Pinky Butler (adopted son of lawyer Brian Butler) was Pinky the Whiz Kid, sidekick to the superhero Mister Scarlet.
History
in 1941, Pinky lived with his widowed mother in Gotham City. One night, a monstrous man on a random killing spree broke into their house and killed Pinky's mother. Pinky swore to find the monster and avenge his mother's murder. The next day, local lawyer and civic volunteer Brian Butler took Pinky to the Oaklawn Orphanage and offered to help Pinky in the future. Pinky settled into orphanage life, but several weeks later he saw the monster who killed his mother leaving the orphanage. He contacted Brian Butler, who searched for the monster as Mister Scarlet. Mr. Scarlet found the monster, but the monster disappeared when they reached the orphanage. Mr. Scarlet left confused, but Pinky found evidence that the monster may be his teacher Dr. Jelke. Pinky donned a superhero costume he had made and investigated further, discovering that Dr. Jelke has been transforming into the monster, calling himself Mister Hyde. Pinky then ran into Mister Scarlet who had returned to investigate further, and together they stopped Dr. Jelke, who then committed suicide. A few days later, Brian Butler adopted Pinky, ostensibly to keep Pinky from endangering himself helping Mister Scarlet, but by that time Pinky had figured out that Butler was Mister Scarlet, and convinced Butler to let him be his sidekick.[1]
Brian Butler's legal secretary Miss Wade (who knew Butler was Mister Scarlet) didn't think it was a good idea for Pinky to be a superhero sidekick, and constantly tried to prevent Pinky from going with Mister Scarlet, but he always outwitted her. Mister Scarlet was glad to have Pinky along, but did forbid Pinky from investigating or crimefighting solo; sometimes Pinky followed those instructions, and sometimes he didn't. In his civilian life, Pinky Butler often acted as a gofer and messenger for Brian Butler's law firm.
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Notes
- This version of Pinky, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. Even though versions of the character may have since appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- Pinky was created by an unknown writer and artist for Fawcett Publications (the Grand Comics Database speculates that they were Otto Binder and Jack Binder). In 1953, National Periodical Publications settled a long-running lawsuit against Fawcett citing that the character of Captain Marvel bore too much of a resemblance to their own character, Superman. After settling the case (by agreeing to no longer publish Captain Marvel), Fawcett discontinued publication of their entire comic book line and Pinky lapsed into obscurity. In 1972, DC Comics licensed many of the Fawcett characters, including Pinky, and established that they existed on the fictional parallel world known as Earth-S. The Fawcett characters made several appearances throughout various Silver Age DC titles including Shazam, World's Finest Comics and Justice League of America. In 1991, DC bought the Fawcett characters (including Pinky) outright.
- Pinky's first DC-published appearance was in Justice League of America #135.
- Pinky's last Golden Age adventure was published in 1948.[2] However, we know he continued his super-hero career beyond that, because he was still active in 1953 when he was trapped in the Suspendium globe.[3]
- Pinky started using the last name Butler when he was adopted by Brian Butler. His surname before the adoption is unknown.
Related
- 48 Appearances of Pinky Butler (Earth-S)
- 3 Images featuring Pinky Butler (Earth-S)
- 4 Quotations by or about Pinky Butler (Earth-S)
- Character Gallery: Pinky Butler (Earth-S)
Footnotes
