LUXURR
Real Name: Luxurr
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian [presumably, see comments]) (Pre-Modern era)
Occupation: Hunter; (while on Earth) carnival sideshow performer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His fellow Martians
Enemies: Joe Krunk
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Creature from Mars" (sideshow billing, while in costume)
Base of Operations: Mars; (temporarily) Joe Krunk's carnival, outside an unidentified American city
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#68/3 (May, 1961)
Powers/Abilities: Appearing to be a normal human, Luxurr possibly had superhuman strength (see comments); but he was still vulnerable to physical injury--after arriving on Earth, he somehow suffered from amnesia, which resulted in a complete loss of memory of his origins. Later, a blow to his head restored his memory.
By pressing his hand against his chest, Luxurr could transport himself (along with a captive) from Earth to Mars--presumably, this was accomplished by some form of teleportation technology hidden under his clothing.
Unlike his fellow Martians (whose bodies seemed to be covered with circular markings), Luxurr's flesh was clear--possibly he used some form of make-up to disguise himself as human.
While working at Krunk's carnival sideshow, Luxurr wore a costume to portray a "Creature from Mars".
Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black
History:
(Journey into Mystery
I#68/3 (fb) - BTS) - Martians wanted to add an
Earthling to their interplanetary zoo, so they sent hunter Luxurr to
capture a specimen for them. But after he was transported to Earth,
Luxurr somehow suffered from a bout of amnesia; with his planet of
origin, identity, and mission completely forgotten to him, Luxurr
wandered into the city, where he stayed at a "skid row" flophouse.
(Journey into Mystery I#68/3) - Joe Krunk wanted to boost his carnival's declining business with a new sideshow attraction; he went to the flophouse and hired an amnesiac man (Luxurr) to work for him at a ridiculously low wage.
But after driving the amnesiac to his carnival, the greedy Krunk purposely knocked a cheap vase off a table, then blamed the amnesiac for breaking the "valuable antique" and threatened to have him jailed--not wanting to be imprisoned, the meek amnesiac agreed to work for nothing until he had reimbursed Krunk for the "genuine antique". With the matter settled, Krunk handed the amnesiac a costume and told him that he'd be portraying a "Creature from Mars" in the sideshow.
And so, the carnival had a new attraction that was pulling in larger crowds than ever before; the days drifted into weeks, and the "Martian" exhibit did terrific business... but never once did the greedy Krunk think of rewarding the amnesiac man he hired to portray the "Martian".
One evening, while Krunk was counting the day's receipts, the amnesiac approached him and begged for some money to buy medicine, because he didn't feel well (see comments); but Krunk denied his request, telling the amnesiac that he hadn't yet worked long enough to pay him for the broken vase. When the desperate amnesiac grabbed for the stack of cash, Krunk retaliated by punching the side of his head--the blow had the effect of completely restoring Luxurr's memory... including his reason for coming to Earth!
With his timid expression changed to a look of ferocity, Luxurr seized hold of Krunk with one hand, then pressed his other hand against his chest--there was a blinding flash, and the two disappeared.
Luxurr and Krunk reappeared on Mars--they were greeted by Luxurr's fellow Martians, who were quite pleased that Luxurr had brought them such a fine specimen.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Don Heck.
Like many other "Martians" claiming to be from Mars, Luxurr and his fellow beings may not be natives of that planet, and may have just been using it for a base of operations; they may actually come from another world outside Earth's solar system.
Perhaps this 5-page story--The Man from Mars!--took place chronologically before the earlier-published story in Tales to Astonish I#2/5--see the comment in the Joe Krunk sub-profile for details.
When the amnesiac Luxurr wanted medicine because he didn't feel well, he didn't specify what sort of illness he was suffering; but when he returned to Mars, he seemed fine--my guess is that his illness was caused by the long-term effects of breathing Earth's atmosphere.
