaudeville hypnotist has the ability to influence women to become devoted to him, including the usually very hard-headed Kit Karson. Actually a bigamist named Edward Johnson, Roper is able to interrupt their wedding in the nick of time. 10/48-2/9/49.

Tight-Eyes. Persistently squinting thief who steals checks and then sells them to others to criminally use. He ends up killing to keep his crooked business safe and is exposed by Roper. One of his alias’ at that time is given as “Squinty” Williams. Years later, he is out of prison seeking revenge on Roper, who he shoots and nearly kills. He now goes by “Squints” and it falls on Nomad to apprehend him. 9/29/67-11/14/67, 8/9/75-10/26/75.

Toro. Seaborne terrorist who along with his criminal associates robs boats in the Carribean and also smuggles narcotics. He kidnaps Steve, Mike, Captain Jenny and her daughter and holds them on his secret island headquarters. Toro has a thick mustache, sports shades and wears his hair in dreadlocks beneath a quasi-military hat. 3/87-7/87.

Twitch. Aka Paul Twitchell, “Twitch” is a tightly wound psychopath with a skinny build and sunken eyes. Found guilty of killing his wife, he escapes from prison and kidnaps Steve Roper in the process. Twitch frequently quotes poetry to his captives. 2/25/58-4/21/58.

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).

Whipple “Whip” Koils. Racketeer who uses the secret criminal history of a wealthy businessman gone legit (one “Silent” Knight) to blackmail him into letting him marry his beautiful daughter, Sable, who happens to be a good friend of Kit. 6/15/46-8/15/46 (Famous Funnies 174-177).

Zebra. Mr. Zuchetti, nickname Zebra, has striped black and white hair and wears a matching black and white striped suit. A con-man who attempts to trick Minnie out of an inheritance of gems, Zebra fronts his operations out of a laundry business run by Moptop Maggie, a brawny enforcer with a prominent missing tooth, button eyes and unruly curly hair 6/45-9/45 (Steve Roper 4-5).

Zircon. Dark-haired and exotic “half-caste” beauty, Zircon is first seen by Roper as a belly dancer in Cairo. Later, wearing a distinctive two buttoned blouse and trousers, she proves to be a schemer willing to kidnap and worse for a price. Aided by the large, powerful and fez wearing Kasha Blanca, Zircon becomes fond of Roper and Wahoo, but not enough to entirely give up her larcenous ways. 4/21/44-9/9/44 (Steve Roper and Wahoo: Book 1; also Famous Funnies 165-174).

Zorena. The empress ofKasbah and known as “Satan’s Sister”, the seldom seen Zorena has never been photographed. When Steve sets out with Wahoo to do just that, they discover she has the hypnotic ability to create illusions.5/10/40- 8/28/40  (Famous Funnies 96-106).

Mike Nomad’s Family and Friends

The Novaks. Mike’s parents. x/56-10/56.

Aloha Lee. Attractive dark-haired lounge singer who becomes Mike Nomad’s girl friend in what turns out to be a tempestuous relationship. Aloha finally becomes fed up with Mike’s independent ways and breaks things off with him.7/8/56-11/56, 1/57, 5/57, 4/58-5/58, 3/59-4/59, 8/59-11/59.

Ma-Jong. Chinese restaurant owner and landlady of rooms above her business that Mike Nomad moves into. Ma-Jong is short, plump and round faced, a quality only reinforced by her large round glasses. She is fond of smoking cigarettes and offering Nomad Confucian aphorisms such as “A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.” 6/27/61-10/61, 11/62-1/63 and regularly thereafter till 12/04.

“Buddy Boy.” Aka Barton B. Barnum. Old army buddy of Nomad’s, Buddy Boy has become a con man, receiving funds from mobsters for 200 machine guns but never delivering them. A mobster named Cheeko Checko pursues the lost funds. 10/62-1/63.

Dolly Grafton. Showgirl girl friend of Mike Nomad. 10/63-11/63, 2/65-5/65.

