Do you know which Addams Family member was created first?

Who came first, Gomez or Morticia? Wednesday or Pugsley?

The Everett Collection

In The Addams Family episode "Halloween – Addams Style," Wednesday Addams holds a séance. The young girl is hoping to reconnect with her late Aunt Singe, who she believes to be a witch.

Over the course of the TV series, we meet many members of The Addams Family and we hear of many more. From the inspiration provided by Charles Addams’ characters ultimately known as The Addams Family came a parade of unique personalities that only truly fit in the show’s more macabre TV universe.

But only the biggest fans of the original comics know the history of the Addams Family characters well enough to know which character came first and sparked the entire universe.

Do you know which family member was the original Addams character, the first one we ever met?

In 1938, Charles Addams drew the first comic that featured the character who would become known as Morticia Addams, making the lady of the house the muse of the whole family.

In that first comic, Morticia is joined by Lurch and Thing, who both were brought to life before the character of Gomez was ever conceived.

The Morticia cartoon showed a vacuum cleaner salesperson trying to sell Morticia on his wares in a dilapidated foyer with Lurch and Thing nearby as her helpful servants. The caption read: "Vibrationless, noiseless, and a great time and back saver. No well-appointed home should be without it."

The next Addams Family member to spring to Charles Addams’ mind was Wednesday.

In 1940, she appeared as a skinny, somber girl skipping rope as a concerned couple passes by. They’re disturbed because they hear her counting, "Twenty-three thousand and one, twenty-three thousand and two, twenty-three thousand and three..."

The following year, Charles Addams started drawing the mischievous young boy who would become Pugsley.

In the earliest Pugsley comics from 1941, he’s shown as a misbehaving boy scout, the disturbed son of concerned parents and the not-so-innocent bystander watching an octopus drag a victim down a manhole.

These early comics led to the crystallization of the Pugsley character in a 1943 comic showing a woodshop class where others build bird houses, but Pugsley is hard at work making a coffin.

Depending how you judge the timeline of the creation of the Pugsley character, Gomez was either created just before or just after Pugsley appeared from Addams’ pen.

Gomez got introduced in 1942, four years after Morticia, and we have to say it was worth the wait, because he made the perfect entrance that took us straight to the heart of the character.

The first-ever Gomez comic shows the Addams patriarch hugging Morticia and asking, "Are you unhappy, darling?" to which Morticia replies, "Oh, yes yes! Completely."

Then in 1944, Addams finally put Morticia in a comic with her kids.

That comic showed Wednesday standing in a hallway before Morticia, looking upset. Morticia tells the sulking Wednesday, "Well, don’t come whining to me. Go tell him you’ll poison him right back." In the background, Pugsley peeks out of a bedroom.

As for the rest of the family, both Granny Frump and Uncle Fester were created in 1941, both ahead of Gomez.

And Cousin Itt, he was created dead last, becoming the rarest of the Addams Family members to feature in Addams’ ooky illustrated world. Itt only appeared in two comics total and the first one didn’t come out until after the TV series premiered.