As Luxurr captured Krunk, the caption mentioned he had a "grip of steel," which implies he had greater-than-human strength.
Luxurr sort of reminds me of the Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie), who was also once an amnesiac living in a flophouse (@ Fantastic Four I#4).
This profile was completed 01/04/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the March, 2025 Mars event.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Luxurr has no known connections to:
Joe Krunk has no known connections to:
Luxurr's fellow Martians have no known connections to:
The greedy Krunk owned a carnival on the outskirts of an unidentified city; but every season, his carnival did less and less business.
Then he came up with a new gimmick to pull in paying customers and boost his declining profits; after piecing together some parts from a few old costume, he created a "Creature from Mars" outfit. Krunk drove to the city's "skid row" section and went to various flophouses to hire someone to portray the "Martian"; but Krunk's reputation for cheating employees had preceded him, and he could find no one willing to work for him.
Finally, Krunk learned of one flophouse resident who had amnesia; figuring the amnesiac wouldn't know of his reputation, Krunk hired him for a ridiculously low wage. After driving the amnesiac to his carnival, Krunk knocked a cheap vase off a table and accused him of breaking a valuable antique, then threatened to have him jailed. The meek amnesiac agreed to work for Krunk for nothing until he had reimbursed Krunk for the "genuine antique". With the matter settled, Krunk handed the costume to the amnesiac.
Krunk's "Creature from Mars" sideshow attraction pulled in larger crowds than ever before, and as the days drifted into weeks, Krunk's profits soared... but never once did he consider rewarding the amnesic man who portrayed his "Martian".
One evening, while Krunk was counting the day's receipts, the amnesiac man approached him and begged him for some money to buy some medicine; but Krunk refused, telling the amnesiac he hadn't yet worked long enough to pay him for the broken vase. When the amnesiac tried to grab the stack of cash, Krunk retaliated by punching the side of his head.
But the blow to his head had restored the amnesiac's memory, and his formerly timid expression turned to one of ferocity as he seized hold of Krunk with one hand and pressed his other hand against his chest; an instant later, the two vanished in a blinding flash.
The next thing he knew, Krunk found himself on the planet Mars, and he learned an irony beyond belief: The amnesiac was really Luxurr, a Martian hunter, who had been sent to Earth to capture a human specimen!
As Luxurr's fellow Martians led him away, they told the sobbing Krunk that he would be with them for a long, long time, because he would fit in well with the other creatures in their interplanetary zoo.
--Journey into Mystery I#68/3
(Comment: In the earlier-published Tales to Astonish I#2/5, detective Mr. Garner was searching for a Martian, and he spoke to a sideshow owner who once featured a hoax Martian--this man sort of resembled Krunk [...even taking into account that the story was drawn by a different artist]--perhaps Krunk's Martian captors eventually got tired of his whining, so they wiped the memory of his abduction from his mind and returned him to Earth.)
|
None identified, they had Caucasian complexions and closely resembled humans; however, their faces--and possibly their entire bodies--were covered with circular markings. They sent Luxurr to Earth to capture a human specimen for their interplanetary zoo; sometime later, Luxurr returned to Mars with the sobbing Joe Krunk. --Journey into Mystery I#68/3 |
images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p5, pan5 (main image - Luxurr)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p2, pan6 (headshot - Luxurr)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p3, pan7 (Luxurr in "Creature from Mars" costume; Joe Krunk [right])
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p5, pan1-2 (Luxurr touches his chest as he grabs Joe Krunk, and the two vanish)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p2, pan1 (Joe Krunk enters flophouse)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p3, pan6 (Joe Krunk gives "Martian" costume to Luxurr)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p5, pan4 (Joe Krunk, shocked to learn he's on Mars)
Journey into Mystery I#68/3, p5, pan5 (Luxurr's fellow Martians; Joe Krunk [left])
Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#68/3 (May, 1961) - unidentified writer, Don Heck (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 03/15/2025
Last updated: 03/15/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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