VICTOR MARSHALL

Real Name: Victor Marshall

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Actor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: "Invaders from another world"

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Koru

Base of Operations: His home, somewhere in America

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#33/1 (July, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Marshall was an accomplished actor; he was also gifted at applying make-up and performing stunts.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (170 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: White

History:
(Tales to Astonish I#33/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Victor Marshall is largely unrevealed, but he was once a great theatrical actor, having appeared in plays such as "Comrades of Camelot," "Royal Intrigue," "The Kiss and the Sword," and "Rustler's Revenge". His performances won acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and he earned a fortune during his distinguished career.

(Tales to Astonish I#33/1) - However, as Marshall grew older, acting roles became harder and harder for him to come by  -- although he was a wealthy man and financially secure, he still desperately longed to perform on stage again; but whenever he contacted agents, producers, or playwrights, no one wanted to hire him. Dejected, Marshall finally determined that it was time to put his life as an actor behind him and place all of his old props and posters into dead storage. He telephoned a warehouse on 116 Elm Street and made arrangements to store all of his mementos there; then he loaded the remnants of his once-brilliant career into the back of his station-wagon and drove out into the night to the warehouse.

   However, along the way, Marshall misread the address he had written upside-down; consequently, instead of going to 116, he drove on to 911, where he wound up at the wrong warehouse, a seemingly deserted building way on the outskirts of town. He entered the darkened building, and to his amazement, he found advanced machinery--like that of a spaceship--and a force of alien invaders inside. Hiding in the shadows, Marshall watched in distress as the extraterrestrials tested their advanced weaponry -- he realized that Earth would have no chance against these invaders, so he determined that he would thwart their scheme.

   After overhearing the invaders mention that they would begin their attack on the planet after their spy Koru came back and gave them the go ahead, Marshall hid himself by the building's doorway, awaiting Koru's return. When Koru entered, Marshall struck him from behind, killing the alien spy with a single blow. Then Marshall set to work with his make-up kit and altered his face to look just like Koru's, and he also donned Koru's uniform.

   Masquerading as the alien spy, "Koru" staggered back to the other extraterrestrials and reported that the atmosphere of Earth contained a deadly germ which was destroying all life on the planet; "Koru" also claimed that he had been stricken by the germ, and he would soon die. Unprepared for this obstacle, the invaders were thus convinced to abandon their plans to conquer the world, so they made preparations to leave Earth. "Koru" insisted that he had to be left behind, for he didn't want to contaminate the invaders' home-world, but he would cover their tracks when they left. The invaders saluted "Koru" as a hero, and promised that their children would sing his praises forever.

   "Koru" fled from the building and watched as the invaders' spaceship burst out and took flight, never to return. As he began to remove his make-up and change out of his disguise, Victor Marshall resolved that he could now deal with the end of his theatrical career and be content with the rest of his life, for he had just played the greatest role of them all -- that of a man who saved the world!

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Say, you don't suppose Victor is the father of Grant Marshall, do you? (see clarifications)

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Victor Marshall has no known connection to:

• Eric Marshall - National Security Agency agent--Civil War: Front Line#1/2
• Grant Marshall - actor and rival of Bob O'Bryan--Tales Of Suspense I#20
• John Marshall - created Molitis germ--Strange Tales I#90
• John Marshall - American Eagle foe--Marvel Comics Presents I#148/4
• Paul Marshall - extradimensional monster--Tales to Astonish I#34
• Simon Marshall - Cloak and Dagger foe--Spectacular Spider-Man II#64
• any other characters with similar names
  

The "invaders from another world" have no known connection to:

• Invaders - World War II-era team of heroes--Giant-Size Invaders I#1
• Invaders - extraterrestrials from a planet devoid of water--Tales to Astonish I#34/3
• Invaders - Martian movie characters--Strange Tales I#92
• any other characters with similar names

"Invaders from another world" Members of an unidentified extraterrestrial race, this force of alien warriors (at least seven; none but Koru identified) came to Earth with the intention of conquering the planet. They concealed their spaceship inside a deserted building on the outskirts of town. Their weaponry included Gamma-Blasters (which could disintegrate the strongest steel objects), a Micro-Machine (which projected a beam that could reduce an entire city to doll-like proportions), and an X-20 Ray (mentioned only, function unrevealed).

Before they began their attack on Earth, the invaders sent out their spy Koru to gather intelligence about the planet. But when Koru returned, he was secretly struck and killed by actor Victor Marshall, who had stumbled upon the aliens' plot. Marshall then used his make-up kit to impersonate Koru. Later, "Koru" came staggering back to the invaders and reported that Earth's atmosphere contained a deadly germ that was destroying all life on the planet; "Koru" also claimed that he had been stricken by the germ, and he would soon die. Unprepared to deal with this obstacle, the aliens made arrangements to leave the diseased planet before they perished; but "Koru" insisted that he had to be left behind, because he didn't want to contaminate the invaders' home-world, and "Koru's" comrades saluted him for his brave sacrifice. As they departed Earth in their spaceship, the invaders were unaware that they had actually been tricked into leaving, for "Koru" was really retired actor Victor Marshall, who had just given the greatest performance of his life. (Comment: They never mentioned the name of the planet or star-system from which they originated, so I just used Victor Marshall's description to identify them.) --Tales to Astonish I#33/1

"Invaders'" spaceship A spacecraft that was capable of interstellar flight, it brought an invasion force of unidentified extraterrestrials to Earth. The invaders concealed the spacecraft within a deserted building on 911 Elm Street, on the outskirts of town. The aliens tested their weaponry aboard their ship, while their spy Koru was out gathering intelligence about the planet. But actor Victor Marshall impersonated Koru,  and he tricked the aliens into abandoning their invasion plans and leaving Earth. --Tales to Astonish I#33/1

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p1, pan1 - (Main Image - Victor Marshall)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p2, pan2 - (Headshot - Victor Marshall (left profile))
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p2, pan6 - (Victor Marshall, with the mementos of his acting career)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p6, pan4 - (Victor Marshall, applying make-up to impersonate Koru)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p4, pan7 - (two "invaders"; Victor Marshall (background))
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p4, pan9 - (two "invaders" with Gamma-Blaster)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p5, pan8 - (Koru gets struck from behind by Victor Marshall)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p7, pan2 - (trio of "invaders" bid farewell to "Koru")
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p4, pan5 - (Victor Marshall inside "invaders" spaceship)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p7, pan4 - ("Koru"/Victor Marshall flees from building as "invaders'" spaceship prepares to blast-off)
Tales to Astonish I#33/1, p7, pan5 - ("invaders'" spaceship takes flight; "Koru"/Victor Marshall (foreground))

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#33/2 (July, 1962) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)

First posted: 07/12/2003
Last updated: 08/28/2022