Wicked Wanda
Encyclopedia
Oh, Wicked Wanda! was a British full-color, satirical adult comic strip
, written by Frederic Mullally
, and drawn by Ron Embleton
. The strip regularly appeared in Penthouse
magazine from 1973 to 1980. In the 1960s, Ron Embleton, already a veteran comic book
artist, had worked extensively for TV Century 21
comic, illustrating stories based on the television programmes Stingray
, Thunderbirds
, and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
, amongst others. For Wicked Wanda Embleton painted the panels in watercolour. Frederic Mullally began his career in the 1940s as a journalist, and by the time of Wicked Wanda he had already become a successful novelist.
Prior to the illustrated strip format, the character of Wanda appeared as an illustrated story in Penthouse, from September 1969 through to October 1979. This was written by Mullally and illustrated by Brian Forbes.
", the strip featured pubic hair.
Although male characters occasionally appeared nude, their genitals were not often shown and they were shown mostly in the background, with none of the sometimes gratuitous appearances that often was true with regard to female characters.
A running gag in several of the early comic strips features a pastiche
of Little Annie Fanny
(published by Playboy
, Penthouses main competitor) in which the character is found out to have fake breasts or buttocks which deflate when popped.
. She lived in an old castle called a schloss (the German word for 'castle') on Lake Zurich
, Switzerland
, and ran a bank which, among other things, contained secrets that could bring down world governments.
Her adventurous travels took her to such exotic locales as:
She also travelled through time, courtesy of a time machine
, visiting France
during the French Revolution
, England
during the signing of the Magna Carta
, and Germany
during World War II
, before briefly visiting the future and returning to the present. While in later parts of the series, she would have a handful of male 'toys' whom she would use and abuse until they died of exhaustion, her sexual preference was almost exclusively for women.
Wanda often called her “Pusscake”, while Candyfloss’ nickname for Wanda was “Boo’ful.” The term "candyfloss" is the common UK name for "cotton candy
." Candyfloss was apparently omnisexual
, shagging with anyone who came her way, much to Wanda's annoyance.
, followed.
; "German" was her forename, not her nationality; the precise number of R's in her last name tended to vary from one month to the next.)
founder J. Edgar Hoover
) provided the brains and muscle needed to support Wanda's many adventures. Although Grud looked like a caveman, he was a sensitive intellectual who expressed his aspirations only to himself, never to others.
Sapiens was a mad scientist and former Nazi
collaborator. Wanda called him "Eggbonce" ("bonce" is slang for head). Sapiens was a sadism masochist
who enjoyed nothing better but a beating from Wanda, either as a reward or as a punishment, so either way he won.
, who in 1916 was attempting to lodge for safe keeping a large fortune in jewels in the Swiss bank that von Kreesus was working for. However Rasputin's untimely death left the large hoard in von Kreesus' possession. Needless to say, the bank heard no more from Herr von Kreesus. He then proceeded to increase his fortune still further through various underhand dealings, with amongst others, Lenin, who von Kreesus lent a train fare-to when the communist leader was on his way to a 3rd of April 1917 important meeting.
’ novel Naked Lunch
while a second fornicated with a swan, recalling William Butler Yeats' poem, "Leda and the Swan
", based on the myth about Zeus
’s fornication, in the guise of a swan, with Leda
.
Many politicians and artists were caricatured in the strip, including a drenched and apparently besotted Ted Kennedy
, who appeared in several panels throughout the strip’s ten-year run, wearing an ever-present ‘76 presidential campaign ribbon. His appearance was a not-so-subtle reference to the incident in which he drove off the Chappaquiddick Bridge
, killing his companion, Mary Jo Kopechne
. Rival politicians, including Richard Nixon
, were treated with the same degree of satirical ridicule. For example, Nixon was frequently shown as a sometimes machine-gun-toting gangster
.
s of famous people, especially politicians. For example, in the debut strip, Wanda and Candyfloss visit Madame Tussaud’s “waxworks,” passing the likenesses of Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew
, Charles de Gaulle
, Lyndon Johnson
, Fidel Castro
, Henry Kissinger
, and Mao Zedong
, among others, as they make their way toward the museum’s “Chamber of Horrors.” These satirical portraits were usually given names similar to the names of the people they parodied: Marlon Blondo (aka Burpo), Henry Kissarun, Norman Mailman, and Herod Huge, for example. Senator Ted Kennedy
was invariably depicted standing in a pool of liquid, a reference to the Chappaquiddick incident
.
