With the Dick Tracy/Annie crossover kicking into high gear we thought it might be nice to do a quick Annie Roll Call to familiarize Dick Tracy readers with the Annie characters. The Depot admits most of our familiarity with Annie comes from the movies so we’ll be learning here as well. Feel free to chime in with any information you care to add!
Annie
We all should know this one, the curly red-haired Annie was an 11-year-old orphan known for wearing a red dress and having vacant circles for eyes. Her February 29th birthday is attributed to her perpetual youthfulness. A plucky and compassionate girl, Annie has a strong sense of right and wrong and had no fear of larger bullies. When the Annie comic strip was cancelled in June of 2010 Annie had been kidnapped from her hotel by a wanted European war criminal known as the “Butcher of the Balkans”. When the strip ended the two had gone to Guatemala and the Butcher told the heroine she had a new life with him now. GoComics (see previous link) has the end of Annie’s run on their website so if you have time you could reade about it there. Annie’s most famous catchphrases, “Gee Whiskers” and “Leapin’ Lizards!” will hopefully be uttered sometime this summer!
Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks
Oliver Warbucks started as a small machine shop owner who acquired enormous wealth producing munitions during World War I. A well-built bald man, Warbucks is typically depicted wearing a tuxedo and diamond stick pin in his shirt as he has grown very rich over the years. He is somewhat similar to Diet Smith in this regard. Oliver liked Annie from the first time they met, asking her to call him “Daddy” and taking the girl under his wing despite the protests of his wife. Warbucks has been searching for Annie since she was taken by the Butcher and has begun to worry he may never find her.
The Asp and Punjab
These two are Warbuck’s right-hand men. They have been referred to as bodyguards, but they have many more skills than simple bodyguards. Punjab is an eight-foot native of India, depicted with the classic Indian headpiece while the Asp is a suit-wearing man, possibly of East Asian heritage. We admit we know very little about these two but both were introduced in the mid-1930’s and remained part of the strip ever since.
Mr. Am
Mister Am is a very mysterious character in the Annie comic strip, drawn with a long beard and written with a jovial personality. He seems to have lived for thousands of years (since before cities) and has shown strange supernatural powers. Still, he is not all-powerful or knowledgable but is far more capable than any other living being. Am’s motives and who he chooses to help and how have been subject to much speculation, as has his true identity, which some have suggested may in fact be God, Santa Claus or Methuselah. Read more about Mr. Am here.
Sandy
Sandy was a puppy Annie rescued from a gang of abusive boys and has grown and remained with Annie ever since 1925. Like Annie herself, we’ve not seen Sandy in the Dick Tracy strip and it’s unclear if Sandy is currently with Annie or in fact safe and sound with Oliver Warbucks. 