Number 1456: Are you afraid of clown marionettes?

To answer my own question posed in the headline, yes, I would be afraid if said clown marionette was walking around without being suspended by strings or puppeteer, and especially yes, I would be afraid if I saw said marionette riding my cat.

Moppo the Marionette is by Frank Borth, longtime journeyman comic artist. Later in life Borth did a lot of work in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact comics, published for Catholic school children, but in his early days he did more typical comic book fare. He did Phantom Lady for five issues of Police Comics, for instance. Here is the splash panel for his first Phantom Lady story.*

Although it says “Introducing Moppo” in the splash panel this is actually Moppo’s one and only appearance, from the last issue of Champ Comics #25 (1943).

*You might be asking yourself why I don’t just show his Phantom Lady and all I can say is, be patient.