Tigera “Tiger” Towers. Attractive owner of a motorcycle shop she inherited from her father, Tiger is also a talented motorcross racer. Nomad assists her in resisting the efforts of “Skin”, the leader of a cycle-riding gang. Tiger later returns to help snap Mike out of a romantic funk and engage him in a racing opportunity. 4/22/66-6/29/66, 9/12/70-12/24/70.

Rod Kalore. “Reckless young mechanic” who works with Mike Nomad at the taxi company for a time. 9/28/69-12/69, 2/70.

Caryl Starr. A wide-eyed aspiring writer, Caryl traveled all the way from Nebraska to meet and hopefully learn from Steve Roper. She has the bad luck to talk to him while he is secretly held at gunpoint by a maniac named Payne. She soon falls for and gives helpful information to Nomad regarding Steve’s unusual behavior. Caryl is next hired by Schuyler B. Swift to unknowingly spend counterfeit money. Caryl and Nomad continue to date until a contentious breakup in 1970. When Caryl learns that Mike is happily engaged to Kasey O’Hare she successfully attempts to break them up. This fails, however, to win Nomad back. 7/6/69-9/29/69, 5/9/70-9/11/70.

Kasey O’Hare. Full name Catherine Collins O’Hare, R.N., Kasey first sparred and flirted with Nomad while serving as his nurse during a hospital stay. Mike fell for her quickly and the two became engaged. Caryl Starr, Mike’s most recent girl friend, schemed to make it appear he was two-timing her with ther. 5/24/70-9/12/70, 6/9/71-8/4/71.

Peggy Pulaski. Women’s lib protester who becomes Mike Nomad’s trucking partner to prove that women can do anything a man can do. She falls for Mike and wants to become his girl but he turns her down, still holding a torch for Kasey O’Hare.3/28/71-6/6/71.

Crandall “Cran” Mellon. Honeydew’s sometimes footloose uncle turned private investigator. Cran and Mike Nomad are roommates for a time during a period when both were short on cash. 9/23/73-12/30/73, 6/8/74-8/1/74, 5/10/75-8/10/75.

Joy Holgate. Originally the unwitting girl friend of the murderous Squint, Joy falls for Mike Nomad who rescues her from his domination. After seeing Steve commit to Trudy, Joy becomes increasingly frustrated by Mike’s unwillingness to commit and finally throws him out after he refuses to “put a ring in his nose,” i.e. marry her. Joy briefly reenters Mike’s orbit in  1978 with a muscular boy friend, Norman Niles, owner of a chain of health spas. Seeing Joy happy with another man sends Nomad into a bit of a tailspin. Mike runs into her again, a now wealthy widow after the death of her husband, “Sonny” Niles that someone is trying to kill. The two flirt with a romance but think better of it. 9/22/75-1/77, 5/4/78-5/7/78, 1/23/80-7/1/80.

Lank Botkins. Homeless young panhandler whom Mike and Joy Holgate befriend. He soon is infatuated with the lovely but unreliable Angelica Andover. Discovering Lank is a talented mechanic, Mike gets him a job at the taxi company he drives for and for a time the two share a room at Ma Jongs. In 1978, Lank is in trouble again, suspected of shooting and killing another young man named Bobby Clay. 10/27/75-6/76, 11/75-12/75, 6/76, 7/77, 8/78-1/79, 2/80, 2/81-2/81.

Cory Canfield. Attractive “bounty hunter” from Montana who hails Mike’s cab once into town. She is actually seeking to kill Kent Fenton the man she believes cheated her father out of his ranch. The details are more complicated and, despite Mike’s interest in her, she hooks up with Fenton. That and Joy Holgate’s rejection sends Mike into a tailspin. 2/4/78-5/1/78.

Abby Rome. Attractive, dark-haired attorney friend of Roper’s who becomes romantically involved with Nomad. The arrival of her irresponsible brother Alfie creates complications for all involved. 11/16/78-4/12/79.

