ROBERT GORDON(Earth-51124)
ROBERT GORDON
(Earth-51124)
Real Name: Robert Gordon
Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-51124);
active in mid-20th century, 2000 A.D., and 7000 A.D.
Occupation: Former bookkeeper;
(failed) would-be savior of Earth
Group Membership: Former employee of unidentified export firm
Affiliations: Alice (fiancee), Dr. Zord and his associate; Robert's unidentified boss/supervisor;
Jim and Ellen attempted to befriend (or at least
allow him to tell them his story), but they ultimately dismissed him as
crazy and left him;
Enemies: The "Greenies";
Jim and Ellen attempted to befriend (or at least
allow him to tell them his story), but they ultimately dismissed him as
crazy and left him;
sadly Robert was his own worst enemy, although all of humanity were victims of his carelessness
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
briefly Miami Beach, Florida circa 2000 A.D.,
formerly unrevealed location in USA (see comments)
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#4 (December, 1951)
Powers/Abilities: Robert Gordon had some experience as a bookkeeper, and he was presumably good enough to retain employment, but his carelessness caused enough errors to prevent him from getting a raise. He was intelligent and trainable, as he could
master operation of a blaster pistol, a spaceship, a time machine and
other advanced future-technology control devices in short order.
However, it may be that the technology was advanced and simplistic,
and he only had to know which of a few levers to flip at particular
times. He also had the courage to operate the blaster pistol while being charged by monstrous aliens as well as to pilot the starship off-planet while under fire and then pursued by hostile aliens. However, he was easily distracted, clumsy and careless, often causing problems with his actual end-results. |
History:
(Strange Tales I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Robert Gordon was a bookkeeper
at a large export firm, waiting for another raise before marrying his
fiancee, Alice. However, Robert was absent-minded and clumsy.
(Strange Tales I#4 (fb) - BTS) <Circa 7000 A.D.> - One of Dr. Zord's scientists was experimenting on time travel and made an error, causing an explosion that created a time warp that created a backwash in time: Time would flow backwards, wiping out all existence.
Dr. Zord and/or other scientists resolved to bring a
person forward from the past (for some reason, they specifically needed someone from the 20th century), supply him with the technology to shrink
Earth and then transport Earth back to 1700 A.D. where Earth could be set
on another time track.
The people of the future (possibly
Dr. Zord specifically) chose Robert Gordon at random, although his
being knocked unconscious somehow facilitated things. 
However, unable to time travel themselves, the extraterrestrials known as the Greenies apparently resented this and sought to destroy humanity and prevent them from saving their world.
(Strange Tales I#4 (fb)) - Robert
was transported forward in time around 5000 years in the future. He
awakened strapped to a table, and a pair of scientists (one of whom was
Dr. Zord) explained the situation to him. As the other scientist "got
things ready," Zord explained the cause of the problem and the details
of their plan to resolve it.
However, at that time, the
Greenies attacked. Warned of this, Zord noted that they had even less
time than he had thought, and he armed Robert with some sort of energy pistol while explaining the Greenies' threat. 
Zord then led Robert
through a secret passageway to the remote-control laboratory where they
were charged by a group of Greenies who sought to kill them.
Alongside Zord, Robert
blasted the Greenies until they could escape through a tunnel, at the
end of which they a close a heavy dura-steel door to hold them back.
Robert noted that that was the closest he had ever come to being cooked by a vegetable,
but Zord instructed him to listen closely as he explained that the
laboratory was really a space ship built around a time machine, and
that he was to blast into space, pull the lever that would shrink the
Earth, pick up the Earth and set the time machine apparatus to take him
back to 1700.
After Zord departed the ship to face the Greenies anew, Robert threw the switch to blast off.
Observing as the Greenies blasted
at his ship, and as the Greenies ships took after him, Zord or another
scientist gave him the order, and Robert pulled the switch (hoping that he had the right one) and successfully shrank the Earth.
