They’re creepy and they’re kooky. That’s well established, but did you know they didn’t have names for nearly thirty years? Most comic characters don’t get their mythos established beyond their pages, maybe tidbits here and there but the Addams family flourished once they jumped off the page. So how does Fester get that light bulb to light in his mouth? Don’t think we’ll ever really know, but let’s try and find out!
Charles Addams was a cartoonist with a dark sense of humor. One day he drew a comic panel, a vacuum salesman selling his wares in a decaying Victorian mansion, to a thin women in all black with her servant nearby. This would be the beginning of the Addams Family. Morticia Addams and Lurch to be precise, but not really. They had no names and the servant who would be Lurch had a very different look.
As time went on, there came more family members of this ghoulish family with their love of the macabre. A husband, son, uncle, daughter, and grandmother would join over time. Though often in pairs, rarely as a full family unit, but when they were, it was always loving if twisted. There was also the cosmic horror that could only be seen by its human hand, some sort of thing to beware of.
The characters became popular enough that they could be sold as a television show. This was where the characters got their names, sharing the surname of their creator. Morticia as a play off mortician and Gomez was one of two choices that his actor, John Astin was allowed to pick from, the other option was Repelli. Pugsley the son was almost Pubert but it was deemed inappropriate for television at the time, it’d return thirty years later as Pugsley’s baby brother’s name. Wednesday got her name from the poem “Monday’s Child” from the line “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Uncle Fester from the word meaning to rot and Grandmama was chosen to differentiate her from the other famous Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies. Lurch and Thing were chose for what they did best/were. A new member of the family was added to the show who would then appear in the comics soon after his television premiere, the hair-covered Cousin Itt.
While the comics had established them as family with a love of death and dark humor, the show and eventually cartoons, and films, would establish, their relations to one another were almost always in flux. Originally Fester was Morticia’s uncle and Grandmama was her mother, but sometimes Fester is Gomez’s brother and Grandmama is their mother. This isn’t set in stone and changes from adaptation to adaptation, even Itt’s name could be just It. Thing went from a being you only ever saw the hand of into a fully severed hand that was just able to walk around on its own.
The one thing that has remained while their family ties can change is that they truly love one another. Gomez and Morticia are an ideal couple, the romance and passion has never wavered, a fairy tale romance where the dragon eats the knight. Or where someone dances to their death in red hot iron shoes, but not the wicked step-mother, Grimm’s Snow White is metal, if you weren’t aware. The only love that can match their love for one another is that which they have for their children. Supportive of their children and there for them when needed. The whole family cares about each other and their interests, the thing that makes them weird is that for all their enjoyment in life’s darkest aspects, they still love each other the most.
There you have it! As stated before, the Addams Family were adapted all over the place, they’ve been on the small and big screen several times. They’ve been animated, live action, video games, and musicals. They’re a touchstone of American pop culture and will likely find ways to continue on as long as there are people who love that goth life. See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Drawn and Quartered
Addams and Evil
Monster Rally
Homebodies
Nightcrawlers
Black Maria
The Groaning Board
My Crowd
Favorite Haunts
Creature Comforts
Dr.
Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
