Inexplicable Speck, The

Vital Statistics

First Appearance: Surreptitious Machinations (Prologue: Rhymes and Ruminations) (November 6, 2001)

Full Name: Ebenezer E. Dermis

Known Aliases: The Inexplicable Speck!

Status: Alive

Species: Sentient flea

Gender: Male

Height: 4' 6" (137.16 cm)

Weight: 130 lb (58.97 kg)

Hair: N/A (he does have two antennae sprouting from the top of his head)

Distinguishing Characteristics: Large, round, red nose; muscular yet slightly overweight frame; alter ego wears large, thick, black glasses

Marital Status: Single

Original Comic: Jeff's self-titled, as yet unpublished The Inexplicable Speck!

Creator: Jeffrey T. Darlington

Character Description

Professor Ebenezer E. Dermis is a sentient four-and-a-half-foot-tall flea from an alternate universe. Dermis, an undergraduate physics professor working to obtain his doctorate, accidentally bombarded himself with highly volatile radiation during a delicate experiment. This radiation endowed him with miraculous super powers and, being the nerdy guy he is, inspired him to become a superhero. Donning the mantle of "the Inexplicable Speck!," Dermis began to fight crime throughout his home city. To his surprise, while some of his powers (such as super strength and limited invulnerability) are stable, his "main" power is tied to the unstable half-life of the radiation that empowered him. As this half-life expires, his primary and strongest super power changes, often at inopportune times.

The crew of GPF Software first encountered the Speck! when Nick attempted to use the MUTEX to enter his comic books, bringing his friends with him. The Speck!, then pulled from his own home dimension by the Gamester for unknown reasons, entered one of Gamester's dimensional spheres and wound up in Nick's "simulation." This was no simulation, however, but an alternate universe that Nick's subconscious mind tapped into while "creating" his comic book heroes. Eventually, Nick and company returned home, while the Gamester transported the Speck! back to his universe. It is assumed that he is back to fighting crime as always.

Selected Milestones

• The Speck!'s brief cameo at the start of Surreptitious Machinations
• Another cameo during "Mischief's Night Out"
• The Speck!'s first true appearance, leading to his encounter with the GPF gang

Relationships

• None known

Group Affiliations

• None known

Miscellaneous Notes

The Inexplicable Speck! has been a staple of Jeff's sketchbooks for many years and nearly made his public debut as a Keenspot exclusive mini-series at one point. GPF Premium subscribers will find numerous sketches of the Speck! and his various allies and enemies in our exclusive Jeff's Sketchbook archive.

Technically, the exclamation point at the end of "The Inexplicable Speck!" is meant to be required, as it is part of his official superhero name. Just like in real life, however, many characters in the Speck!'s universe tend to omit this punctuation mark, which is a source of constant frustration to the character.