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

33 Comments

TheSentinel 32 months ago
Before the advent of the TV series in 1964, if any thought had been given to doing the comic strip as an animated series, they should've had vocal impersonators of Greta Garbo and Peter Lorre voice Morticia and Gomez respectively, as that's who I pictured them sounding like in their original comic form and those type of voices would've been perfect for animated counterparts.
StrayCat 32 months ago
Even before reading the story i would have guessed Morticia was the first character introduced, but reading about the appearance timelines of the rest of the characters was interesting.
johngordon 33 months ago
Hi, I love you’re programming. I grew up with these shows and it brings back many good memories compared to what we’re exposed to today.
Runeshaper 33 months ago
That is super interesting! Love this show! (-:
RichLorn 33 months ago
HOLD EVERYTHING, THIS IS TOTALLY BOGUS!
The real first character created was the family pet Kitty Kat, ably played by Leo the Lion. He sailed in based on his extensive resume dating back to silent films, doing the opening credits of MGM movies.
Incidentally, I have a bridge to sell. Any takers?
You sound like a real life Mr Haney . I remember also Phil Silvers as a con man on The
Beverly Hillbillies trying to sell
Jed Clampett a bridge.
eugenebelvinandmoosefan8 33 months ago
The Munsters Meet The Addams Family
would have been a weird movie.
Speaking of people meeting each other
I liked the cartoon movie called The
Jetsons Meet The Flintstones .
I would like to see a Happy Days Reunion Movie where Chuck Cunningham 2 (Randolph Roberts) is
the Assistant basketball coach at
Jefferson High School and his boss is
head basketball coach Roger Phillips
(Ted McGinley).
Ideas For Other TV Movies:
Judy Hensler Meets Penny Woods
Spike Meets Chachi
MOOSE On Happy Days Final Talks!
Eugene BELVIN and Jenny Piccolo
Get Married
Melvin BELVIN and KC Cunningham
Get Married
Bag ZOMBROSKI Meets Fellow Practical
Joker Wally PLUMSTEAD
Col Nick Cuccinelli Meets Cpl Boyle
Mary Ann Forever Tribute Movie
An Eddie Cantor Joe Penner
Pee Wee Herman Tribute Movie
Freakazoid Meets The Tick
Little Rascals Tribute Movie
Also another idea for a TV movie: Mr Schump From The Andy Griffith Show Finally Talks
And he reveals how mysterious
he was in Mayberry and he reveals the many mysteries of
Mayberry like whatever Happened To Ed Sawyer who moved to Mayberry because
Mayberry was "His Hometown "
And after Ed Sawyer moved to
Mayberry in 196O he was never
Seen again
TV Term:ED SAWYER SYNDROME
Maybe ED SAWYER left Mayberry
For s Short Time and he got caught in either:
The Sitcom Zone
Or The Twilight Zone
Or The Phantom Zone
MeTv did an interesting story on Ed Sawyer almost 2years ago:

https://www.metv.com/stories/the-stranger-of-mayberry-later-became-of-mayor-of-newhart

Also, Was it ever firmly established that he moved to Mayberry. Whether actual dialogue between the characters or scenes actually showing him moving into town and establishing a residence. If it wasn't then there is no mystery.
I just pulled up that Article on actor
William Lanteau who played Ed Sawyer for one episode only of The Andy Griffith Show and the article was
Very good.
eugenebelvinandmoosefan8 33 months ago
Who played Cousin Itt ?
Felix Silla. The same guy who also plays Twiki on the Buck Rogers film & tv show. He also played Sean, one of the little people on the Bonanza comedy episode Hoss and the Leprechauns.
Whose voice was the Radio Announcer on Gilligan's Island ??
On the Gilligan's Island episode You've Been Disconnected what is the name of the actress with the blonde hair
working at the Bijou Theater telling
Gilligan the name of the Double
Feature at The Bijou Theater ??
WGH BuckeyeBeth7 33 months ago
Bingo.

Just watched the Bonanza episode, Hoss and then Leprechauns (free on You Tube) , the other day, March 17th. And I recognized the mischievous little feller!
daDoctah 33 months ago
It's a shame nobody ever thought to make Gahan Wilson's cartoons into a TV series.
GWeldon1776 daDoctah 33 months ago
Guess Wilson's were so weird and varied that you couldn't concisely turn them into a family to follow. Many times they left me scratching my head in bewilderment. Lol.
Jeremy 33 months ago
Well, I figured it had to be Morticia otherwise the opening credits wouldn't read "Starring Carolyn Jones" who played her.
Load previous comments
Moody WGH 33 months ago
Frank Gorshin was the first Riddler on the tv series. Astin replaced him in season 2.
vinman63 Moody 32 months ago
Frank Goshin smoked 5 packs a day and on his death bed he took off his oxygen mask for one more drag.
eddiecantorfan vinman63 32 months ago
A Memo To METV Viewers in
METV LAND:
Does anyone remember the
cartoon Milton The Monster?
eddiecantorfan vinman63 32 months ago
Another funny cartoon was
George Of The Jungle .
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?