Other famous figures that Wanda and Candyfloss encountered include Bob Hope
, John Wayne
, W. C. Fields
, Mae West
, Clark Gable
, Humphrey Bogart
, Marilyn Monroe
, Stan Laurel
, Oliver Hardy
, Muhammad Ali
, Salvador Dalí
, Benjamin Spock
, Charles Bronson
, Lee Marvin
, Liberace
, Howard Hughes
, Harold Wilson
, Edward Heath
, Ronald Reagan
, Kirk Douglas
, Idi Amin
, William Conrad
, Golda Meir
, Rasputin
and Billie Jean King
.
When an image was particularly effective at parodying a politician, an entertainment personality, or another public figure, it was repeated. For example, Marlon Brando (sometimes called “Burpo”), who was known for his love of good eating and his enormous weight gain, was often shown attired in a pin-striped suit, nonchalantly eating twirled spaghetti from a fork.
In addition, the names of caricatures were chosen with satirical effect in mind. Hence, Jane Fonda was christened “Jane Fondle” and Brando was named “Marlon Blando” during his Last Tango in Paris days but Marlon Burpo after his figure ballooned due to the rich foods he was fond of consuming in his later career.
The strip also included satirical sketches of well-known cartoon and comic strip characters, such as Mad Magazine
’s Alfred E. Neuman
; Playboy
’s Little Annie Fanny
; Walt Disney
’s Seven Dwarfs
, Mickey Mouse
, and Donald Duck
; Walt Kelly
’s Pogo, George Herriman
’s Krazy Kat
, and Bud Fisher
's Mutt and Jeff.
Episode One
On their first adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss decided to buy Madame Tussaud's
“waxworks
” as a way to acquire figures of famous men and women with whom to equip the “museum
of living apes” that she planned to establish at the mansion that she has inherited from her father, Walter, the late King Gnome of Zurich
. However, they were disappointed at the exhibits, which were not sufficiently carnal for Wanda’s tastes; as she told Candyfloss, “Tussaud’s was a real drag.” Instead of “wax dummies,” Wanda preferred deep-frozen “authentic, living flesh” for her “living tableaux
of top personalities.” Before leaving on their quest, Wanda inspected her PIF. She meted out punishment
by flogging
the backside of one of her troops, who afterward walked away with a smile on her face as a fellow soldier observed, “This is your second time around!”
Episode Two
On their second adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss undertook a quest to acquire “tableaux vivants” for Wanda’s Museum of Misfits. Arriving at a villa in St. Trollop on the French Riviera
, they visit the “pornophobe” adult film critic, Lord Cyril Bluestocking and Brigitte Bidet (Brigitte Bardot
), their intended first acquisitions. After Candyfloss knocks Bluestocking unconscious, Wanda and she transport him and Brigitte to Wanda's museum, where Homer Sapiens has the couple displayed with Bidet mounted (literally) as the museum’s first exhibit.
Episode Three
In the third installment of the first adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss decided to add some politicians to their Museum of Misfits, and they went after California
Governor
Ronald Reagan
.
Other episodes of the first series
Other chapters in their first adventure followed this same plot, with Wanda and Candyfloss obtaining such additional famous men and women for their Museum of Misfits as chess champion Bernie Fishfinger (Bobby Fischer
), Martin Bormann
, Willy Grabham (Billy Graham
) and Jane Fondle (Jane Fonda
).
Penthouse published a compilation of the strip in a book in 1975.
and scripted by Penthouses publisher, Bob Guccione
.
and Alberto Vargas
, whose pin-ups were the basis for much World War II
aircraft Nose art
, Wicked Wanda graced the nose of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 44-83863, when it originally went on display at the United States Air Force
Air Force Armament Museum
, Eglin Air Force Base
, Florida
in 1975. Aircraft was later repainted in another scheme.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, written by Frederic Mullally
Frederic Mullally
Frederic Mullally is an English journalist, public relations executive, and novelist.-Career:Mullally's journalism carer began in India where, from 1937 to 1949, he was sub-editor on The Statesman of Calcutta, then editor of the Sunday Standard of Bombay...
