HANK is the seven-year-old star of ADDANAC CITY. This is one kid who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Nearly every day, you can find Hank in hot water with his family, friends, and school officials.

Hank has no respect for authority whatsoever. He swindles his neighbors, cheats his friends, and plays practical jokes on his mom and dad.

And that’s when he’s in a good mood. Shucks, if you stacked all of his discipline notices, they’d cast a shadow eight feet long!

He’s that kid you love to hate and hate to love.

You can bet if he disappears, there won’t be an Amber Alert issued for him, there’ll be a parade!

——————————————————————-

CHRISTIE is Hank’s official nemesis. She’s one of the smartest kids in the class, and she doesn’t hesitate to remind Hank of that fact. She gets all A’s while he gets all F’s.

For all the classroom intelligence that Christie possesses, she ocassionally falls victim to Hank’s pranks. The majority of their time together is spent with each trying to gain the upper hand.

Christie appears to have a huge need to be liked. She’s very insecure, and that leads her to appear brash and irritable. On some minor level, she may be jealous of Hank’s carefree attitude and his ability to not “sweat the small stuff”. She tries to make up for that by overachieving.

——————————————————————-

TIM is Hank’s best friend. He knows how devious and ignorant Hank can be, but the two boys still manage to get along. Tim seems to be the only one who understands Hank.

Hank evens cuts Tim some slack. Most of the time. Generally, when you see Tim, you see Hank, and vice versa.

The only time this dynamic duo is separated is when Hank is on one of his ultra-secret, clandestine, sabotage missions. Tim is usually smart enough not to get caught up in Hank’s troubles.

————————————————————

MR. ADDANAC is a doting father and a loving husband. At least, that’s what he thinks. In reality, Mr. A is a poor schmuck who works all day, then comes home to an exasperated wife and a son who has most likey just spent the day in police custody.

He does everything he can to keep his family on pace with the Joneses. They take vacations, they visit the zoo, and they spend quality time together. There’s only one drawback, and its name is Hank.

The amusing aspect is that Hank’s not that much different from his old man. Mr. Addanac has been known to execute a zany idea or two in his day. He may be considerably older than Hank, but he’s not that much more mature.

He gives credence to the old saying, “Like Father, like son”.

———————————————————

MRS. ADDANAC is probably the smartest person in her household. She’s the epitome of a perfect mother (just so long as you ignore her neuroses).

She works at a real-estate agency, which is perfect for her because nearly everyone in the neighborhood wants to put their house on the market in attempts to escape from her misbehaving son, Hank.

She tries her darnedest to be the best mom she can be, but keeping Hank in line is a full-time job in itself. You can imagine all of the times she has had to leave work early due to some infraction Hank has committed in school. Prinicpal Argent has her cell phone number on speed-dial!

And to make things even more difficult, she has an enterprising husband who has a knack for getting into trouble, too.

———————————————————–

PRINCIPAL ARGENT is a strict disciplinarian who takes no guff and tackles each school day with vigor. His plan is to make it through one day without having Hank sent to his office. Ha!

Argent is more like Joe Blow than Joe Clark. If it wasn’t for Hank’s negative hyperactivity, the man wouldn’t have anything to do. He’s usually friendly and humorous until you say the name Hank Addanac, then he’s frothing at the mouth and doing his best Exorcist impression.

Principal Argent believes himself to be smooth, debonair, and a natty dresser, second only to the great Steve Harvey. He runs a tight ship and he demands no less than total vigilance from his faculty. Generally, the other students toe the line and grant him the respect he believes he deserves. Hank’s the only monkey-wrench in that scenario.

If Argent could just make it to retirement before he’s driven hopelessly insane.

———————————————

MS. YESNIK is a second-grade teacher at Addanac City Elementary. She’s been educating students for what seems like a hundred years, and her temerity and dedication to her pupils has helped form them into fine, upstanding citizens.

She’s won Teacher of the Year three consecutive times and she’s a staunch supporter of the Better Academic Results Foundation (better known as B.A.R.F.). Ms. Yesnik has enjoyed a fine career that’s filled with awards and accolades. To her, teaching is not just a job, it’s a passion and a pleasure.

That is, until Hank Addanac crossed the threshold of her classroom.

Now Ms. Yesnik’s days are spent guzzling 64 oz. bottles of Maalox with a whiskey chaser. She crawls doggedly towards her pension and longs for the day when corporal punishment and burning at the stake are re-instituted into the school system.

————————————————

MS. RORSHACH is a new hire to the Addanac City Elementary School faculty. She serves as resident school psychologist. She was hired under the guise of evaluating the psychological needs of the student body.

In reality, she was employed to perform a lobotomy on ol’ Hank and pick his brain (if one is found).

With Rorshach’s background and schooling, perhaps she has the necessary tools to brainwash Hank into becoming a model student. That may be a lost cause, for Hank has the unique ability to drive a sane person bonkers in a manner of minutes.

It will be interesting to see whether Ms. Rorshach will emerge victorious or get carted off to the looney bin herself.

——————————————

CORBIN is one of the quietest kids in class. Half of the time, you wouldn’t even know he was there if it wasn’t for his nervous sighs.

He has long since accepted that he’ll never be the recipient of the Most Popular Kid award. He wants to be liked by everyone, but his shyness just gets in the way. Corbin’s sorta like wallpaper, you know it’s there, but there’s no sense in staring at it.

Corbin has figured out that the best way to get noticed is to hang around the one kid that nobody can ignore: Hank.

Hank doesn’t mind if Corbin stands in his shadow; good flunkies don’t come cheap. Hank takes advantage of Corbin often, but he doesn’t do it maliciously; Hank takes advantage of everybody.

Maybe Corbin can devise a way to make himself the center of attention?

——————————————

PENELOPE is one of the more stronger-willed characters in the strip. She’s smart, cynical, sassy, and she’s the embodiment of Miss Independence.

Penelope can do anything a boy can do, but better. She loves skateboarding, biking, Tae Kwon Do, and listening to obscure music. She hates…HANK! Penelope sees Hank for who he truly is, and she’ll be glad to knock his block off at first opportunity.

Penelope is also Tim’s off-and-on girlfriend (usually more off than on). That’s one reason why her and Hank don’t get along. Generally, Hank will keep his distance from her unless his ire is up and he has beef to hash out with her.

It’ll be interesting to see how large a role Penelope will play in the strip.

——————————————–

Hank’s Uncle Jack has been making an impact since his very first appearance in ADDANAC CITY. Jack is Mr. Addanac‘s felonious, no-good, older brother.

Jack keeps a smile on his face even though he leads a rather rough life. He stayed with the Addanacs for a while when he escaped from prison the first time. Oddly enough, and to his parents dismay, Hank looks up to his uncle and demulates him every chance he gets.

During Jack’s time in Addanac City, he has been somewhat responsible for the death of a judge, the impregnation of his daughter, another prison escape, and the destruction of a tattoo parlor and drug den.

It’s always interesting and entertaining to see what Uncle Jack is gonna do next.

——————————————————

Esteban made his Addanac City debut in January 2009. He’s one of the few characters who doesn’t mind hanging out with Hank.

Being a new student in class, Esteban had no idea how much trouble he could get into by merely being in Hank’s presence.

Esteban was the one who accompanied Hank to see the Voodoo Lady during the Zombie storyline. He also experienced the brunt of Hank’s mischievous nature on his birthday too.

Esteban is timid by nature, but he’s long on trusting. Let’s just hope he doesn’t fall prey to many more of Hank’s diabolical schemes.

——————————–

More cast members to come…..