Oscar Hampel (New Earth)

Stringleshanks
Mainstream Universe‎, 1986‎-2011‎
Gallery
Real Name	Oscar Hampel
Main Alias	Stringleshanks
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Puppeteer
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Orange
Origin
Universe	New Earth
Creators	Paul Dini · Cliff Chiang
First Appearance	Zatanna Vol 2 #8 (February, 2011)

It was the weirdest feeling. Kind of like hovering in an eternal dream that's happening around you, but not to you, if that makes any sense. You can't even think for too long -- at least I couldn't. The more I'd try to focus on something, the more everything would jumble up and fade away. So I let myself drift. Never hot, never cold, not dead... but not alive, either. Just nothing, really. For years and years. Until you walked by. All it took was one little glance from you. Suddenly it was like my soul had been shot back into my body. I could move again and speak again, a real-life Pinocchio! Though I have to tell you, still being a marionette really sucked!

— Stringleshanks

Stringleshanks was an enemy of the wizard Zatara and later his daughter, Zatanna.

History

Oscar Hampel began his life as a juvenile delinquent and petty thief in New York City before becoming an assistant to a team of professional Italian puppeteers who taught him their craft and art. When his bosses refused to go into television, Hampel murdered them by drugging them and setting their apartment on fire before stealing their puppets. He enjoyed a successful career performing on television and in theaters across the United States, but his success began to dry up as audience tastes changed, and he resorted to his old petty crimes to get by. When he was invited to perform alongside Zatara, the theater manager caught him stealing. Hampel stabbed him to death and tried to escape with the cash box, and when the young Zatanna saw him, he attempted to stab her as well. Zatara, looking at Hampel, recognized the evil in his soul, and to protect his daughter and punish him, cursed Hampel by trapping him inside the body of his puppet Stringleshanks.

Hampel spent many years as a puppet on display in San Francisco's Museum of Magic, with only half awareness of anything, until Zatanna, receiving an award in the museum, happened to walk past the display. Her presence was enough to restore him to full consciousness, and allowed him to move again. He invaded Zatanna's home and attempted to kill her again. Zatanna overpowered him, but found her magic couldn't destroy him or change him, since her father's spell was so strong.

Hampel insisted that he was innocent and had tried to kill her in a moment of panic when she was a child, and that all he wanted was to be human again. Zatanna brought him to her library on the pretext of finding a way to remove the spell. There she tricked him using her soul crystal to make him reveal his true evil nature and intentions.

But Hampel's desire for revenge was strong enough to resist her magic, and stealing many of Zatanna's most powerful artifacts, he was able to make himself human again and turn Zatanna into a puppet. Using her as his 'star attraction' he enjoyed a brief comeback, but planned to donate the puppet Zatanna to the museum and leave her imprisoned forever. Zatanna was powerful enough to regain her consciousness, and when her friend Mikey Dowling came to find her, was able to restore her mobility.

Hampel, using Zatanna's artifacts again, tried to change Mikey into a puppet as well. But the magic that had changed Mikey into a woman long ago caused his own magic to rebound on him, changing him into Stringleshanks again while undoing the spell on Zatanna. This time Zatanna used her power to seal Stringleshanks inside one of Harry Houdini's escape tanks on display in the museum, where he presumably remains trapped today.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Unique Physiology: As a puppet, Stringleshanks is unable to be destroyed or transformed by anyone but Giovanni Zatara due to his spell.

Abilities

• Acting
• Deception
• Occultism

Other Characteristics

• Diminished Intellect: As a puppet, Stringleshanks has a hard time thinking of anything for long until Zatanna's presence restored his consciousness.

Related

• 4 Appearances of Oscar Hampel (New Earth)
• 3 Images featuring Oscar Hampel (New Earth)
• 1 Quotations by or about Oscar Hampel (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Oscar Hampel (New Earth)

Footnotes

Zatanna Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Zatanna Zatara. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Zatanna villains category."