Winky, Blinky, and Noddy

Winky, Blinky, and Noddy are a trio of fictional comic book characters, created by writer Gardner Fox and artist E.E. Hibbard,^[1] who first appeared in books starring the Flash. Their names were taken from Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Fictional character biography

Winky Moylan, Blinky Boylan, and Noddy Toylan were designed to be comic relief for the Flash, and were patterned after The Three Stooges. The comic books frequently referred to them as the "Three Idiots", the "Three Numbskulls", the "Three Dopes", or, most often, the "Three Dimwits".^[2]

They first appeared in All-Flash #5 (1942), as incompetent small-time criminals working for a crooked stable owner. After the Flash captured the stable owner, the three henchmen decided to move on to more benign pursuits. The trio wandered from job to job, usually getting into trouble or causing it, and the Flash would always get involved.^[2]

The Three Dimwits appeared in All-Flash until issue #29 (1947), and in All-American Comics from issue #73 (1946) to #82 (1947). Their appearances in Flash Comics began in issue #46 (October, 1943) and ended in #79 (January, 1947), and they were seen in Comic Cavalcade from issue #4 (Fall, 1943) to #18 (December/January, 1947).^[2]

Thirteen years later, in 1960, they appeared in Flash #117, with no explanation as to why they were present, and met Silver-Age Flash. It is claimed they have a combined I.Q of 150.^[2] Despite the promise that they would appear again on a regular basis, negative reader reaction to this amusing conceptual mistake decided otherwise.

In Flash vol. 2, #161 (2000), the trio appeared in a flashback that explained why they had disappeared: they had stumbled across a sack full of money and retired to the Caribbean.^[2]

In Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 (2009), while volunteering as night guards at Flash Museum, they were killed by an unknown assailant who steals the Cosmic Treadmill. Jay investigates the trio's demise.^[2]

References