"MARTIAN"

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian) (presumably, see comments) (1950s era)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Tom Burke

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Buster" (as called by Tom Burke)

Base of Operations: Unidentified American city (possibly New York City)

First Appearance: Spellbound I#27/2 (April, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Supposedly an extraterrestrial (see comments), this male humanoid demonstrated the ability to completely fade away--it is unrevealed whether this was accomplished via teleportation or invisiblity, and whether it was technologically induced or an innate power of the "Martian".

Height: Unrevealed (5'10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald

History:
(Spellbound I#27/2) - Late one afternoon, a "Martian" was sitting on a park bench next to Tom Burke; as Burke read his newspaper, he burst into laughter. When the "Martian" inquired what Burke found so amusing, Burke showed him the newspaper's headline regarding the completion of a giant telescope which might finally discover if there was life on the planet Mars.

   Because he doubted that there was really life on other worlds, Burke expressed that he thought the news article was nonsense, and that stories of flying saucers were the biggest hoax of all. The "Martian" disagreed and pointed out that it wasn't entirely without basis, because the universe was a large place, so there was always the possibility of life existing on other planets, but Burke considered him to be a gullible fool.

   Resolving that humans were doubters and skeptics, and that doubt breeds mistrust, the "Martian" stood up to leave, but he asked Burke a final question: What would happen if someone said that Martians did exist, and that they were capable of disappearing?  Burke's response: "A fool like that would be laughed off, and he'd deserve it, too!"

   Then, before Burke's disbelieving eyes, the bald-headed stranger faded away... (For the continuation of these events, see Tom Burke's sub-profile below)

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Joe Maneely.

    In this 3-page story--Doubting Thomas!--the bald-headed stranger never actually confirmed he was a Martian, it was just something Tom Burke assumed after he disappeared.

    Of course, it's also possible that the bald man could have been the Vanisher ("Telford Porter" [or perhaps an earlier relative of his with similar teleportation powers]), and he was just playing a little prank on Burke.

    This profile was completed 12/18/2024, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the March, 2025 Mars event.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The "Martian" has no known connections to:

Tom Burke has no known connections to:

Tom Burke

Late one afternoon, Burke was sitting on a park bench and reading a newspaper; he burst into laughter when he saw the headline regarding a new telescope which could prove if there was life on Mars. A bald-headed stranger seated next to him wondered what he found so amusing, so Burke showed him the news article.

Burke told the stranger that he thought the story was nonsense, because he was convinced there was no life on other planets; when the bald man disagreed, Burke considered him to be a gullible fool. The stranger told Burke that there was no real point in arguing any further, because the problem was that humans were skeptics and doubters, and doubt breeds mistrust; then the stranger suddenly faded away, causing Burke to run off in a panic, screaming about the "disappearing Martian".

As a curious crowd gathered around him, the hysterical Burke told them about the "Martian" who vanished--this initially elicited amused smiles and laughter, but when one of the onlookers gruffly advised him that he could wind up in a mental institution for his outrageous claim, Burke turned and skulked away.

Later, as he thoughtfully looked up at the nighttime sky, Burke thought over the "Martian's" final words about the doubt and mistrust of humans--he realized that Martians would never have lasting contact with mankind... and he didn't blame them in the least.

--Spellbound I#27/2

images: (without ads)
Spellbound I#27/2, p1, pan1 (main image - "Martian" sitting on park bench; Tom Burke [left])
Spellbound I#27/2, p2, pan4 (headshot - "Martian")
Spellbound I#27/2, p3, pan1 ("Martian" begins to fade away; Tom Burke [foreground])
Spellbound I#27/2, p3, pan2 ("Martian" continues to fade, as Tom Burke runs off)
Spellbound I#27/2, p1, pan1 (Tom Burke, reading newspaper on park bench)
Spellbound I#27/2, p3, pan3 (Tom Burke [foreground] tells crowd about "Martian")
Spellbound I#27/2, p3, pan6 (Tom Burke)

Appearances:
Spellbound I#27/2 (April, 1956) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely (pencils/inks), Stan Lee

First posted: 03/27/2025
Last updated: 03/27/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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