*note This is a bit of a spitball idea so when I eventually do do a comic or story on this character some aspects may change or be altered*

Born in Timbuktu to a African father and Indian traveler mother from day one it was clear that The Handy Man was a unique soul being super strong right out of the gate

As he grew up He became more and more hairy until he resembled more of a kind of werewolf than he did a man, however despite this his parents and extended family still loved and cared for him He even got a pet tiger from his mom's side of the family

And despite the turmoil in his homeland he had a surprisingly healthy life growing up, although he did have to learn how to defend himself and his family from those who wish to take advantage and exploit them,

many people came seeking to capture this mythical "hairy man of Timbuktoo" as some sort of freak show act, or try to capture his parents or other family members to blackmail him imto becoming a freak show act and every time this happened handy man would rush over alongside his pet tiger and using his insane strength and cleverness, would save the day

But as the years went on, and these people became more and more relentless in their attempts to capture the him, alongside having a vision in his dreams, He decided to leave for America, But before this he lifted his parents home and took it to a place where the people trying to capture him would never look and find them

His family accepts his decision of course and his father gifted him a very special club that had been passed down from generations that resemble a star, handy man's father also reveals to him that he comes from a lineage of royalty and that club first belonged to one of there ancestors who some called the richest man in the world

And so the handyman and his tiger began walking and walking and walking until they got to the coast were upon discovering that it would cost money to travel via boat the two decided to swim to America instead

Then we see the beginning of the original comic stirp with many comic strips from the original handyman run still happening to him in this timeline but eventually he decides to join a circus that pays him well which is where he meets two other good natured strong men

Hugo Hercules (soft spoken gentle Giant Melungeon strongman whose uncle is one of the people running the circus) and Samson the strongman (hot tempered, heroic, competitive and Jewish with a bit of a Napoleon complex), together the three (and with his tiger technically making four) made sort of strongman group at the circus,

Them showing off how strong they were while Also showing their personalities off in various ways sometimes even incorporating comedy (sometimes intentionally through a routine and script and other times unintentionally due to fumbles or Hugo and Samson getting into bugs and daffy-esque disagreements That would eventually have to be broken up by the handyman), competitive tests of strength and wrestling and even a kind of cultural education in the in the form of Them casually telling stories from their cultures as they perform incredible feats of strength All into their routine

The three grew so close that they considered each other brothers And even After the three went their own separate ways they still kept in touch with each other, All three inviting each other to important events in their lives such as family gatherings, marriages, funerals and so on

Hugo even called upon his brothers to take his place after getting injured while doing some super heroics with his team of fellow old time heroes and mystery men ironically enough called the heroics

However that's a story for another day

This story is a part of my own version of Handy man for my own projects and the Handy man originally created by Carl "Bunny" Schultze and info about the original comic strip can be found here and a decent chunk of his comic run can be found here in black and white