, and drawn by Ron Embleton
Ron Embleton
Ronald Sydney Embleton was a British comics artist and illustrator whose work was much admired by fans and editors alike...
. The strip regularly appeared in Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
magazine from 1973 to 1980. In the 1960s, Ron Embleton, already a veteran comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist, had worked extensively for TV Century 21
TV Century 21
TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...
comic, illustrating stories based on the television programmes Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
, amongst others. For Wicked Wanda Embleton painted the panels in watercolour. Frederic Mullally began his career in the 1940s as a journalist, and by the time of Wicked Wanda he had already become a successful novelist.
Prior to the illustrated strip format, the character of Wanda appeared as an illustrated story in Penthouse, from September 1969 through to October 1979. This was written by Mullally and illustrated by Brian Forbes.
Background
The strip's characters appeared naked or partially clothed, and great care was given to the female form, especially the breasts and buttocks. In line with the relatively explicit direction that Penthouse had taken following the "pubic WarsPubic Wars
Pubic Wars, a pun on the Punic Wars, is the name given to the rivalry between the pornographic magazines Playboy and Penthouse during the 1960s and 1970s. Each magazine strove to show just a little bit more than the other, without getting too crude. The term was coined by Playboy owner Hugh Hefner...
", the strip featured pubic hair.
Although male characters occasionally appeared nude, their genitals were not often shown and they were shown mostly in the background, with none of the sometimes gratuitous appearances that often was true with regard to female characters.
A running gag in several of the early comic strips features a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy in October 1962. The inspiration for the comic strip was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall, blonde, amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired young...
(published by Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Penthouses main competitor) in which the character is found out to have fake breasts or buttocks which deflate when popped.
Main characters
Wanda Von Kreesus
A beautiful black-haired heiress to a multi-million-dollar fortune, 19-year-old Wanda Von Kreesus was a “man-hating” lesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. She lived in an old castle called a schloss (the German word for 'castle') on Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and ran a bank which, among other things, contained secrets that could bring down world governments.
Her adventurous travels took her to such exotic locales as:
- ArabiaArabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
- TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
- EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Hollywood
- Las VegasLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
- Disneyland
She also travelled through time, courtesy of a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, visiting France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the signing of the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before briefly visiting the future and returning to the present. While in later parts of the series, she would have a handful of male 'toys' whom she would use and abuse until they died of exhaustion, her sexual preference was almost exclusively for women.
Candyfloss
This 16-year-old blonde nymphet was originally sent as a "present" to Wanda's father, but his daughter claimed her as her own. She later got Candyfloss to be chased by her father around the castle during which he died of exhaustion and Wanda could claim her inheritance.Wanda often called her “Pusscake”, while Candyfloss’ nickname for Wanda was “Boo’ful.” The term "candyfloss" is the common UK name for "cotton candy
Cotton candy
Cotton candy , candy floss or candyfloss or candy buttox , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous...
." Candyfloss was apparently omnisexual
Pansexuality
Pansexuality refers to the potential for sexual attractions, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction, towards people of all gender identities and biological sexes...
, shagging with anyone who came her way, much to Wanda's annoyance.
Automobiles
Wanda drove a Supo Delecto Peniso Flagrante sports car, which, as its name implies, resembled a phallus and was capable of attaining a top speed of 160 miles per hour. The license plate bore the alphanumeric designation “FKU2.” Sometimes, her auxiliary automobile, a Rolls Royce station wagonStation wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
, followed.
Puss International Force
Throughout her adventures, Wanda was also assisted by her elite army of “butch-dikes,” the Puss International Force, or PIF, the commander of which was General German Grrrr. (a play on renown feminist Germaine GreerGermaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
; "German" was her forename, not her nationality; the precise number of R's in her last name tended to vary from one month to the next.)