Meg Carey. “A holy terror of a social worker,” Meg crosses paths with Mike Nomad when Mike is restraining a young female pickpocket named Tippy, one of Meg’s charges. Misunderstanding his intentions, Meg screams at him to keep his hands off of Tippy. The two gradually fally in love and get engaged. Hogan ends up hiring Meg for his detective agency because of her unique knowledge regarding children in trouble. Meg’s father is a colorful character named the Admiral. Meg and Mike break things off in 200, but are happily reunited in 2004. Meg has short dark hair. She initially is portrayed as conventionally pretty, but as the narrative progresses, her facial expression increasingly suggests a life of significant challenges. 12/12/88-7/89, 1/7/90, 5/91-x/00, 3/4/04-12/04.

Hogan. Full name, Francis Xavier Hogan, a former police officer who leaves the force under a cloud of suspicion in 1989. Believing Nomad owes him for the time his cab hit Hogan’s motorcycle, Hogan guilts Nomad into using some of his casino winnings to start the Hogan Security Agency. “Name one reason I should set up an ex-Keystone cop up in business?” Nomad wants to know on 7/17/89. “Penance,” Hogan replies. “You owe me something for the sleepless nights I’ve suffered because of my damaged knee.” Mike ends up working for Hogan and is sent on various cases by him—often accompanying him. In 1996, Hogan appears to have been kidnapped, but it is actually a disappearance engineered by himself. Hogan fears his past an adolescent gang member haunts him as Obie Davis, a lifelong adversary since adolescence, returns as a threatening presence. Over the years, Hogan readily hires Nomad’s friends, first Meg Carey and later Steve Roper. 6/89-12/04.

Belle. Secretary at the Hogan Security Agency. As Hogan explained to Mike, “an old… friend of mine will be out Girl Friday.” 7/28/89-12/04.

Ronnie Cain. The quirky and difficult son of actress Candy Cain, pre-teen Ronnie turns out to be an exception nal computer hacker and is instrumental in helping Nomad, who has been hired as his hybred baby-sitter/bodyguard, bring down the Judas Corporation. He appears in the narrative again in 1994, becoming involved with a potential romantic interest in a girl named Cissy Conant. The two are kidnapped with the assistance of Tugboat Tillie, who ends up being hired by Cissy’s father despite her involvement. 6/90-5/91, 8/31/94-5/30/95.

Admiral “Pop” Carey. Meg’s father, a short-tempered brawler who soon becomes a good friend to Mike Nomad. In 1993, the Admiral becomes engaged to restaurant owner Molly O’Malone. 6/91-10/91, 2/27/93-6/93, 6/99-6/14/00.

Emma Stopp. Colorful, elderly motel owner with purple hair who frequently utilizes the services of Nomad s detective agency, sometimes simply to use Nomad as her chauffeur. In 1995, an earlier chauffeur hires Bea Ware to kill Stopp. From 1999 into the following year, Emma joins the Admiral, Steve and Mike on an adventure in a haunted castle. 12/91-7/5/92, 5/31/95-2/96, 7/97-11/97, 5/7/99-6/14/00, others through 12/04.

Hamish Drymen. Eccentric character who teaches golfing as well as crafting golf clubs. Emma Stopp takes an interest in him. 3/17/97-11/29/97.

Mike Nomad Notable Adversaries

Bea Ware. Pretending to be anEnglish photographer, Bea Ware is actually a contract killer who is sent to kill Emm Stoop. Ware is a tall and beautiful bleached blond with long hair and an increasingly wild look in her eyes. Meg Carey is adbucted with Emma and it is up to Nomad to rescue them both. It turns out that Ware was hired by a former chauffeur of Stoop’s who was aware he would be well rewarded in Stoop’s will. 9/27/95-2/5/96.

“The Bounty Hunters.” Hard nosed criminal and his beautiful associate (Ronnie and Red) kidnap Mike, mistaking him for an ex-con who knows how to retrieve a whole lot of stolen money. Realizing their mistake, they pretend to be bounty hunters in an effort to get Mike to retrieve the ex-con (named Jocko, the nephew of Pop Carey’s new sweetheart) for them. 4/13/93-12/8/93.

