Comics-Marvin the Martian

I maintain records on my trackables. They have the goal to circulate more than five years and to be moved by at least 25 cachers. That is a target rate of five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days. The average drop rate of my trackables in the US is 124 days, in Europe it is 71 days. As of 22-Aug-22 this one has survived for 1.6 years and had been moved by 5 cachers, for an average drop every 114 days. Please keep it moving, then drop it in a safe place!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the U.S., please drop it in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event where there is no security. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

My youth was in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  Drawing from that period, this is one of a series of travel bugs made to commemorate favorite characters from comic books, comic strips, movie cartoons, B-movies and animated feature-length movies.  Some of the characters had only a brief existence, some survived as radio and early TV programs and some have been digitally-modernized into some of the blockbuster movies of today.  There were many other characters, but these are the ones on which I was willing to spend my dimes (comic books) and quarters (movie and popcorn).  However, I didn’t pay for the daily comic strips or Sunday funnies that came with the newspaper.

Marvin the Martian is a character from Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.  Yosemite Sam was a popular character who was loud and bombastic, but harmless.  The studio wanted to create the opposite type of character, one who was quiet and soft-spoken, but whose actions were incredibly destructive and legitimately dangerous.  Marvin the Martian was the result, and could actually be evil.

Marvin's design was based on a conception of the Roman god Mars.  He wears a Roman soldier's uniform, but with basketball shoes. The style of these shoes resembles the old Chuck Taylor All-Stars brand name, considered to be the "generic" or "standard" basketball sneaker of the time.  His head is a black sphere with only eyes for features. The curved crest of his helmet appears, with the push-broom-like upper section, to comically resemble an ancient Greek or Roman Centurion's helmet.  He had no mouth.  That he was speaking was conveyed through his body movements.  Marvin speaks with a soft, nasally accent, and often speaks technobabble.

Marvin is the Commander of Flying Saucer X-2.  He hailed from the planet Mars, but is often found elsewhere.  He is often accompanied by his dog "K-9.  On numerous occasions, Marvin tried to destroy the Earth with his Illudium Explosive Space Modulator because it obstructed his view of Venus.  His trademark quotes include "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!," "Isn't that lovely?" and "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed."  Marvin is consistently foiled by Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.