"THE UNSUSPECTED"

Classification: Extraterrestrial (race unidentified; see comments)

Location/Base of Operations: A multitude of televisions around Earth; originally from another unidentified planet

Known Members: An unspecified number (none identified)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Earthlings (including Bobby and his father)

Aliases: None

First Appearance: Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1 (June, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Appearing much like wisps of smoke, these ethereal extraterrestrials were amorphous and opaque clouds of sentient vapor. They seemed to communicate telepathically, and had the ability to alter their forms into any desired shape (see comments).

They traveled from their planet of origin to Earth in spaceships.

Traits: Highly aggressive, they sought to clandestinely conquer Earth by weakening humans' will to resist. They were seemingly long-lived, if not immortal (see comments).

Type: Non-humanoid
Eyes: Two (apparently)
Fingers: Inapplicable
Toes: Inapplicable
Average height: Variable

History:
(Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1 (fb) - BTS) - "Many times before," a race of wispy extraterrestrials had conquered other planets; they utilized "Plan Z," whereby they used their innate ability to change their shapes and forms (see comments).

(Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1) - In their cloud-like spaceship, the aliens orbited Earth, their next target of conquest. For their intended invasion, they sent their spies down to the planet, to learn how they could best weaken the collective will of Earthlings to resist.

   The unearthly beings drifted down to various homes, where they discovered Earthlings practically spellbound by various programs they were watching on their television sets.

   With their survey complete, the spies returned to their spacecraft, because they had learned that Earth was ripe for conquest, for they had discovered a way to bend humans to their will. The aliens decided that they would disguise themselves in a certain manner so that Earthlings would never suspect them...and yet still influence and sap their will to resist! Although it would take time, perhaps a century or two, they began their invasion.

   As the days and weeks rolled by, more and more of the spaceships arrived in Earth orbit, bringing more and more of the invaders, and Earth would be one of the easiest planets they ever conquered!

(Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1 - BTS) - The infiltrating invaders drifted into the living rooms of countless homes on Earth, where they took on the shape of television sets (see comments).

   The leader of the alien invasion force was so confident in the success of their invasion plan that he even revealed it by sending it as a story for a magazine called Amazing Adult Fantasy.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The alien race in this 5-page story--"The Unsuspecting"--was never identified; but the table of contents in this issue mistakenly listed the story's title as "The Unsuspected" -- since "The Unsuspecting" would seem to apply more to the people of Earth who were unaware of the alien invasion, I decided to use that incorrect title to identify these invaders.

In regards to how long their invasion would take, one of the aliens stated, "...time means nothing to us!", which could imply they had long lifespans.

In the fourth image above, the alien didn't seem so much to take on the shape of the television, but rather to somehow take possession of it; so maybe that was their true power -- maybe they actually "changed" their shape by possessing other beings and objects, much like the extradimensional Possessors.

They seemed to have a similar appearance to other vaporous extraterrestrials such as the "Night-Watcher", Makka, and the being who would become Gor-Kill -- perhaps there's some connection with them all.

Or maybe they had some connection with Mister Zero, who could transform himself into a similar ghostly appearance.

So why did their invasion never take place? Maybe they found they enjoyed Earth's television programs so much that they decided to stick around for a while; or maybe too many reruns of Gilligan's Island put them all into a coma.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"The Unsuspected" have no known connection to:

"Unsuspected" spaceships

Resembling giant clouds and numbering at least four, they were actually spacecrafts that transported an invasion force of the "Unsuspected" to Earth.

--Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1

Bobby and his father

Bobby (last name unrevealed) and his unidentified father lived in the suburbs somewhere in America.

When Bobby showed his father an issue of Amazing Adult Fantasy, his dad was impressed by an imaginative tale regarding alien invaders taking over television sets -- little did the two suspect that an alien was actually doing just that behind their backs.

--Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1

images: (without ads)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p2, pan7 (main image - a trio of the "Unsuspected")
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p3, pan1 (headshot - one of the "Unsuspected" explains their invasion plot)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p4, pan5 (three "Unsuspected" discussing their plot)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p5, pan6-7 (one of the "Unsuspected" takes possession of a television set)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13, table of contents ("Unsuspected" enters window))
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p2, pan5 ("Unsuspected" spacecraft orbits Earth)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p4, pan6 (four "Unsuspected" spies leave spacecraft)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p5, pan1 (four "Unsuspected" spacecraft over Earth)
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p5, pan4 (Bobby and his father reading an issue of Amazing Adult Fantasy; word-balloon of leader of "Unsuspected'" [above])
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1, p5, pan5 (Bobby and his father, as one of the "Unsuspected" enters window by television set)

Appearances:
Amazing Adult Fantasy#13/1 (June, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (artist), Artie Simek (letters)

First Posted: 04/13/2025
Last updated: 04/13/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Races