Membership: Igor, Ivan (last names unrevealed), one unidentified
Identity/Class: Human (Russian) technology users (1990 AD, see comments)
Purpose: These three Communist spies attempted to learn the military defense secrets of the United States.
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Dan Hadley
Base of Operations: Somewhere off the eastern seaboard of the United States; originally from Russia
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#3/2 (May, 1959)
Powers/Abilities: Disguised as extraterrestrials, this trio of Soviet spies used green dye to alter the color of their faces; they also wore space suits with transparent helmets. They fluently spoke English, but displayed no paranormal abilities.
They traveled to America in a "spaceship".
History:
(Tales to Astonish I#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - In the year
1990, with the Cold
War still in effect (see comments), the Russians concocted an
elaborate scheme to steal America's military secrets. They sent three of
their agents disguised as green-skinned "Men from Mars" across the
Atlantic Ocean in a "spaceship".
(Tales to Astonish I#3/2) - While on patrol of the eastern seaboard, government agent Dan Hadley spotted a spacecraft floating in the ocean. After paddling in a raft to the spaceship, Hadley was greeted by three friendly "Men from Mars". Hadley climbed aboard the spaceship, and the "aliens" told him they knew that Earth was divided into two armed camps; they claimed they wanted to assist the "politically, morally, and spiritually superior" democratic nations against the communistic countries. Since their technology was far more advanced than Earth's, the "Martians" requested for Hadley to show them America's newest military weapons so they could help improve the country's armaments. Although that information was classified top secret, Hadley was sure that it could be arranged.
But Hadley's suspicions were roused when he noticed a hole in the atmospheric hose on the helmet of one of the "Martians"--whatever atmosphere the "alien" required, he wasn't getting it because of the apparent leak, yet it seemed to make no difference to him.
Then Hadley saw something on one of the spaceship's consoles: a bottle of green dye with Asian lettering on the label. Having finally seen through the ruse, Hadley pulled out his automatic handgun and arrested the Commie spies, who confessed to the espionage plot.
The story of how Dan Hadley foiled the "Martians" from obtaining America's top secret information made headlines around the world, but of course Russia emphatically denied any knowledge about the false Martians.
About a month later, Hadley was on patrol when he spotted another spaceship in the waters of the ocean; believing it to again be a "Commie trick," he notified headquarters. In less than a minute, artillery defense guns opened fire upon the spaceship. But Hadley was shocked when the "phony" vessel took flight and headed for deep space.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Joe Sinnott.
This 5-page story--I Discovered the Men from Mars!--was told from Dan Hadley's perspective.
The Cold War (supposedly) ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union--while it is possible that this story could have taken place on Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Earth), the look of Hadley's futuristic vehicle and garb would seem to imply that this was an alternate Earth where technology seemed to be a little more advanced; however, nothing was depicted of the rest of the world that would suggest this was so. I guess we could just say that Hadley's "futuristic" clothes and car were because the government agency he worked for was S.H.I.E.L.D., or some earlier organization that operated with advanced equipment after the disappearance of the First Line.
But I really saw no reason why the story had to take place thirty-one years after it was first published--the story's plot would probably have worked just as well if it had taken place in the "present" (i.e. 1959 AD), with Hadley's clothes and car depicted for that time period.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The "Men from Mars" have no known connections to:
Dan Hadley has no known connections to:
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In the year 1990, it was actually a Russian submarine disguised to look like a spaceship. It was used to transport three Communist spies to the Atlantic seaboard of the United States; as part of their ruse, the spies were disguised as green-skinned "Men from Mars" so they could steal America's military secrets. But after Dan Hadley discovered their plot and arrested the spies, the "spaceship" was presumably confiscated by American government officials. --Tales to Astonish I#3/2 |
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In the year 1990, he was an intelligence agent for an unidentified American government agency (see comments). He was assigned to patrol the eastern seaboard of the United States, to see that no foreign agents infiltrated into the country. He was armed with some type of automatic handgun, and drove a futuristic bubble-topped vehicle that was equipped with an inflatable raft in its trunk. |
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Hadley spotted what appeared to be a spaceship floating in the ocean, so he paddled out to it in the raft. He was greeted by three green-skinned "Men from Mars," who told him they wanted to help the democratic nations of Earth win the Cold War and defeat the communist countries. But Hadley eventually saw through the ruse and discovered that the "Martians" were really Russian spies who had used green dye on their faces, so he arrested them. |
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About a month later, Hadley was on patrol when he saw another spaceship in the ocean ("Good grief! Another phony rocket ship! I didn't think the Commies would be stupid enough to try that same trick twice!"), so he informed headquarters. But when artillery defense guns opened fire on it, the "phony" vessel took flight and headed for deep space!
Hadley then realized he had been gravely mistaken, for what he had seen was a real extraterrestrial spacecraft; he regretfully thought that the occupants of it would probably never return until the people of Earth learned to live without suspicion and distrust.
--Tales to Astonish I#3/2
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In the year 1990, the Russians attempted to steal America's military secrets with their agents disguised as "Men from Mars" aboard a "spaceship" (actually a disguised submarine); but their plot was foiled by government agent Dan Hadley. About a month later, Hadley spotted another spaceship in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean; believing it to be another "Commie trick," he reported it to headquarters, and it was fired upon by artillery guns. |
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But Hadley was shocked when the "phony rocket ship" suddenly launched into space; realizing that he had been gravely mistaken, Hadley figured the occupants of the real spaceship would never return until suspicion and distrust were no longer part of human nature. --Tales to Astonish I#3/2 (Comment: Nothing was revealed of the planet of origin of this spacecraft or its unseen occupants.) |
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images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p3, pan2 (two "Men from Mars" tell Dan Haley why they came to Earth)
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p3, pan4 ("Man from Mars")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p3, pan6 (Dan Hadley notices hole in atmospheric hose of one "Man from Mars")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p4, pan2 (Dan Hadley arrests "Men from Mars")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p1, pan3 ("spaceship" of "Men from Mars")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p1, pan1 (Dan Hadley in his vehicle)
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p1, pan2 (Dan Hadley spots "Martian spaceship")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p4, pan1 (Dan Hadley notices bottle of green dye; two "Men from Mars" [background])
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p4, pan4 (Dan Hadley arrests "Men from Mars")
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p5, pan2 (artillery shells fired at unidentified extraterrestrial spaceship; Dan Hadley [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p5, pan3 (unidentified extraterrestrial spaceship takes flight; Dan Hadley [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#3/2, p5, pan5 (unidentified extraterrestrial spaceship leaving Earth; Dan Hadley's word balloon)
Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#3/2 (May, 1959) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Joe Sinnott (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors)
First Posted: 04/15/2025
Last updated: 04/15/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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