MARVEL’S 1950s CHARACTERS

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the 1950s characters of Marvel Comics – then known as Atlas Comics. 

LEOPARD GIRL

Secret Identity: Gwen (no last name ever given)

First Appearance: Jungle Tales Vol 1 #1 (October 1954)

Origin: Gwen supernaturally bonded with a pack of jungle leopards as a little girl.

Powers: Leopard Girl employed her supernatural “cry of the leopards” to use a small army of leopards to help her fight the forces of evil in Africa. She could interact with the Dark Continent’s ghosts, who saw her as an ally.

This heroine also had greater than human strength, agility and speed. Her senses were heightened as were her healing abilities.

Comment: In her secret identity as “Gwen”, Leopard Girl worked with research scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer. Her fellow assistant was named Peter, whom she once carried with one arm while swinging through the jungle.

In time, Gwen became a cook for Sandra Danning and her husband.

MARVEL BOY

Secret Identity: Robert Grayson

First Appearance: Marvel Boy #1 (December 1950)

Origin: In the early 1930s, scientist Matthew Grayson, a recent widower, feared an imminent global war. He secretly built a spaceship and left Earth with his infant son Robert. The pair were welcomed by a high-tech civilization of humanoids on the planet Uranus.

By 1950 Robert had gained superhuman strength and became proficient with using the Uranian Quantum Bands he wore on his wrists. Robert returned to Earth to fight crime, aliens and Communist operatives as Marvel Boy. (I guess Uranus Boy or The Boy from Uranus were just plain too silly to use.)

Powers: Marvel Boy had a degree of superhuman strength, limited telepathy and was skilled at unarmed combat. He wore Quantum Bands which could shoot intense light and later energy blasts.

Comment: Robert Grayson worked as a reporter for the Daily Monitor in his secret identity. In the 1970s Marvel reintroduced this character as the supervillain called the Crusader. He had been driven mad with grief over the death of all the inhabitants of Uranus and returned to Earth as a villain. He died in battle with the Fantastic Four. His Quantum Bands were then used by Quasar.   

BATTLE BRADY

Secret Identity: (first name unknown) Brady

First Appearance: Battle Action #5 (October 1952)

Origin: Brady was a Texan who joined the U.S. army to fight in the Korean War as an infantryman, then became legendary as Battle Brady.

Powers: This hero was in peak condition, excelled at armed and unarmed combat and had mastery of 1950s weaponry. 

Comment: Battle Brady’s final Golden Age appearance came in 1954. All his adventures were set during the 1950-1953 run of the Korean War.

GORILLA MAN

Secret Identity: Ken Hale

First Appearance: Men’s Adventures #26 (March 1954)

Origin: Traveling the jungle in Kenya, Ken Hale killed a very human-like gorilla. He thus inherited from his slain victim the curse of Gorilla Man, transforming him into such a creature.

Powers: This hero had the strength, agility and stamina of a gorilla. Gorilla Man retained his human intellect and ability to speak.

Comment: If anyone ever succeeded in killing this Gorilla Man, that person would inherit the curse and transform into the new Gorilla Man.   

JUNGLE GIRL

Secret Identity: Jane (Jann) Hastings

First Appearance: Jungle Tales #1 (September 1954)

Origin: Hollywood stunt woman Jane Hastings was in Africa making a movie. She wound up having to save the film crew from assorted dangers, then decided to remain in the jungle as an adventurer.

Powers: Jungle Girl was at maximum human strength, was more agile than an acrobat and was very skilled at unarmed combat. She also wielded a knife expertly and excelled at jungle lore and survival techniques which she had learned as a child from her mother Jann, a medical missionary.

Comment: The natives remembered Jane Hastings’ mother and often addressed her as “Jann”, her mother’s name. She fought human and supernatural evil, including dinosaurs, sentient vegetation, Communist agents, robot mastodons and more. This heroine’s adventures continued until June, 1957. 

THE HUMAN ROBOT

Secret Identity: None

First Appearance: Menace #11 (May 1954)

Origin: Created by an unnamed scientist as a potential servant, the Human Robot proved to be more efficient at killing off villains.

