Wolfgang "Woozy" Winks is a fictional supporting character in comic books published by Quality Comics, and later DC Comics. He is the comic relief sidekick to the superhero Plastic Man, and first appeared in Police Comics #13 (November 1942).

Fictional character biography

Woozy Winks is a bumbling, inept, overweight and slobbish man who served primarily as a comic relief, much like other golden age sidekicks such as Doiby Dickles. In his first appearance, Woozy is a small time crook with a unique superpower. After saving a gypsy's life, she casts a spell that causes the forces of nature to protect him whenever he is in danger. Later stories would ignore this ability, and Woozy simply became Plastic Man's inept assistant. His personality was based on the comedy of Lou Costello.

One history of Woozy, which appeared in the Plastic Man Special in 1999, gave him an alternative origin. In this tale he was an extremely competent and intelligent agent known as “Green Cobra” whose only oddities were his dress-sense and a tendency to steal office supplies. After being paired together for the first time, he was trapped in a poorly ventilated locker with a wounded Plastic Man. The fumes from Plastic Man's blood, which was similar in composition to airplane glue, damaged Winks' brain, making him “Woozy” forevermore. It should be noted that this is contradicted both by his golden age and modern origins, in which he is depicted as having always been dimwitted.

Countdown

Woozy features in Countdown To Mystery, assisting the Eclipso-corrupted Plastic Man in committing crimes. He seems to have gone back to his original origin, and mentions that he never really gave up being a criminal.