AUGUST GOTTLIEB
Real Name: August Gottlieb
Identity/Class: Human zombie
(Czechoslovakian) (1950s era)
Occupation: Seeker of vengeance;
formerly fugitive;
formerly atomic physicist
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Ivan
(loose, last name unrevealed)
Enemies: Communist Czechoslovakian &
Soviet forces, notably Captain Simenovski, Josef Stalin
Known Relatives: Carl Gottlieb
(son)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Moscow, Russia;
formerly Czechoslovakia
First Appearance: Astonishing I#19/1
(November, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: As a zombie, August Gottlieb
possesses typical heightened durability common to his type; bullets and
swords can pierce his body with no detrimental effect. Unlike many
other zombies, he does not require human flesh for sustenance and he
has retained his intelligence and speaking ability. He has expanded his
personal mission of vengeance to include his anti-Communist/Soviet
agenda. As a human, he was an accomplished atomic physicist and
researcher, but it is unrevealed how much of that knowledge was
retained after his transformation into a zombie.
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 100 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald (some gray on sides)
History:
(Astonishing I#19/1 (fb) - BTS) - August Gottlieb was
a brilliant atomic physicist and a professor at a Czechoslovakian
academic institution. His son Carl was his protege. However, August was
strongly anti-Communist, which earned the ire of officials as Communism
spread into Europe from Soviet Russia. August once had a friend Ivan
who indulged in the dark mystic arts, but they grew apart.
(Astonishing I#19/1 (fb)) - August was approached in
his lab by a Communist official and threatened into working on the
atomic bomb so that he would be pardoned for being anti-Communist.
August refused and his son stood by his decision, so the official
informed the secret police. August and Carl fled and were fugitives for
many months until the secret police finally found them. August ushered
Carl into a hiding spot and chose to shoot himself rather than
surrender to the Communists as they broke into the room. With August
dead, the secret police patrol ignored immediately searching for Carl,
expecting he would eventually be caught.
(Astonishing I#19/1) - Later, Carl buried his father
in a pauper's graveyard, swearing vengeance, and sought out Ivan, who
kept up his study of black magic, but had also secretly become a
Communist informant. Reaching Ivan at night, Carl coerced Ivan into
resurrecting his father in a ceremony and told Carl to go to the
gravesite, but Ivan informed the secret police who shot Carl when he
arrived. However, Ivan's spell had worked and August dug himself out
from his grave as a pallid-skinned zombie. Quickly ascertaining the
situation, August lurched toward the frightened secret police patrol
unit, but their bullets couldn't stop the zombie's enhanced dexterity.
The junior soldiers ran but August grabbed Captain Simenovski and
strangled him, discarding the soldier's corpse in his former grave.
August picked up his son's dead body and buried him, swearing vengeance
before he would let himself rest. August followed the military ranks,
slaying the colonel who had commanded the captain, and took the
colonel's saber. August then menaced the shocked Soviet leader Josef
Stalin. Later, August wandered the streets of Moscow at nightfall.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee & Fred Kida.
So what happened to amateur sorcerer Ivan...?.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
August Gottlieb has no known connections to:
Carl Gottlieb was August's son. He was also a
researcher in atomic physics and was mentored by his father, but like
his father, also defied the new Communist rulers of Czechoslovakia.
Threatened with the death penalty, he fled with his father for many
months until they were eventually cornered. August ushered his son into
a hiding spot and then shot himself just as the Communist soldiers
broke open the door. The Communists chose not to immediately search for
Carl, expecting he would eventually be caught. Carl buried his father
and swore vengeance. He found his father's old friend Ivan, who
indulged in black magic, and coerced him into resurrecting his father.
Once the ceremony was complete, Carl rushed to the gravesite, but he
had been betrayed by Ivan, who had called the secret police. They shot
and killed Carl on sight just as August dug his way out of his grave.
August eliminated the soldiers and then took his son's body and buried
it nearby, likewise swearing vengeance against the Communists.
--Astonishing I#19/1
Ivan was a former friend of August Gottlieb. He
studied black magic but doubted his own burgeoning skills. Ivan and
August grew apart as friends, possibly as Ivan was a Communist
sympathizer (and secretly a paid informant). When August died escaping
Communist forces, his son Carl sought out Ivan and coerced him into
resurrecting August using black magic. Ivan doubted it could work but
performed the ceremony nevertheless. Once complete, he told Carl to
rush to the gravesite. After Carl had departed, Ivan called the secret
police and told them where to find Carl, also expecting payment for the
information.
--Astonishing I#19/1
images:
(without ads)
Astonishing I#19/1, p6, pan3-5 (main triptych image)
p2, pan7 (headshot)
p2, pan7 (Carl)
p4, pan5 (Ivan)
Appearances:
Astonishing I#19/1 (November, 1952) - Stan Lee (writer), Fred Kida
(pencils & inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 10/31/2024
Last updated:
10/31/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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