Chimney “Chim” Sweep. Crooked processor of stolen muscle cars. He is short, stocky, has a vaguely chimp-like visage, and is always seen smoking a cigar. His schemes are undone by Nomad and Rod Kalore. 10/27/69-12/69.

Gumbo. Aka George Gumbo, the man Mike Nomad’s immigrant parents paid to get them into the United States. Nomad believes he killed his family though luckily they turn out to still be alive. 7/17/56-9/28/56.

Judas Corporation. Headed by Mr. Judas, an international money-laundering organization undone by Mike Nomad and the hacking skills of young Ronnie Cain. Mr. Judas is an older, stone-faced man whose eyes are partially obscured by sun glasses. 7/90-3/91.

Lady Jade. Attractive Chinese woman who trafficks in illegal activities and international espionage in Hong Kong. As she explained to Nomad, “I was an educated liberal and expressed m dislike for thought control in public.” Forced to operate in the shadows, her business as a marriage broker in Hong Kong evolved into espionage with the encouragement of a shady Brit named Nigel. Lady Jade sports long finger nails and her signature shiny sun glasses. 1/22/86-4/24/86.

Madame Darmah. Crooked supposed psychic assisted by the coolly sinister Dr. Falcon, their schemes are undone by Nomad. 9/25/65-11/25/65.

Marty Monroe. Extremely wealthy, handsome and charismatic man who hobnobs with the elite and whose finances are a mystery. Nomad is called upon by the feds to help investigate and it emerges his wealth is due to an elaborate survivalist con. 7/26/80-11/22/80.

O. B. “Obee” Davis. An associate of Hogan’s when both were teenagers in a gang. Obee continued down a criminal path and was a thorn in Hogan’s side during his time as a police officer. Years later, in 1996, Obie turns up again and Hogan goes into hiding, fearing for his life. It depends on Nomad to help him out of trouble. 3/17/96-8/12/96.

“Skin.” Former forty–something college professor who was fired for his inability to follow rules and for pursuing coeds. His love of motorcycles and excitement leads him to head up a criminal biker gang. Physically fit, he gains the moniker Skin due to his habit of only wearing a leather vest with no shirt underneath it.5/10/66-6/29/66.

Steve Roper Comic Strip Reprints

Books

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

Comic Books

Famous Funnies 89-174; Steve Roper 1-5; Famous Funnies 174-208.

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. Roper’s arch foe, Watsiki, returns.

1942    Steve and Minnie almost marry.Watsiki meets a final, volcanic 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 Steve Roper in turn.

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

1947    Exit Wahoo. Steve breaks up with Minnie, not wanting to hurt her career.  

Steve Roper Solo TImeline

1947    Jezebel Jones is a menace. Sonny and Cupcake marry.

1948    Still Waters,Snapper, and Swinn Galli are the bad guys. Cupcake gives birth.

1949    Enter the deadly Crunch and counterfeiter Beaver. Sonny and Cupcake return.

1950    “Bags” Bacardi heads  gambling syndicate. Enter lethal ballet dancer, Gazell.

1951    “Brain” Storm kidnaps Steve’s boss, Kit, and substitutes a twin in her place.

1952    Biceps Barr draws in Kit’s brother Drift. Dainty pretends to be a hairdresser.

1953    Luger Louie frames Steve. Steve meetsMajor McCoy and rescues So-Hi Chong.

1954    Chilly Mac’s always cold. Steve ends it with Kit when she can’t accept So-Hi.

1955    Limberleg fakes falls. Sonny Brawnski gets in deep with on the job gambling.

Steve Roper and Mike Nomad Timeline—Part One

1956    Steve meets Mike Nomad, who soon romances Aloha Lee. Enter Big-Cut Karnac.

1957    Fancy Feet and the Countess cause successive trouble.

1958    Prison escapee Twitch kidnaps Steve. Enter Needlenose and Big Ben.

1959    Mike and Aloha Lee end their tumultuous romance.

1960    Steve squares off against Big Bertha and her shapely sister, Gypsy.

1961    Mary Jones threatens Steve and Mike’s friendship. Enter Mr. Odds and Princess.

1962    Steve and Mike’s roommate, Chuck, moves out. A crooked Birdie likes to golf.

1963    Mary Jones returns, menaced by Neckless. Mike falls for showgirl Dolly Grafton.
1964    Mike looks like dead spy Arno Benedict. His own death faked to take his place.

