Loony Leo

From Herocopia

A "pocket hero" and sidekick to the Gentleman in the late 1940s. Later became a movie star and TV show emcee. Currently, Leo is part-owner and the host of Loony Leo's, a restaurant and nightclub in Astro City.

1 Vital Statistics
2 Infodump
3 Speculations, Observations and Theories
4 Appearances

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Vital Statistics

Status: Retired (as a hero)

Real Name: Loony Leo

Debuted: mentioned in 2:1

Earliest known appearance: 1946

Affiliation: occasional sidekick to the Gentleman in the late 1940s

Base of Operations: Astro City

Powers: a belief focus who soaks up psychic energy; very difficult to destroy or even harm

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Infodump

In the 1940s, Fago's Funny Features created many cartoon characters, including Loony Leo. These cartoon films were distributed to movie theaters and shown before feature films. The Loony Leo cartoons featured Leo, his rascally nephews, and Leo's chaste romance with lioness Lola.

Loony Leo began life in 1946, as a side effect of Professor Borzoi's Belief Ray invention, which brought movie creatures alive and off the screen, terrorizing film-goers. The Gentleman was barely holding his own against one such giant gorilla monster when Leo intervened, taking the Belief Ray away from Professor Borzoi and smashing it. This act caused the film monster to fade away, and almost sent Loony Leo with it, until the Gentleman called for the crowd to help by believing in Leo.

Loony Leo crossed the Gentleman's path several times after that, always to the Gentleman's benefit.

Fago's Funny Features then attempted to take ownership of Loony Leo on the grounds that they had created him. This case was ultimately settled out of court, but rulings issued before the settlement occurred have become important precedents, cited in later court cases involving artificial beings.

When Fago's Funny Features offered Leo a chance at a starring role, he went to Hollywood, making live-action Loony Leo films. Initially very successful, this gimmick eventually grew old. In 1954, the box office of Panama Leo was so disappointing that Leo was dropped from the Fago stable.

Leo then became the host and emcee of Loony Leo's Fun-Time Farm, a children's TV show, until 1957, when he discovered the death of Corliss McBride. While Leo was not indicted, being even distantly connected to an underage prostitute who had died from a drug overdose was enough to force him out of television.

Leaving Hollywood, Leo wandered across America for several years until he met Zzardo in 1964 and became the Myth-Master.

Leo then faded from view for over twenty years, until the opening of Loony Leo's restaurant in Astro City. He continues to be the host of the restaurant to this day, as well as making occasional appearances in television ads.

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Speculations, Observations and Theories

As his cartoon form is now a persistent belief focus, Leo has all the advantages of being a cartoon character in real life; he cannot starve nor freeze to death, and presumably would not fall when running over sheer air, until he made the mistake of looking down...

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