CAPTAIN OTT

Real Name: Ott

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian) humanoid

Occupation: Captain

Group Membership: An unidentified Martian fleet

Affiliations: Diane Carson, the Great One, the Human Torch ("Jim Hammond");
    formerly Ritton

Enemies: Mr. Carson, Ritton;
    formerly Diane Carson, Human Torch ("Jim Hammond")

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mars

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics I#3 (January, 1940)

Powers/Abilities: Captain Ott does not appear to have any superhuman powers but he has access to advanced Martian technology including a flying spacecraft that could fire electronic rays strong enough to snap metal railroad rails and an automobile that could fire its pointed hood outward like a torpedo. The razor-sharp hood was durable enough to pierce through a glycerin truck.

    Ott also has access to a special type of fireproof glass that can be fashioned into a variety of shapes, usually tubes of varying sizes.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'3")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 185 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (possibly brown? see comments)
Hair: Unrevealed (see comments)

History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics I#3 (fb) - BTS) - When the planet Mars was threatened by another planetary body, Earthman Mr. Ritton discovered the situation and attempted to inform the government, only be laughed at when he attempted to contact Mars using his Super-Radio device. Wanting revenge for becoming a laughing stock, Ritton eventually managed to reach the Martian Captain Ott and one of his agents and he struck a deal with them to acquire TNT and lead them to Earth for an invasion in exchange for being made Emperor of the United States following the invasion. Despite disliking Ritton's warlike idea of becoming the Emperor of the USA, Captain Ott and his fleet were ordered by the Martian Great One to follow Ritton's orders as if Ritton himself were the Great One. Captain Ott and his agent subsequently arrived on Earth and they were quickly ordered by Ritton to track down explosives company owner Mr. Carson, who had developed a formula for Super-TNT.

(Marvel Mystery Comics I#3) - Locating Carson aboard the Comet train, Ott and his agent used their spacecraft to halt the train in its tracks by severing the rails. Finding Carson in the wrecked smoking cabin, Ott and his agent demanded the Super-TNT formula but Carson refused, prompting Ott and his agent to attempt to kill Carson. Carson was saved by the android Human Torch, who had befriended Carson on the train only moments earlier, and the Torch punched Ott. Carson, dying from injuries suffered in the train crash, gave the Super-TNT formula to the Torch to deliver to his daughter Diane and Ott and his agent presumably escaped to return to Mr. Ritton. Having recently encountered the Human Torch at the Carson Explosive Company during his own attempt to acquire the Super-TNT formula from Diane Carson, Ritton ordered the Martians to capture the Human Torch and they soon spotted the Torch leaving the Carson Explosive Company in Galeton, Texas after having delivered the Super-TNT formula to Diane. Following the Torch, the two Martians deduced that the hero must be carrying the TNT formula himself and they fired the pointed hood of their vehicle into the Torch's truck, forcing the Torch to exit as the truck exploded.