Homer Sapiens and J. Hoover Grud
A “resident egghead,” Homer Sapiens, and the Neanderthal-like “chief jailer” and master torturer J. Hoover Grud (a reference to FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
founder J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
) provided the brains and muscle needed to support Wanda's many adventures. Although Grud looked like a caveman, he was a sensitive intellectual who expressed his aspirations only to himself, never to others.
Sapiens was a mad scientist and former Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
collaborator. Wanda called him "Eggbonce" ("bonce" is slang for head). Sapiens was a sadism masochist
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
who enjoyed nothing better but a beating from Wanda, either as a reward or as a punishment, so either way he won.
Walter Von Kreesus
The preserved cadaver of her degenerate father was seated upon a throne under a green glass dome. On occasion, Wanda sought advice from him after establishing a psychic or spiritual link with the corpse. During his lifetime, Candyfloss, Wanda's paramour, was one of the many women whom Walter kept as a mistress. The source of his great fortune that Wanda later inherited was Grigori RasputinGrigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei...
, who in 1916 was attempting to lodge for safe keeping a large fortune in jewels in the Swiss bank that von Kreesus was working for. However Rasputin's untimely death left the large hoard in von Kreesus' possession. Needless to say, the bank heard no more from Herr von Kreesus. He then proceeded to increase his fortune still further through various underhand dealings, with amongst others, Lenin, who von Kreesus lent a train fare-to when the communist leader was on his way to a 3rd of April 1917 important meeting.
Cultural and political allusions
The strip was replete with inside jokes and references to popular and classical culture. For example, a member of Wanda’s entourage lay naked reading William S. BurroughsWilliam S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
’ novel Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
while a second fornicated with a swan, recalling William Butler Yeats' poem, "Leda and the Swan
Leda and the Swan
Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. In...
", based on the myth about Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
’s fornication, in the guise of a swan, with Leda
Leda (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus , of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan...
.
Many politicians and artists were caricatured in the strip, including a drenched and apparently besotted Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, who appeared in several panels throughout the strip’s ten-year run, wearing an ever-present ‘76 presidential campaign ribbon. His appearance was a not-so-subtle reference to the incident in which he drove off the Chappaquiddick Bridge
Chappaquiddick Island
Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Martha's Vineyard and is part of the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts. The island's name became internationally recognized following the July 18, 1969 incident, for which U.S. Senator Edward M...
, killing his companion, Mary Jo Kopechne
Mary Jo Kopechne
Mary Jo Kopechne was an American teacher, secretary, and political campaign specialist who died in a car accident in Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts on July 18, 1969, while a passenger in a car being driven by U.S. Senator Edward M...
. Rival politicians, including Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, were treated with the same degree of satirical ridicule. For example, Nixon was frequently shown as a sometimes machine-gun-toting gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
.
Caricatures
The strips frequently included caricatureCaricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s of famous people, especially politicians. For example, in the debut strip, Wanda and Candyfloss visit Madame Tussaud’s “waxworks,” passing the likenesses of Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
, Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, among others, as they make their way toward the museum’s “Chamber of Horrors.” These satirical portraits were usually given names similar to the names of the people they parodied: Marlon Blondo (aka Burpo), Henry Kissarun, Norman Mailman, and Herod Huge, for example. Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
was invariably depicted standing in a pool of liquid, a reference to the Chappaquiddick incident
Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick incident
The term "Chappaquiddick incident" refers to the circumstances involving the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, whose body was discovered underwater inside an automobile belonging to her driver, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. During the early morning hours of July 19, 1969, Kopechne's body and the car...
.
Other famous figures that Wanda and Candyfloss encountered include Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
, Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Benjamin Spock
Benjamin Spock
Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand...
, Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
, Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
, Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
, Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
, William Conrad
William Conrad
William Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television....
, Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei...
and Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
.
When an image was particularly effective at parodying a politician, an entertainment personality, or another public figure, it was repeated. For example, Marlon Brando (sometimes called “Burpo”), who was known for his love of good eating and his enormous weight gain, was often shown attired in a pin-striped suit, nonchalantly eating twirled spaghetti from a fork.
In addition, the names of caricatures were chosen with satirical effect in mind. Hence, Jane Fonda was christened “Jane Fondle” and Brando was named “Marlon Blando” during his Last Tango in Paris days but Marlon Burpo after his figure ballooned due to the rich foods he was fond of consuming in his later career.
