Happy Hogan

Happy Hogan
Happy Hogan Art by Ron Lim From All-New Iron Manual, 2008
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Don Heck
In-story information
Full name	Harold Joseph "Happy" Hogan
Supporting character of	Iron Man

Harold "Happy" Hogan, is a fictional character who appears in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in books featuring Iron Man.

Fictional character biography

A former boxer with a history of losing his fights, Hogan is hired by Tony Stark as his chauffeur and personal assistant after Happy saves Tony's life in Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963). Happy learns that Tony is Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #70 (October 1965).

In Tales of Suspense #74 (February 1966), a desperately ill Happy is mutated into a giant, savage, nearly mindless, superhumanly strong humanoid known as Freak when doctors tried to cure him using a cobalt ray machine powered by Stark's experimental "Enervator" device. Freak breaks loose and goes on a rampage, escaping before Iron Man can arrive to stop him.

Iron Man leads the Freak back to his laboratory but runs out of power and collapses. The Freak encounters Pepper Potts, who faints at the sight of him, and carries her away. The police fire on him, causing him to drop Pepper. Iron Man saves Pepper, and leads the Freak to his lab again. He is restored to his normal self in Tales of Suspense #76 (April 1966) when Iron Man exposes him to the Enervator once again, though he is afflicted with temporary amnesia that lasts until Tales of Suspense #83 (November 1966).

While later helping Iron Man rebuild his armor, Happy is again exposed to cobalt rays and is again transformed into the Freak. The Freak smashes Iron Man through a wall, and takes Pepper with him. Iron Man is able to again return Happy to normal.

The Collector later kidnaps Happy and Pepper, hoping to add the Freak to his collection. This draws Iron Man's attention, who intervenes and rescues his friends.

Later, while Happy is injured while wearing the Iron Man armor, Stark uses the Enervator to save him, thinking that he has corrected the problems with his device. Regardless, the device again transforms Happy into the Freak, who goes on another rampage. He exposes himself to cobalt materials, causing him to glow with energy that will eventually reach critical mass and explode. The two battle, until Stark is able to use the Enervator to again revert Happy to normal.

He marries Pepper Potts in Tales of Suspense #91 (July 1967), but they later divorce.

Happy has worked for almost all of Stark's companies including Stark Industries, Stark Enterprises and Stark Solutions. However, when Tony/Iron Man disappears during Onslaught saga, Hogan refuses to be employed by Stark-Fujikawa but is reemployed when Stark returns. He also remarries Pepper Potts.

With the Civil War causing Tony Stark considerable moral, political and emotional problems, Happy Hogan continues to give Tony much needed advice. In an important moment of crisis, he says to Tony: "You, my friend, are the only cape in the bunch [of superheroes] that's both one of us [that is, human] and one of them. Who else can see both sides the way you do?" On the night of his anniversary with Pepper, Hogan is attacked by the Spymaster (seeking to use Hogan as bait to draw out Iron Man). Spymaster threatens to kill Hogan first, then Pepper. Angered, Hogan grabs him by the neck and they fall several stories (Iron Man vol. 4 #13), leaving Hogan in a vegetative coma.

While he is in the coma, Pepper speaks to Tony during dinner. She tells him of Cobra McCoyle, a former boxing friend who took too many hits to the head. Cobra is unable to even feed himself and must be taken care of. Pepper tells Tony that Hogan has declared he never wants to end up like McCoyle.

At the end of Iron Man vol. 4 #14, Hogan apparently dies; the issue leaves it ambiguous whether Hogan dies naturally or whether it is because Tony Stark digitally interfaced with and shut down Hogan's life support.

Later, when Tony (slowly losing his mind to prevent Norman Osborn from getting the SRA information) and Pepper are in hiding, Pepper reminds him of all his friends and allies, Happy being one of them. Tony then replies, "Who's Happy?". Also, Happy is seen as an hallucination within Tony's mind.

Other versions

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Comics Universe, DC Comics's Green Lantern and Marvel's Iron Man are combined to create Iron Lantern. Iron Lantern is secretly Hal Stark, owner of Stark Aircraft, a developer of experimental aircraft. Stark's chief mechanic is Happy Kalmaku (an amalgamation of Marvel's Happy Hogan and DC's Thomas Kalmaku). Happy is in love with test pilot Pepper Ferris (an amalgamation of Pepper Potts and DC's Carol Ferris). Unfortunately for Happy, Pepper is not only in love with Stark, she is also secretly the supervillain Madame Sapphire (a combination of Marvel's Madame Masque and DC's Star Sapphire. Happy Kalmaku first appeared in Iron Lantern #1 (April 1997), published jointly by Marvel and DC. He was created by Kurt Busiek (script) and Paul Smith (art).

