Vince Rivers was depicted on the cover of Marvel Premiere I#36 -- pencils and inks by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott, respectively -- but his appearance was somewhat different from how he looked in the story.
VINCE RIVERS
Real Name: Vince Rivers
Identity/Class: Human (1950s era)
Occupation: Singer/musician
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Duped by Zirksu (as "Doc Rock")
Enemies: 3-D Man (Chuck Chandler/Hal Chandler)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The greatest thing since Elvis" (as called by a fan); "my dim-witted Earthling dupe" (as referred to by Zirksu)
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere I#36 (June, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Having no paranormal abilities, Vince Rivers was a gifted rock musician, but easily manipulated by others.
While incarcerated in jail, Rivers used a Skrull-manufactured Augmatron to make his escape, then drove off in his customized automobile.
Height: Unrevealed (5' 10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (170 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Red
History:
(Marvel Premiere I#36) - Vince Rivers was
discovered by disc jockey Doc Rock, the host of of the TV music program
Doc Rock's Teen Beat (see comments). By 1958,
Rivers was a popular rock musician, famed for songs such as "Rocket In
My Pocket".
Doc Rock set up a gig for Vince at the Astra Theatre in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to Vince, "Doc Rock" was being impersonated by Zirksu, a Skrull spy who had placed a device in Vince's speakers -- it seems Vince's voice was the ideal timbre for the Skrull-made apparatus to modify into a signal that would cause the teenagers who heard his singing to run amok.
Before he took the stage, a police officer advised Vince to "hold down the swivel-hips stuff," because they'd received complaints about his previous performances; but Vince nonchalantly ignored the warning, because he had a show to do.
Vince took the stage to the audience's cheers, and as he sang, the crowd of teenagers began to fight among themselves -- Rivers seemed to be too caught up in his own performance to notice. The 3-D Man guessed that something unusual was going on, and he used his own connection to the Skrulls to sense the device in Rivers' speakers. The 3-D Man destroyed the speakers and smashed the Skrull-device; the teenage rioters immediately came to their senses, blaming the music for their frenzied behavior. Believing Rivers to be a Skrull, the 3-D Man allowed the police to arrest him for inciting the riot.
(Marvel Premiere I#37) - Rivers' fans soon gathered outside the police station and chanted "WE WANT VINCE!", demanding their singing idol's release. Observing the crowd from the shadows, Zirksu activated his own Augmatron to pick up the shouted chants of the mob.
Vince sat inside his jail cell, waiting for his lawyer and insisting that he was framed. Then a jail guard brought Vince his guitar, a present from "Doc Rock". But as he strummed the instrument, Vince found the second Augmatron hidden inside of it. Thinking it to be a portable radio, he switched on the Skrull-made device, which received the transmitted signal of the chanting crowd outside, but amplified to an incredible degree -- the resultant sonic-blast shattered the jail wall.
As Vince walked out of the hole in his cell and into an alleyway, a pair of "Doc Rock's" underlings came driving up in Vince's own customized automobile and told him to get in -- Vince was apprehensive, figuring he'd just get in deeper trouble than he already was, but an underling assured him that "Doc Rock" would take care of everything, so Vince climbed inside and they drove off at high speed.
But the 3-D Man witnessed the escape attempt and chased after the car; after leaping upon of the engine hood, the red-and-green hero tore it upwards to block the driver's vision. Consequently, the car hit a lamppost and burst into flame, but Rivers and the other two were safely pulled out by the police and taken into custody.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Don Glut, and Jim Craig.
Doc Rock and Doc Rock's Teen Beat were undoubtedly based on Dick Clark and American Bandstand.
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Vince Rivers was depicted on the cover of Marvel Premiere I#36 -- pencils and inks by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott, respectively -- but his appearance was somewhat different from how he looked in the story. |
Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Vince Rivers has no known connections to:
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A pair of devices that were the products of Skrull technology, they were made of a metal not found on Earth (as per Zirksu). When rock-star Vince Rivers was arrested and locked in a jail cell, his fans mobbed the police station and chanted for his release. Zirksu used one of the units to pick up the chanting voices of the crowd; the Skrull then smuggled a second Augmatron to Rivers. After Rivers activated the second device, the received shouted chants were amplified to an incredible degree, and the wall of his jail cell was shattered by the powerful sonic-blast [It was so loud that it made the jailhouse rock (with apologies to Elvis)], which allowed Rivers to temporarily escape incarceration. But the 3-D Man prevented Rivers from completely getting away, and he also recovered Rivers' Augmatron, which he took to study. Later, Zirksu remotely adjusted the second Augmatron so it emitted a signal that led the 3-D Man into a battle with the Cold Warrior. (Comment: I'm guessing the Augmatrons were originally some type of communications devices -- basically walkie-talkies -- that Zirksu modified.) --Marvel Premiere I#37 |
 
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A customized automobile of unspecified make, it was a hot-rod owned by rock-star Vince Rivers. After the incarcerated Rivers used an Augmatron to break out of his jail cell, two of "Doc Rock's" underlings drove up in his car to assist with his escape. When Rivers got inside, they drove off at high speed. But the 3-D Man witnessed the escape attempt and chased after the car -- because of the winding city streets, the vehicle was unable to reach its top speed. The 3-D Man jumped upon the speeding car's engine hood and tore it upward, which blocked the driver's vision; consequently, the automobile struck a lamppost and burst into flame. But the police arrived in time to pull Rivers from the wreckage and take him back into custody. --Marvel Premiere I#37 |
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images: (without ads)
Marvel Premiere I#36, p10, pan5 (Main Image - Vince Rivers singing)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p3, pan7 (Headshot - Vince Rivers, holding Augmatron)
Marvel Premiere I#36, p16, pan6 (Vince Rivers gets arrested by policemen; 3-D Man (background))
Marvel Premiere I#36, cover (Vince Rivers, performing on stage)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p3, pan1 (Zirksu, holding one Augmatron unit)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p3, pan6 (Vince Rivers finds other Augmatron unit hidden inside his guitar)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p3, pan9 (Vince Rivers uses other Augmatron unit to shatter his jail cell wall)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p4, pan2 (after escaping from jail cell, Vince Rivers gets inside his customized automobile)
Marvel Premiere I#37, p6, pan2 (crashed car in flames; police pull Vince Rivers from wreckage; 3-D Man (foreground))
Appearances:
Marvel Premiere I#36 (June, 1977) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Don Glut (plot assist), Jim Craig (pencils), Dave Hunt (inks), George Roussos (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)
Marvel Premiere I#37 (August, 1977) - Roy Thomas (writer), Don Glut (plot assist),
Jim Craig (pencils), Dave Hunt (inks), Don Warfield (colors),
Joe Rosen (letters), Archie Goodwin (editor)
First posted: 05/07/2005
Last updated: 09/07/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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