The strip also included satirical sketches of well-known cartoon and comic strip characters, such as Mad Magazine
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
’s Alfred E. Neuman
Alfred E. Neuman
Alfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot and cover boy of Mad magazine. The face had drifted through American pictography for decades before being claimed and named by Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman...
; Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
’s Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy in October 1962. The inspiration for the comic strip was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall, blonde, amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired young...
; Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
’s Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
, Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
, and Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
; Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
’s Pogo, George Herriman
George Herriman
George Joseph Herriman was an American cartoonist, best known for his classic comic strip Krazy Kat.-Early life:...
’s Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...
, and Bud Fisher
Bud Fisher
Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher was an American cartoonist who created Mutt and Jeff, the first successful daily comic strip in the United States....
's Mutt and Jeff.
First series
On their first adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss decided to buy Madame Tussaud's
Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and was formerly known as "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used...
“waxworks
Wax museum
A wax museum or waxworks consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses....
” as a way to acquire figures of famous men and women with whom to equip the “museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of living apes” that she planned to establish at the mansion that she has inherited from her father, Walter, the late King Gnome of Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. However, they were disappointed at the exhibits, which were not sufficiently carnal for Wanda’s tastes; as she told Candyfloss, “Tussaud’s was a real drag.” Instead of “wax dummies,” Wanda preferred deep-frozen “authentic, living flesh” for her “living tableaux
Tableau vivant
Tableau vivant is French for "living picture." The term describes a striking group of suitably costumed actors or artist's models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit. Throughout the duration of the display, the people shown do not speak or move...
of top personalities.” Before leaving on their quest, Wanda inspected her PIF. She meted out punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
by flogging
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
the backside of one of her troops, who afterward walked away with a smile on her face as a fellow soldier observed, “This is your second time around!”
Episode Two
On their second adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss undertook a quest to acquire “tableaux vivants” for Wanda’s Museum of Misfits. Arriving at a villa in St. Trollop on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, they visit the “pornophobe” adult film critic, Lord Cyril Bluestocking and Brigitte Bidet (Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
), their intended first acquisitions. After Candyfloss knocks Bluestocking unconscious, Wanda and she transport him and Brigitte to Wanda's museum, where Homer Sapiens has the couple displayed with Bidet mounted (literally) as the museum’s first exhibit.
Episode Three
In the third installment of the first adventure, Wanda and Candyfloss decided to add some politicians to their Museum of Misfits, and they went after California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
.
Other episodes of the first series
Other chapters in their first adventure followed this same plot, with Wanda and Candyfloss obtaining such additional famous men and women for their Museum of Misfits as chess champion Bernie Fishfinger (Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
), Martin Bormann
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
, Willy Grabham (Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
) and Jane Fondle (Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
).
Oh, Wicked Wanda! (the book)
Replacement strip
Oh, Wicked Wanda! was replaced by Sweet Chastity, another comic illustrated by Ron EmbletonRon Embleton
Ronald Sydney Embleton was a British comics artist and illustrator whose work was much admired by fans and editors alike...
and scripted by Penthouses publisher, Bob Guccione
Bob Guccione
Bob Guccione was the founder and publisher of the adult magazine Penthouse. He resigned from his publisher position in November 2003.-Early life:...
.
Wanda as Nose Art
In the tradition of George PettyGeorge Petty
George Brown Petty IV was an American pin-up artist. His pin-up art appeared primarily in Esquire and Fawcett Publications's True but was also in calendars marketed by Esquire, True and Ridgid Tool Company. Petty's Esquire gatefolds originated and popularized the magazine device of centerfold...
and Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists...
, whose pin-ups were the basis for much World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
aircraft Nose art
Nose art
Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of a military aircraft, usually located near the nose, and is a form of aircraft graffiti....
, Wicked Wanda graced the nose of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 44-83863, when it originally went on display at the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Air Force Armament Museum
Air Force Armament Museum
The Air Force Armament Museum, adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the only facility in the U.S. dedicated to the display of Air Force armament...
, Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in 1975. Aircraft was later repainted in another scheme.