The Awful Steeple-Man

The Awful Steeple-Man
The cover of the first stand-alone comic book featuring Steeple-Man.
Publication information
Publisher	A. F. Smart Co.
First appearance	The Boy's Paper (April 1950)
Created by	John Pike
In-story information
Alter ego	Edmund Alastair Harrow
Species	Human
Place of origin	Limmes, Great Nortend
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, stamina, reflexes, balance, endurance &c. Precognition of attack and danger, and ability to see for miles Able to jump extremely far, high and accurately, and to climb smooth surfaces High intelligence

The Awful Steeple-Man is a Nortish comic book series featuring the fictional superhero Steeple-Man. It was created by John Pike in 1950 and was first published in the May 1950 issue of The Boy's Paper, a boys' magazine . Steeple-Mann is the alter ego of Edmund Harrow, an undergraduate student residing at the fictional St Hilary's College at the University of Limmes. In the stories, he gained his superpowers by being struck by lightning.

Creation

The character of Steeple-Man was created by the writer John Pike, and his long-term illustrator, Michael Westover. Comics were increasingly the main draw-card of the numerous boys' magazines, and Pike needed a character which boys, as well as potentially older readers, would enjoy. The decision was taken by the then editor of The Boy's Paper, Robert French, to create a superhero character, which was quickly gaining popularity.

Pike based the character on the university antics which he himself, with his fellow college-men, would do to amuse themselves, climbing onto the numerous steeples, towers and rooftops across the grounds of the University of Limmes. The name 'Steeple-Man' was chosen to reference that pastime, known in college circles as 'steepling'. Initial concerns that the paper would be condoning trespass and dangerous activities such as steepling were addressed by Pike, who argued that necessarily any superhero character would be undertaking dangerous acts, and that nothing exciting would come about from “gentlemen in top-hats at the opera”.

The first short comic story featuring Steeple-Man was published in the April edition of The Boy's Paper in 1950, which featured the character without much explanation of his background. The first issue of the stand-alone comic book series, The Awful Steeple-Man, was published in June that same year, and detailed the origin story of the character.

The title quickly became the best-selling stand-alone comic book and by 1963, its sales had surpassed even those of The Boy's Paper. To-day, it remains the most popular comic book title, and largely the only mainstream superhero character, in Great Nortend. The title has begot an array of villains and allies, which too have gained popularity and in some cases, their own series.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Edmund Harrow is an undergraduate student at St Hilary's College of the University of Limmes. He lives in college, and generally keeps much to himself. His rooms adjoin those of his best friend from school, Peter Wilcock, with whom he socialises and amuses himself. One midnight, Harrow and Wilcock sneak out of their rooms, unlock the door to the chapel of his college, and climb the steeple to the base of the spire where they often go to converse, away from the supervision of the night porter.

As shown in The Awful Steeple-Man #1 (July 1950), a thief sneaking through the college grounds spots the open door of chapel. He breaks into the sacristy, and seizes a number of silver candlesticks and ware, before running away. In his haste, he drops a plate, catching the attention of Harrow and Wilcock. Harrow cries out, “Stop! Thief!”, and bemoans that he should have unlocked the door to the chapel.

Wilcock runs down the tower, and pulls on a bell rope. With the first tolling, in the clear night sky a bolt of lightning strikes the steeple spire, shocking Harrow. He stumbles over the railing and falls, yet miraculously, he lands without any injury. He discovers that he can run with superhuman speed and manages to capture the thief, knocking him unconscious with a single superhuman blow. In the distance, the night porter, having heard the bell ringing at the odd hour, comes to investigate. Wilcock and Harrow run away into the night.

Abilities and powers

A lightning strike, implied to be the Holy Ghost, imbued Edmund Harrow with the a number of superpowers and abilities after he prayed that someone would stop a thief stealing college silverware.

Steeple-Man has superhuman strength, speed, balance, endurance and agility, with the ability to quickly scale walls and buildings, and to jump with incredible power over exceeding large distances. He has night-vision, as well as the ability to see for miles. He also has precognitive powers and can thereby sense danger. Harrow is given a high scholastic ability and intellectual mind as a result of the strike, leading to his excelling in his university studies.

Supporting characters

The world of Steeple-Man has a large array of supporting and recurring characters. Harrow's parents are never seen; however, it is said that his father is a Major in the Royal Army, and that Edmund is the middle child of three. Harrow's best friend is throughout the storyline Peter Wilcock, and is the only person in-college to know his secret identity. He has had a number of love interests, including his chambermaid, Polly Dolton, his college tutor's daughter Mary Almonge, as well as his childhood sweetheart, Lucy. Harrow finally marries Lucy in the February issue of 1993.