After returning to retrieve the Earth, Robert was shocked to hold the entire planet in the palm of his hand and control humanity's fate.
Robert wondered if he would see his own people again, especially Alice, and he further considered that his boss would not call him a careless fool if he could see him now.
Prideful that he would be the one to save the Earth, Robert initiated the time travel, which caused him to at least seemingly spin dizzily in a stream of days, months, years.
As he approached the year 2000 A.D., the spinning slowed, and Robert thought that this looked like his home. 
With only three hundred years to go and figuring the world already saved, Robert decided to stop and see Miami Beach, as he had always wanted to do.
(Strange Tales I#4 (fb) - BTS) - However, as he stopped to look at the scenery, Robert dropped the Earth.
When he realized what he had done, he looked, but couldn't find it.
It is unrevealed how long Robert searched for the lost Earth, but he
appeared to be clean-shaven when he arrived, and he had a pretty thick
beard and his clothes were in tatters (presumably indicating at least a
week, if not more) when he encountered Jim and Ellen.
(Strange Tales I#4) - As Robert
desperately pleaded with those around to help him, Jim and his
girlfriend or wife, Ellen, called him over to tell them his story.
Having heard his tale, however, they denounced Robert as a madman and sent him away.
As Robert continued to look for the Earth, reality began to wipe out in a white wave of non-existence as the time backwash reached the year 2000 A.D.
Comments: Created by Bill LaCava and unidentified writer.
I'm not 100% certain from what date Robert Gordon was pulled, but he referred to the year 1700 as more than 200 years before he was born, and so I think going with the date of publication of the story as the date of the story for Golden Age tales fits nicely. He thinks that 2000 looks like home, but if he was 25-30 in 2000, you'd think he'd have said something "more like over 250 years before I was born. It does note that he was pulled 5000 years into the future, but that sort of timespan is more commonly estimated, rather than saying 4949 years in the future. I'm going with 1951.
Bookkeeping (and bookkeeper) are
among the relatively few words that have three consecutive double
letters. So, there's that...
Earth-51124 Circa 7000 A.D. an explosion created a time warp the would create a backwash in time; while Zord and others pulled Robert Gordon forward in time from 1951, intending to shrink Earth and send it back with him to 1700 A.D. where he could set it on another time track, aliens known as the Greenies sought to destroy Earth because they could not travel in time. Gordon successfully carried the shrunken Earth back 5000 years but stopped around 2000 A.D. to visit Miami and lost Earth on the beach. As he futilely searched for Earth, the time backwash apparently wiped out reality. Strange Tales #4 (1951)
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Robert Gordon should be distinguished from:
 (Strange Tales I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Robert Gordon
was waiting for another raise
before marrying his fiancee, Alice. (Strange Tales I#4 (fb)) - Robert was called before his boss, who noted that his carelessness had caused another error, and he warned Robert that if wanted that raise, he would have to be more careful. Robert respectfully apologized. Robert told Alice about how his recent error had at least delayed his getting a raise. Very understanding, Alice told Robert that he would get that raise and then they would be married. Robert apologetically told Alice that he would have it already if he wasn't so absent-minded and clumsy. After parting company with Alice that night, smoking his pipe and deep in thought, Robert ran into a lamp post, and he cried out in pain before falling unconscious.--Strange Tales I#4 |
Somewhat higher up in the hierarchy than Robert in the large export
firm, he was frustrated as Robert's carelessness caused errors in his
bookkeeping work.(Strange Tales I#4 (fb)) - Robert was called before his boss, who noted that his carelessness had caused another error, and he warned Robert that if wanted that raise, he would have to be more careful. Robert respectfully apologized. --Strange Tales I#4 |
Appearances:
Strange Tales I#4/5, "The Man on the Beach" (December, 1951) - Bill LaCava (artist)
First posted: 08/06/2024
Last updated: 08/18/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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