Powers: This android possessed superhuman strength and a very durable metal body. If the Human Robot’s body was dismembered or otherwise damaged, its component parts would reconstruct the body as a whole.

Comment: Like so many other characters from their 1950s period as Atlas, the Human Robot was revived and reintroduced to Marvel Comics continuity during the Bronze Age.

ALFIE BROWN

Secret Identity: None

First Appearance: Spy Cases #13 (October 1952)

Origin: Alfie Brown was a mutant whose extraordinary strength and fortitude prompted America’s military intelligence to use him in special missions against Communist troops during the Korean War.

Powers: Greater than human strength and stamina. Military training. Skilled with guns and grenades. 

Comment: If not for the way that superhero comic books were declining after World War Two, this character might have been presented with a flashier name and a costume. 

LO-ZAR

Secret Identity: Unknown

First Appearance: Jungle Action Vol 1 #1 (October 1954)

Origin: Somehow, this hero became the lord of a prehistoric, dinosaur-ridden jungle hidden somewhere in the modern world.

Powers: Lo-Zar had maximum human strength, could communicate with creatures in his jungle and flew by riding his giant hawk Hako like a winged horse. He was also skilled with a knife, spear, plus bow and arrows.

Comment: Roughly halfway between Marvel’s Golden Age Ka-Zar who operated in Africa and their Silver Age Ka-Zar who operated in the dinosaur-ridden Savage Land came Lo-Zar. This hero fought the usual prehistoric jungle menaces as well as criminals and Communist villains.

ARIZONA ANNIE

Secret Identity: Annie (last name unknown)

First Appearance: Wild West #1 (Spring 1948)

Origin: Tomboy Annie became a skilled cowgirl on ranches out in Arizona.

Powers: Arizona Annie was an expert shot with both hands, excelled at brawling and had mastered horse-riding and the use of a lasso.

Comment: This heroine’s adventures were set in Arizona Territory in the late 1800s. Her male friends were fellow cowboy Slim Smith and greenhorn Cal.

SOLVER OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Secret Identity: Rex Lane

First Appearance: Young Men #21 (October 1953)

Origin: Decades before Dylan Dog, private investigator Rex Lane wound up involved in cases which always involved supernatural creatures and the like.

Powers: This hero was very bright and excelled at detective work. He also had a working knowledge of the supernatural.

Comment: Rex Lane failed the physical exam to become a policeman, so his fiancee Belle encouraged him to become a private investigator instead. 

JIMMY WOO

Secret Identity: None

First Appearance: Yellow Claw #1 (October 1956)

Origin: Jimmy Woo was an FBI agent who often thwarted the plans of the Communist China-allied supervillain called the Yellow Claw (later the Golden Claw).

Powers: This hero was in peak human condition, excelled at armed and unarmed combat and all espionage skills.

Comment: The Yellow Claw was a pastiche of Fu Manchu. Both Jimmy Woo and the Yellow Claw were revived by Marvel Comics in the 1960s. Jimmy was made an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and even appeared in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

THE BLACK KNIGHT

Secret Identity: Sir Percy of Scandia

First Appearance: Black Knight Vol 1 #1 (May 1955)

Origin: In league with Merlin the Magician, Sir Percy put on the public image of a harmless bumbler while secretly being the Black Knight. In his armor and helmet, this knight helped fight Mordred, Morgan le Fay and armies intent on invading Camelot.

Powers: The Black Knight was in peak human condition and was a master of mounted warfare, skilled with lances and swords. Merlin had mystically forged the Black Knight’s armor and his sword the Ebony Blade from a downed meteor. The armor and sword were impervious to all weaponry except those which might be made of the same substance as the fallen meteor.

Comment: This character was integrated with Marvel’s continuity from the 1960s onward in a unique way. One of his descendants was the supervillain Black Knight, wearing the inherited indestructible armor and wielding high-tech weaponry of his own creation.

        Then when that supervillain version of the Black Knight was mortally wounded in battle with Iron Man, the villain used his dying moments to pass along the Black Knight title to his nephew Dane Whitman. Dane became the new Black Knight, who, like most of the earlier men to hold that title and wear the armor, was a hero on the side of right.

