| Jumpin' Jupiter | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Jumpin' Jupiter |
|
First Appearance |
Weird Tales of the Future #2 (June 1952) |
|
Original Publisher |
Key Publications |
|
Created by |
Basil Wolverton |
Origin[]
Jumpin' Jupiter lives on the small Asteroid 380-B with his "planetoid boid" Floyd. Asteroid 380-B is 33 feet in diameter. Jupiter owns and operates a business providing a variety of services, including "stuff delivered, errands run, star gazed, vacuum bottles filled (with vacuum)".
Jumpin' Jupiter is called upon by Rupe Gloop of the Sloopgoop Soup Company utilizing "Earth's most powerful transmitter". Jumpin' Jupiter receives the signal with his "magnetic ears" on his personal wavelength.
Rupe wants Jumpin' Jupiter to look for an interplanetary market for the company's soup, as it is suffering from lackluster sales on Earth.
Jumpin' Jupiter agrees, and tunes his magnetic ears to Mercury's magnetic field. This results in his being "yanked" to Mercury in, as Jupiter puts it, "nothing flat!"
On Mercury, he visits a Mercurian friend of his who owns a grocery store. The Mercurian explains the numerous volcanoes of Mercury all spout soup, meaning there is no interest in the Sloopgoop Soup.
Jumpin' Jupiter goes to Mars to talk to the Martian Food Commissioner, where the Martians love soup. Unfortunately, soup is outlawed on Mars.
Undaunted, Jupiter goes to the moon. He visits with the Lunar Viceroy of Vittles, who tells him that they don't eat soup, and eat things like stewed golf balls and cheese instead. The Viceroy says he'd like to go to Earth to check out the soup at any rate. Jupiter suspects the Viceroy just wants a free ride to Earth, but takes him on his back anyway.
The Viceroy of Vittles tries the soup in his hair. The soup works excellently to keep his bristly hair down. The people of the Moon have sought for a long time for just such a product, and the Viceroy of Vittles orders a "million cases" to be shipped to the Moon at once by the Sloopgoop Soup Company.
Jumpin' Jupiter is paid in crates of soup cans, which crowd his home asteroid. "I got my pay for that deal," Jumpin' Jupiter states, "but it will take me 2000 years to use it up!"
Powers and Abilities[]
Utilizing his magnetic ears, Jumpin' Jupiter can receive communications on his personal wavelength. The ears also send and receive telepathic signals. By tuning it in to the magnetic fields of other celestial bodies, Jupiter is "yanked" in a time estimated at "nothing flat".
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Weird Tales of the Future #2-4