GAMMUS
Real Name: Gammus
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unidentified) cyborg (Pre-Modern era)
Occupation: Spy, invasion scout
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His superiors
Enemies: Mankind in general
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The Human Robot" (in story title only)
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout an unidentified American city;
Washington, D.C.;
originally from an unidentified planet in a distant galaxy "a billion light-years away from Earth"
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#5/1 (September, 1959)
Powers/Abilities: In his original body, Gammus was vaguely humanoid, with scaly orange skin and two tentacle-like arms. It is unrevealed if he (or others of his race) had any additional abilities.
He traveled to Earth in a spaceship, and utilized an encephalo-transposer device to transplant his brain into a robotic body.
The robot was roughly human-sized, made of a metal unknown to Earth scientists, and powered by an unknown energy source. The bulletproof robot possessed great strength, utilized a "robotic electrosensor" to warn it of danger, and could project a protective force field. As it was not equipped with a speaking apparatus, Gammus was unable to talk while in robotic form.
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed
History:
(Tales of Suspense
I#5/1 (fb)) - After receiving his orders from his superiors in the high
council briefing room, Gammus departed his home-world for Earth; he was
tasked with going to the United States to spy, then bring back
information on military defenses and weapons systems, so his people
could use that information when they invaded Earth and turned it into a
slave colony. For his mission, Gammus would use PlanX322K...the "Robot"
Plan.
After setting the controls of his spaceship to automatic as it traveled to Earth, Gammus went into a chamber that contained a robot body and an encephalo-transposer machine. He lay down next to the robot, and the encephalo-transposer transferred his brain into the metallic body--when his mission was completed, Gammus planned to transfer his brain back to his own body.
Arriving on Earth, Gammus (in robotic form) landed his spaceship in a remote woodland area and walked to a nearby city--he planned to spy on Earthlings as they were examining his mechanical body. As the robot walked through the city streets, people at first thought it to be an advertising gimmick. But suddenly, Gammus pushed his way through the crowd and used his force field to save a child from being hit by a runaway truck. After impressing the crowd with the rescue, Gammus walked a few more blocks, where he thwarted a pair of bank robbers. As the bystanders cheered over his apprehension of the lawbreakers, Gammus gloated to himself, for he had successfully convinced the stupid Earthlings into believing that he was a benevolent robot, and soon they would be a conquered race!
Officials from the government arrived and took the robot for further examination...just as Gammus had planned! The robot was flown to Washington, D.C. and placed in a top secret lab in the Pentagon. While scientists studied the robot by day, Gammus spent his nights going through cabinets of secret files and gathering data on missile systems and atomic weapons.
Finally came the day that Gammus planned to gather the last of the information he needed to complete his mission and return home; but the scientists who were studying the robot had grown frustrated with their examination--they felt it was a futile effort to run any more tests, as they couldn't understand how the robot functioned anyway. One of the scientists pressed a stud on the side of Gammus' robotic skull, which deactivated the body and took all movement away from Gammus.
(Tales of Suspense I#5/1) - The robot was placed on display in a museum, and Gammus was now trapped in the prison of the robot's immovable body--consequently, there would be no invasion, for Gammus' mission had failed.
Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Joe Sinnott.
And so Gammus was foiled by an all-too-conveniently located ON/OFF switch (...which coincidentally was pretty much the same method used to defeat Iron Man-imposter "Weasel" Wills).
There really weren't many full images of Gammus in his normal body available, since he spent most of the story as a robot.--Ron Fredricks
Nothing more was ever seen of Gammus. I suppose his spaceship (along with his brainless body) could be in some secret Air Force hanger in Area 51.
I guess an alternative title for this 5-page story -- I Became a Human Robot! -- could be Plan X322K from Outer Space (a reference to Ed Wood's cinematic "masterpiece").
And a big THANK YOU to Dennis Giansante for originally scanning this story for me!
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gammus ("The Human Robot") has no known connections to:
The encephalo-transposer has no known connections to:
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Two unidentified members of Gammus' race, they planned to attack and conquer Earth because they believed it would make an ideal slave colony. They sent Gammus on a spy mission to gather information on Earth's weapons and military defenses. But when Gammus failed to return from his mission, they apparently canceled their invasion plans. --Tales of Suspense I#5/1 (fb) |
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A spacecraft capable of intergalactic travel, it transported Gammus from his home-world to Earth. The spaceship was equipped with an encephalo-transposer and a robot body, which were used by Gammus for his spy mission. After transferring his brain into the robot body, Gammus landed the spacecraft on Earth in a remote woodland and walked to a nearby city; but because of unforeseen circumstances, Gammus never returned to his spacecraft. --Tales of Suspense I#5/1 (fb) |
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A device contained within Gammus' spaceship, it was used by him to transfer his brain into a robotic body. Gammus had planned to reverse the transposition procedure and return himself to his own body after his spy mission was completed; however, unforeseen circumstances resulted in him being trapped in the robot on Earth. --Tales of Suspense I#5/1 (fb) |
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images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p1, pan1 (main image - Gammus [in robot form] battles bank robbers)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p4, pan2 (headshot - Gammus [in robot form])
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p4, pan1 (Gammus [in robot form] uses force field to stop truck)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p5, pan5 (scientist presses stud on side of robot's skull, immobilizing robot)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p5, pan6 (immobile Gammus [in robot form] on display at museum)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p2, pan1 (Gammus [in original form, rear view] gets assigned his mission by his superiors)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p2, pan7 (Gammus' spaceship above Earth)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p3, pan1 (Gammus' spaceship lands on Earth)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p2, pan4-5 (Gammus uses encephalo-transposer to transfer his brain into robot form)
Tales of Suspense I#5/1, p2, pan6 (Gammus successfully transfers his brain into robot body; Gammus' original body [background])
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#5/1 (September, 1959) - unidentified writer, Joe Sinnott (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Ray Holloway (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 08/04/2006
Last updated: 03/06/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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