Sir Percy’s ghost would advise Dane Whitman by appearing in the mystic brazier of the family’s ancient home Garrett Castle.  

LORNA THE JUNGLE QUEEN

Secret Identity: Lorna (last name unknown)

First Appearance: Lorna the Jungle Queen #1 (July 1953)

Origin: Lorna’s mother died in the jungle while giving birth to her. Her jungle explorer father raised her alone from then on, teaching her all about life in the wild. She took to fighting the forces of evil.

Powers: The Jungle Queen was in peak human condition and was more agile than an acrobat. She was a master of unarmed combat and an expert with knives, spears and a bow & arrows. She had a few jungle animals as free-ranging “pets.”

Comment: The sheer number of jungle characters instead of superheroes in 1950s comic books reflected the way most costumed crimefighters were out of fashion before coming back big in the late 50s and early 60s.

TROUBLE-SHOOTERS

Secret Identities: Bob Brant, Feathers, Duffy, Bomber, Carol and Bess

First Appearance: Man Comics #26 (May 1953)

Origin: Four teenage boys and two teenage girls got caught up in adventures against Communist Spies, mutant telepaths, animated mummies, counterfeiters and more.

Powers: Bob Brant was the leader of the Trouble-Shooters and Feathers was the genius Native American who was intelligent far beyond his years. Bomber was the youngest member, while Duffy, Carol and Bess served in support roles.

Comment: Bob Brant’s older brother Lance was a federal agent. His connections and leads helped the Trouble-Shooters recover laser-gun prototypes, thwart a Soviet plan for space conquest and bring down Communist agents.

GUNHAWK

Secret Identity: Preston Hardwick

First Appearance: Gunhawk #12 (November 1950) Issues 1-11 were titled Whip Wilson. 

Origin: While Preston Hardwick was back east finishing his college education, his mine-owning father James was murdered out west by outlaws. 

To keep access to his inherited money and to honor a promise he made his father to never have the Hardwick name become associated with gunslinging, Preston adapted the alias Red Larabee for use out west.

As Gunhawk he avenged his father’s death and continued roaming the west fighting the forces of evil and having fantastic adventures.

Powers: Gunhawk was a phenomenal marksman with both hands and had mastered all manner of unarmed combat, even Far East methods. He wore a bulletproof vest under his shirt and his education gave him advantages over his foes, just like Frank Merriwell, Brisco County Jr. and other heroes.

Comment: This hero’s horse was named Blaze. In addition to the usual Wild West villains, Gunhawk took on zombies, lost Aztec civilizations and more. 

WHITE HUNTER

Secret Identity: Cliff Mason

First Appearance: Jungle Tales #1 (September 1954)

Origin: During the 1950s, Big Game Hunter Cliff Mason was nicknamed White Hunter in honor of the decades-old descriptive term “great white hunter.” He fought all the forces of evil that nature and super-science could throw at him in the jungles of South America, Africa and Asia.

Powers: This hunter was in peak physical condition and was virtually fearless. He was unrivaled at tracking and trapping techniques as well as jungle survival techniques.

In addition, Cliff Mason was a talented fighter and expertly wielded guns, knives, bolas, coiled nets and more. 

Comment: On top of the usual deadly jungle animals and menaces, White Hunter dealt with Communist agents, ten-toed jungle cryptids, an entire nest of pythons, a giant spider, head-hunters and ruthless oilmen.

He also went on many rescue missions to save the lives of inept or overly confident hunting expeditions.    

*** In addition to the above figures, Atlas briefly revived Marvel’s 1940s superheroes Captain America, Sub-Mariner, the original android Human Torch, Namora, Venus and Miss America. However, the 1950s were not very friendly to superhero sales and it wasn’t until the 1960s that those figures made a complete comeback.

FOR MY REVIEW OF DOZENS OF MARVEL’S 1940s SUPERHEROES CLICK HERE.

FOR MY REVIEW OF MARVEL’S 1940s SUPERHEROES WHO MADE ONLY ONE APPEARANCE CLICK HERE.