1965    Steve exposes supposedpsychic Madame Darmah and the sinister Dr. Falcon.

1966    Sonny Brawnski’s novelty company is at risk. Skin threatens Tiger Towers.  

1967    Tight-Eyes steals checks and then sells them.

1968    Sonny’s dealings with a loan shark put Cupcake and Buster in danger.

1969    Roscoe Payne kills his own family, then kidnaps Steve. Enter Caryl Starr.

1970    Mike and Kasey O’Hare get engaged. Caryl breaks them up. Tiger Towers returns.

1971    Feminist Peggy Pulaski vexes Mike, who still pines for Kasey, now in London.

1972    Scorpion Rook sells termpapers. The Major is up for US Secretary of Defense.

1973    Honeydew’s ne’er do well uncle, Cran Mellon, moves in with Mike.

1974    Steve falls in love with reporter Trudy Hale. Mellon becomes a private eye!

1975    “Squint,” aka Tight-Eyes, seeks revenge. Cran Mellon solves a murder.

1976    Steve marries Trudy, who is soon lost at sea. Mike and Joy Holgate get serious.  

1977    Steve undoes Penny Ember’s “fine art of arson.” Trudy found but has amnesia.

1978    Lank Botkins’ unlucky in love. Cory Canfield’s rejection derails Nomad.

1979    Abby Rome’s brother is trouble. Liberty is Mike’s new boss. Juno is Wahoo 2.0.

1980    Reenter Joy Holgate. Nomad investigates Marty Monroe’s survivalist con.

1981    Mike gets involved with movie actress Soho and meets Dana Bera.

1982    His life in danger, Steve grows a beard and gets a bodyguard named Delta.

1983    Steve’s life falls apart when Trudy loses her mind. He gets fired by the Major.

1984    Mike asks Dana, a female bodybuilder, to join him in a trucking venture.

1985    A boozy resort owner named Firetop hankers for a romance with Mike.    

1986    Hong Kong’s Lady Jade deals in espionage. Steve plans “a forever vacation.”

1987    Steve “retires” to write on Bermuda Triangle. Enter Captain Jenny & Toro.

Mike Nomad Solo Timeline

1988    Mike wins big at a casino and meets devoted social worker, Meg Carey.

1989    Mike thwarts Mr. July’s homeless kids racket and bankrolls ex-cop Hogan.

1990    Mike caretakes juvenile hacker Ronnie Cain. Enter the Judas Corporation.

1991    Mike and Ronnie undo the evil corp. Mike meets Meg’s pop and Emma Stopp.

1992    Mrs. Stopp hires Mike as her driver. Mafioso Tommy Tamiami isn’t happy.

1993    Admiral Carey’s in love. Enter “bounty hunters” Ronnie and Red.

1994    Donna Frump is a control freak.  Ronnie Cain is in love with Cissy Conant.

1995    Ronnie and Cissy are kidnapped. Bea Ware is hired to kill Emma Stopp.

1996    Bea Ware is captured. Hogan hides from lifelong nemesis, Obie Davis.

Steve Roper and Mike Nomad Timeline—Part Two

1997    Enter Hamish Drymen.Steve Roper returns to write Manchester York’s bio.

1998    The very richYork runs a UFO real estate scam. Steve joins Hogan Security.

1999    Emma Stopp, Pop Casey, Steve and Mike investigate a haunted castle.

2000    Steve helps Jenny Marco stave off the Avarice Brothers.

2001    Steve and Mike travel to Alaska to tell Corey Applegate about her inheritance.

2002    Mike and Steve encounter a spy ring while on Emma Stopp’s yacht.

2003    Emma Stopp’s longlost daughter, Amy Adams, has a shady past and present.

2004    Mike reunites with Meg Carey.Steve meets an adult daughter, Sadie Baxter.