    Noticing the Torch diving from the truck into a nearby body of water, Captain Ott ordered his agent to prepare their fireproof glass tube and the duo successfully trapped the surfacing Torch inside the tube. They then ventured to a nearby train roundhouse, where they regrouped with Mr. Ritton to turn over the captured Torch, reminding Ritton of their agreement to exchange the Torch for the TNT formula. Assuring Ott and his agent of his intentions to honor their agreement, Ritton next suggested they would also need Diane Carson, as she was the key to the TNT formula, and Ott assured Ritton they would return with Diane in an hour. Traveling in town, the two Martians quickly spotted Diane and absconded with her back to Ritton's roundhouse. Explaining how he had been laughed at when he attempted to inform the government of the impending threat to Mars, Ritton admitted that his helping the Martians acquire the Super-TNT was his way of gaining revenge on the government that had laughed at him. When Ritton demanded the Super-TNT formula from Diane, she refused and Ritton ordered Captain Ott to tie Diane to the rails of a train track. Captain Ott reluctantly followed Ritton's orders, calling Ritton a dog and admitting that he was only doing so because using the TNT to save Mars was more important. Before Ritton could run Diane over with a train, the Human Torch managed to flame on and stop the train before knocking out Captain Ott and setting fire to Ott's agent. The Torch then set off after the escaping Ritton and with Ritton gone, a recovered Captain Ott and his agent revealed to Diane Carson how they hated Ritton for his desire to become Emperor of the USA and how Martian scientists knew very little of explosives after the end of their wars hundreds of years earlier. Diane then asked why they had attacked her father and Captain Ott explained how they had been ordered by their Great One to obey Ritton. Ott and his agent then boarded their spacecraft with the intent to return to Mars as failures. The Human Torch returned shortly after and Diane revealed that she believed the story of Mars being threatened by another planet and both the Torch and Diane soon agreed that the Super-TNT formula would be safer in the hands of the Martians than any selfish humans. The Torch then generated a fiery message asking Ott and his agent to stop their return flight to Mars and announcing that they would help the Martians acquire their needed TNT.

Comments: Created by Carl Burgos.

    Ya know...it seems a little odd to me that it's stated a few times in the story that Captain Ott and the other Martians have no knowledge of how to create TNT because they aren't "good scientists" following hundreds of years without war yet they sure knew well enough to create advanced spacecraft equipped with electronic ray blasters, fireproof glass tubing and vehicles capable of projecting their hoods like torpedoes! TNT though? Completely clueless...

    On a similar note, as the story progresses, it's explained that Captain Ott comes from a part of Mars that has been devoid of war for hundreds of years and that he and his agent were only obeying Ritton's orders because they had been ordered to do so by their superior, the Great One. However, Ritton was helping the Martians acquire the TNT in advance of a Martian invasion of Earth and Ott even mentions to Diane towards the end of the story that the invasion would have definitely taken place had Ritton given them the Super-TNT. So much for their record of not having wars! Then again, perhaps the Martian invasion was not something the Martians actually WANTED to do but rather, it was Ritton's idea to have the Martians invade so he could be installed as Emperor of the USA and the Martians felt they had no choice but to bow to his whims in order to get the TNT they desperately needed...I suppose that's much more likely to fit with the continuity of the story.

    About halfway through the story, the colors of the costumes worn by Captain Ott and his agent begin switching between panels (see above image in red uniform). Ott is supposed to be the one in the blue suit while his agent is in the red. This is likely a coloring error.

    Captain Ott and his agent were presumably informed of Mr. Carson and his explosives formulas from Ritton, who was familiar with the Carsons.

    The art in the story prevented any definitive eye color for Captain Ott from being determined. He was mostly drawn with black dots for eyes, which was a common style of the time...

    Captain Ott was never seen outside of his space suit/uniform, making it impossible to see what color hair he had, if he even had any. Additionally, it's possible that Ott and his agent were unable to breathe oxygen since they never removed their helmets...

    I'm not sure if it's just the art and how Ott and his agent appear while inside their helmeted uniforms but they seem to have tall foreheads, not unlike the Metalunan aliens Exeter and Brack in the 1955 film, This Island Earth. Of course, that film would've come out some fifteen years after Marvel Mystery Comics I#3 so perhaps the filmmakers took some inspiration from Ott and his agent. Then again, it's more likely just a coincidence and it only seems like their foreheads are tall due to the art and my own recollections of the This Island Earth film.

This profile was completed 01/24/2025, but it was saved for the March 2025 Mars event.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Ott should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#3, p10, pan1 (Captain Ott, main image)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#3, p10, pan6 (Captain Ott, headshot)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#3, p15, pan9 (a regretful Captain Ott, in miscolored red uniform)

Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics I#3 (January, 1940) - "The Menace from Mars" story - Carl Burgos (writer, art), Martin Goodman (editor)

First posted: 03/20/2025
Last updated: 03/20/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters