Three Dimwits

From left: Winky Moylan, Noddy Toylan, and Blinky Boylan

Winky, Blinky and Noddy were a trio of Three Stooges look-alikes who served as comic relief for the Golden-Age Flash. Variously referred to as the “Three Numbskulls,” “Three Idiots,” “Three Dopes,” or, most often, the “Three Dimwits,” they were friends of the Flash, Jay Garrick, and Joan Williams.

The trio would get into trouble on their own, or get mixed up in trouble that was already brewing, and would invariably drag the Flash into it one way or another. They even graduated to their own regular feature in All-American Comics.

Winky was the big one with curly brown hair, Blinky the skinny redhead whose eyes were always hidden, and Noddy the short one with a fringe of black hair and a big hat. They started out as small-time criminals working for stable owner Walter King, but they weren’t terribly good at it. After an encounter with the Flash that led to King’s arrest, they moved to more benign pursuits (All-Flash #5, 1942).

They passed through occupations ranging from bellhops and floor-sweepers to restaurateurs, investors—and even inventors! For a while they were famous as “Professors of Personality” (having invented a “personality ray”*). Blinky even had a brief stint as the super-hero Muscleman (All-Flash #13, 1943).

At least twice, the trio was mistaken for similar-looking villains. Once during World War II, several Axis agents mistook them for their unseen superiors, the Terrible Three (All-Flash #9, 1943). Not long afterward, they were mistaken for a trio of conquerors from the planet Karma (All-Flash #11, 1943).

Retirement

The Dimwits disappeared with the Golden Age, appearing just three times in the years since. Once, with no explanation, in a Silver-Age Flash story (Flash v.1 #117, 1960). Once in a flashback to explain why they disappeared: While riding the rails out west, they stumbled upon a sack full of money, and decided to retire to the Caribbean (Flash v.2 #161, 2000). Finally, it was shown that in modern times they had become security guards at the Flash Museum, where an attacker killed them (Justice League: Cry For Justice #2 2009).

• Art Credits
• Golden-Age Appearances
• Silver-Age Appearances
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• Rebirth-Era Appearances
• Further Notes
• Related Commentary

Art

• All-Flash #13 (Winter 1943) - E.E. Hibbard

Golden-Age Appearances

• Regulars in All-Flash #5–29 (1942–1947) (reprint info)
• Regulars in All-American Comics #73–82 (1946–1947)
• Flash Comics #46 (October 1943): “Kill ’Em With Kindness,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #54 (June 1944): “The Bottle From the Sea,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #61 (January 1945): “The Magic of Ultra-Speed,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #62 (February 1945): “High Jinks on the Rinks,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #63 (March 1945): “The Horrors a la Creep,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #64 (April 1945): “The Fire Bandits,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #66 (August–September 1945): “The Flash and the Black Widow,” Robert Bloch (reprint info)
• Flash Comics #67 (October–November 1945): “The Man Who Saw Ahead,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #68 (December–January 1946): “The Radio that Ran Wild,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #69 (February–March 1946): “Adventure of the Violent Violin,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #70 (April 1946): “An Ocean of Gold!” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #72 (June 1946): “Wizard of the Wax Works,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #73 (July 1946): “The Flying Submarine,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #74 (August 1946): “Jewels and Fools,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #75 (September 1946): “The Singing Robot,” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #78 (December 1946): “Haunted Halloween” Gardner Fox
• Flash Comics #79 (January 1947): “Evil over Eelton!” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #4 (Fall 1943): “Winky Turns Wrestler,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #5 (Winter 1943): “The Plant that Challenged the World,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #7 (Summer 1944): “The Man with the Notorious Nose,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #9 (Winter 1944): “Tale of the Winged Horse,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #10 (Spring 1945): “The Elevator that Went Sideways,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #12 (Fall 1945): “Painting the Town,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #14 (April–May 1946): “The Fourth-Dimensional House,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #15 (June–July 1946): “Spend Till It Hurts,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #17 (October–November 1946): “The Flying Tractor,” Gardner Fox
• Comic Cavalcade #18 (December–January 1947): “The Galloping Greenbacks,” Gardner Fox

Unlike the Silver and Modern Age lists, I have only a partial index of Golden-Age appearances. This list may be incomplete. Secondary sources include the GCD.

Silver-Age Flash Appearances

• Flash #117 (December 1960): “The Madcap Inventors of Central City!” Gardner Fox

Legacy-Era Flash Appearances

• Flash #161 (June 2000): “Honeymoon in Vegas,” Pat McGreal (flashback)

Rebirth-Era Flash Appearances

• Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 (October 2009): “The Gathering,” James Robinson

Notes

* Their fame as Personality Professors is mentioned in All-Flash #9 and #11, and Blinky mentions having discovered a “personality ray ” in All-Flash #9. These probably refer to the All-Flash #6 story, “The Ray That Changed Men’s Souls!”

Related Commentary

• Who’d’a thunk it? (re: role in the Thinker’s origin)

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