MARTIAN WHO WALKS AMONG US
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian, Pre-Modern era)
Occupation: Spy
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Other Martians
Enemies: Earthlings, Hulk (Bruce Banner), Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross), Venusians
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Temporarily impersonated various unidentified humans
Base of Operations: Center City, somewhere in America; formerly Mars
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#78/1 (November, 1960)
Powers/Abilities: Despite his large stature, this Martian could shapeshift his body into a human form and size (a trait apparently shared by the rest of his race, see comments); but this process left him exhausted, and he had to revitalize himself afterward. He possessed a degree of superhuman strength (enhanced human?), but only while in his natural Martian form.
Once disguised as a human, only an infra-red machine could reveal his Martian nature.
He traveled to Earth in a flying saucer.
Height: Unrevealed (9'; by approximation; variable)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None
History:
(Strange Tales I#78/1) - Aboard his flying saucer, the Martian traveled to Earth, to act as a spy and
pave the way for a Martian invasion.
As the Martian's spacecraft flew from the night sky, it swooped in the path of a car driven by an unidentified "man" (actually a disguised Venusian, see sub-profile), causing him to crash. The flying saucer landed nearby, so the groggy "man" crawled away from the wreckage of his car and went to investigate; but the Martian suddenly appeared out of the darkness and struck him. Using his shapshifting ability, the Martian then assumed the "man's" form. As the transformed Martian headed toward Center City to gather information about Earth, he muttered to himself that nothing less than infra-red rays could penetrate his disguise and reveal his real Martian identity; but the invader's words had been overheard by the semiconscious "man".
Heading to Central City himself, the "man" tried to warn legal authorities and the media about the Martian, but no one believed him, so he was determined to stop the invader by himself. Recalling the Martian's own words, the "man" built an infra-red machine to detect the Martian in whatever form he may have taken.
(Strange Tales I#78/1 - BTS) - Over the next few days, the Martian repeatedly attacked humans in Center City and knocked them unconscious, then assumed their appearances to avoid detection while he gathered information. At night, he hid in his true form while he revitalized, and soon he would be ready to contact Mars to set off the attack. He eventually went to an office building and took the appearance of the building's night watchman.
(Strange Tales I#78/1) - But the Martian's string of attacks gave the "man" a trail to follow, and the last human beaten up was found in front of the office building. Carrying his infra-rad machine, the "man" played a hunch and went into the building to continue his search. Starting with the ground floor, the "man" worked his way up the stairs; when he was but a few floors from the top of the building, he encountered the night watchman...and then his detector began buzzing!
Realizing that his impersonation had been foiled, the disguised Martian attacked the "man". As the two fought fiercely, the Martian changed back to his natural state, then charged and leapt at the "man", but the "man" dropped to the floor--consequently, the Martian overshot his target and smashed through the wall with the force of a battering ram. The battle ended when the Martian fell into an elevator shaft just beyond and plummeted to his death.
(Hulk II#30) - Xemnu the Titan summoned a Martian, a Venusian, Zzutak, a Creature from Krogarr, a Blip, a member of Fin Fang Foom's Makluan race, and Taboo (or a member of his race) to kill the Hulk. When the Impossible Man witnessed how outmatched the Hulk was, he merged him with the Red Hulk and they defeated Xemnu's monsters.
Comments: Created by an unidentified, Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers.
Like many other "Martians" claiming to be from Mars, he may not be a native of that planet, and may have just been using it for a base of operations; he may actually come from another world outside Earth's solar system. (And the same goes for the Venusian claiming to be from Venus.)
Based on the middle caption-- "...Martians can transform themselves..."--we can infer that this race of "Martians" were all shapshifters.
This story was done with a surprise-ending, and the "man" was revealed to actually be a Venusian in the last two story panels.--Ron Fredricks
The Martian Masters entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook confirms that this story did in fact take place in Reality-616 [mainstream Marvel Universe].--David A. Zuckerman
Strange Tales I#78/1 was reprinted in Monster Masterworks, Strange Tales Annual#1 and Where Monsters Dwell#3.
And a big THANK YOU to Markus for supplying the improved scans.--Ron Fredricks
Profile by FUTURE. Update by Markus Raymond & Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Martian Who Walks Among Us has known connection to:
The Venusian has no known connection to:
Center City has no known connection to:
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A spacecraft capable of at least interplanetary travel, it was used by the Martian spy to fly to Earth. After landing somewhere in the wilderness near Center City, the Martian assumed human-form and left it to begin his spying mission. Following the Martian's death, the subsequent fate of his spacecraft is unrevealed. --Strange Tales I#78/1 |
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A handheld detector built by the Venusian, it would start buzzing when in the presence of a Martian, even a disguised one. The Venusian used it to track down a Martian spy; it finally responded when the Venusian went into an office building and encountered a night watchman. --Strange Tales I#78/1 |
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The Venusian, along with other members of his race, had spent centuries protecting Earth against outer space menaces. While on Earth, he wore a face-mask and wig to disguise himself as a human scientist--neither his true name nor his human identity were revealed. He was skilled in electronics, but displayed no other paranormal abilities. He was at the scene of the Martian spy's arrival on Earth. He tried to alert legal authorities and the media about the alien interloper, but everyone he talked to thought he was crazy. Desperate to stop a Martian invasion, he built an infra-red machine to track down the alien spy. When he located his quarry, they fought until the Martian plummeted to his death down an elevator shaft. Some time later, a group of monsters--including a Venusian--were summoned by Xemnu to kill the Hulk, but they were all defeated when the Impossible Man merged the Hulk and Red Hulk. --Strange Tales I#78/1 (Strange Tales I#78/1, Hulk II#30 |
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images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p7, pan1 (main image - Martian)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p6, pan5 (headshot - Martian)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p3, pan3 (Martian [side view] encounters "man")
Strange Tales I#78/1, p3, pan6 (Martian [background] assumes form of "man")
Strange Tales I#78/1, p2, pan1 (Martian shifting from human form to his true form)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p2, pan5 (Martian's flying saucer swoops by "man's" car)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p3, pan1 (Martian's flying saucer; "man" [foreground])
Strange Tales I#78/1, p5, pan1 ("man" building infra-red machine)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p6, pan2 (infra-red machine detects Martian disguised as night watchman)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p5, pan6 ("man" holding infra-red machine in office building)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p7, pan5 ("man" removes face-mask)
Strange Tales I#78/1, p7, pan6 ("man" revealed to be Venusian)
Appearances:
Strange Tales I#78/1 (November, 1960) - unidentified writer, Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Strange Tales Annual#1 (1962) - reprint
Where Monsters Dwell#3 (May, 1970) - reprint
Hulk II#30 (April, 2011) - Jeff Parker (writer), Ed McGuinness (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Morry Hollowell (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters), Mark Paniccia (editor)
First posted: 11/01/2004
Last updated: 03/05/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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