Otto Binder | Through the Shattered Lens

76 years ago, in Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Adventures #79, Tawky Tawny made his first appearance.

Who was Tawky Tawny? He was a humanoid Bengal tiger from India who spoke perfect English and who simply wanted to come to the United States so that he could learn about American culture. Though Tawky Tawny is friendly and intelligent, everyone panics when they see him because he’s a humanoid tiger who talks. It falls to Captain Marvel (in the days before D.C. bought the character and changed his name became Shazam) to track down the Tawky Tawny and discover what is going on with him.

Luckily, Captain Marvel discovers that Tawky Tawny means well and just wants to get to know people. Captain Marvel gets him a job as a tour guide at a local museum.

Created by writer Otto Binder and artist C.C. Beck, Tawky Tawny soon became one of Captain Marvel’s most important supporting characters. He even got his own origin story when it was revealed that Tawky Tawny was a normal tiger until he was framed for murder. A local shaman gave Tawny a serum that allowed him to stand upright and verbally defend himself. For the rest of Captain Marvel’s run, Tawky Tawny was the hero’s best friend. While Captain Marvel was the beloved hero, Tawky Tawny was the outsider who never lost his positive outlook and his intellectual curiosity.

Fawcett subsequently sold Captain Marvel and all of his supporting characters to DC Comics. Unfortunately, DC has consistently proven themselves to be inept when it comes to bringing Tawky Tawny into their continuity. Still, Tawky Tawny endures as a symbol of hope and optimism.

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