Heroes Reborn

In the Heroes Reborn series, Happy Hogan is Stark's public relations chief. He has a brief romantic relationship with Pepper. He is also apparently slain by the villain Rebel but is seen later in a hospital bed. ^[1]

Marvel Zombies Return

In the Marvel Zombies universe, Happy appears in Marvel Zombies Return. He is working for Stark International; at this point Tony Stark is a useless drunk and S.I. headquarters is literally falling apart. Happy goes off to investigate a disturbance in the basement falls prey to the zombie Giant Man who bites and turns him. Happy then leads Giant Man to the headquarters where they cause an outbreak amongst the staff. He is killed by War Machine by a shot to the head. ^[2]

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Hogan appears alongside Iron Man in the Ultimates series, which is part of the Ultimate Marvel line of Ultimates comics. He is seen many times, some with Pepper Potts, in the Iron Man armor control room.

In the spin-off novel Tomorrow Men by Michael Jan Friedman, it is revealed that, although Hogan has worked with Stark for a long time, he never officially achieved his MIT degree.

In Ultimate Human, although he is never seen on page, Tony Stark is seen talking to him on a cell phone, and then continuing the conversation after he is in an Iron Man suit.^[3]

In other media

Television

• Happy Hogan appears in the Iron Man segment of The Marvel Super Heroes (1966).

Happy Hogan as seen in Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

• Happy Hogan appears in the series Iron Man: Armored Adventures voiced by Alistair Abell.^[4] In this version, Happy is a tall jock who is a classmate of Tony Stark and is called dumb by Whitney Stane. He is a fan of Iron Man and thinks he's a cyborg. In "Field Trip" he helps Tony Stark because he agrees to do his homework for a month. In "Cold War" he is hosting a party but in the end it's boring because he is dancing for entertainment and he didn't have any music. In the episode "Pepper Interrupted" he asks Whitney Stane if she wanted to get a hamburger and has to work with Tony Stark for a social studies project and wanted to move in with Tony Stark and James Rhodes. In "Don't Worry, Be Happy" he finds the Iron Man armor and wants adventure. He thinks Tony is a robot and calls him "robot" which is the running gag of the show. He and Tony Stark stop the bombs that Unicorn and Killer Shrike got from Mr. Fix. They used to steal money from the Tong where ironically he is able to save the entire city by simply breaking the bomb in half. At the end of the episode he acts like he saved the city and tells Pepper Potts, Whitney Stane, Gene Khan, and Tony Stark. He also has a habit of screaming KHAN!!!! to Gene Khan.

Film

• Happy Hogan appears in the live-action Iron Man film played by Jon Favreau who also directed the film. Although he appears briefly in a few scenes, he is shown to be Stark's bodyguard, friend and chauffeur, much like the comics' version. While his relationship with Pepper Potts is not touched upon in the film, he is seen briefly talking with her at a party. In the novelization of the film by Peter David, there is a scene that was not included in the film where Happy speaks with James Rhodes during Tony's disappearance, and he notes his concern about Pepper's emotional state.

• Jon Favreau reprises the role of Hogan in Iron Man 2. In the second movie his role is expanded, mostly to act as comic relief. At first, he welcomes Tony back when at the Stark Expo. When a female US Marshall hands Tony a subpoena to appear before Congress when they approach Tony' car, Happy Hogan grabs the subpoena form stating that Tony doesn't like to be handed things. He is seen sparring with Tony Stark in a boxing ring at the latter's mansion. When Pepper Potts arrives with Natalie Rushman (AKA Natasha Romanoff), Happy Hogan invites Natalie to spar with him in the ring but is quickly taken out by her with a scissor-motion headlock. Happy Hogan is later shown carrying the Mark V armor. When Whiplash attacks an unarmed Stark, Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts race to the track to assist Tony. Happy Hogan smashes the car into Whiplash and distracts him long enough so that Stark can use the Mark V suit to defeat Whiplash. Later, Happy Hogan accompanies Natasha Romanoff to Hammer Industries in hopes to shut down the drones attacking Stark. Happy Hogan fights only one guard, requiring all of his effort to defeat his opponent. Happy Hogan turns around only to see that Romanoff has already dispatched the remaining guards with ease.

References

1. ^ "Heroes Reborn" #1-12 (1996 - 1997)
2. ^ "Marvel Zombies Return" #2 (2009)
3. ^ Ultimate Human #2
4. ^ COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: IRON MAN: AMRORED ADVENTURES

External links

• Happy Hogan at Marvel.com