History

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.

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.

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. Not long afterward, they were mistaken for a trio of conquerors from the planet Karma .

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. 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. Finally, it was shown that in modern times they had become security guards at the Flash Museum , where an attacker killed them.