STONE MEN

Classification: Extraterrestrial (race unidentified)

Location/Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Easter Island

Known Members: Captain and at least three others (all unidentified, see comments)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Harry Dawes

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#28/2 (April, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Possessing great strength, the Stone Men were slow-moving, although their rock-like bodies likely gave them a high degree of durability.

Traits: Although technologically advanced, the Stone Men were also apparently magic users -- they were able to place themselves in suspended animation for centuries, but required the reciting of a magical incantation to revive them.

Curiously, while the Stone Men themselves were giants, their Captain was human-sized (see comments).

Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: Unrevealed
Fingers: Four, with opposing thumb
Toes: None
Skin color: Gray
Average height: 30'

History:
(Tales of Suspense I#28/2 (fb)) - Untold centuries ago, the Stone Men's spaceship developed engine trouble while flying past Earth. Their Captain ordered them to bail out for their safety, and they fell to Earth, where they landed on Easter Island (Isle). To conserve their strength until their Captain returned with the repaired ship, the Stone Men prepared to place themselves in suspended animation. But as a safety measure, in the event that their Captain forgot the magic incantation to revive them, the Stone Men first wrote the words of the incantation on a parchment and hid it in a cave, then began their centuries-long slumber.

(Tales of Suspense I#28/2 (fb) - BTS) - In the lengthy time it took the Captain to repair the ship, he forgot the magic incantation that would bring his crew back to life. He took on the guise of an old human on Easter Island while he searched for the incantation parchment.

(Tales of Suspense I#28/2) - Centuries after the Stone Men originally arrived on Earth, a fugitive named Harry Dawes found himself on Easter Island after escaping from South American authorities. He encountered the Captain (still disguised as an elderly human), who told him that the stone figures of the island were really slumbering creatures from another world; the "old man" further explained that there was a hidden parchment which contained words that would bring the creatures back to life, and that they would forever serve the one who revived them. Although Dawes didn't believe the tale, the "old man" promised to handsomely reward him if he found the lost parchment -- figuring the "old man" had some gold hidden away, Dawes agreed to help with the search.

   In the weeks that followed, Dawes eventually found the parchment in a cave. After the "old man" recited the incantation before the stone heads, the earth began to tremble, and the Stone Men burst from the ground as they awoke from their slumber. Dawes tried to take command of the situation, and he told the giant aliens that he was responsible for awakening them, so they had to serve him; but the Stone Men simply brushed him aside for his actions, for they would never serve a "puny Earthling". After the Stone Men explained how they came to be stranded on the island, they told Dawes that they would take him with them when they returned to their own planet, because he would make a fine specimen for their intergalactic zoo.

   The panic-stricken Dawes tried to convince the "old man" to help him; but the Captain was disgusted that Dawes had tried to betray him, so he pulled off his disguise and revealed his true form.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.

Only three Stone Men were clearly seen to be revived, but there appeared to be as many as five when they bailed out of their spaceship (see second image).

And unless the Captain used magic to reduce himself to human-size, my guess is that there are at least two races of these Stone Men, with the smaller race being the leaders of the larger.
-- Ron Fredricks

This story was reprinted in Chamber of Chills#22 (July, 1974, which misidentified it as being from Tales of Suspense I#18), and Tomb of Darkness#16 (September, 1975).

Profile by Madison Carter. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.





CLARIFICATIONS:
The Stone Men have no known connections to:

The Captain of the Stone Men has no known connections to:

Harry Dawes has no known connections to:

Captain of the Stone Men

The leader of the Stone Men, his spaceship developed engine trouble as it passed by Earth centuries ago. He ordered his crew to bail out so he could land the ship safely and make repairs.

After repairs were completed, the Captain found his crew on Easter Island, where they were in a state of suspended animation. Having forgotten the magic incantation that would revive them, the Captain adopted the disguise of an elderly human while he searched for a parchment with the incantation.

When he later encountered fugitive Harry Dawes, the disguised Captain told him that the island's stone figures were really creatures from another world, and he promised Dawes a rich reward for helping him find the parchment to revive them.

Dawes eventually found the parchment, and the disguised Captain was able to bring his crew back to life. But Dawes betrayed him and tried to take control of the Stone Men, so the Captain removed his face-mask and revealed his true self to him.

--Tales of Suspense I#28/2

Harry Dawes

A fugitive criminal, Dawes outran police in South America and escaped by boat. But the boat ran out of fuel when he got near Easter Island, so he swam ashore, hoping to hide out there for awhile.

As he looked upon the island's famous stone figures, Dawes was unknowingly approached by the Captain of the Stone Men, who was disguised as an elderly native of the island. The "old man" told him that the island's stone heads were actually creatures from another world, and that a hidden parchment contained magic words which had the power to bring the creatures back to life; he further told Dawes that the Stone Men would then forever serve the one who freed them from their slumber. Dawes didn't believe the story, but when the "old man" promised to handsomely reward him if he helped find the parchment, Dawes agreed to search for it.

After spending weeks searching, Dawes finally found the parchment hidden in a cave. The "old man" then stood before the giant stone heads, recited the incantation, and the revived Stone Men burst from the ground. But remembering the "old man's" claim that the giant creatures would serve the one who revived them, Dawes betrayed the "old man" and tried to take control of the Stone Men himself; however, the stone giants refused to serve a "puny Earthling". After explaining how they had been stranded on Earth centuries ago, the Stone Men told Dawes that they would take him with them when they returned to their world, because he would make an interesting specimen for their intergalactic zoo.

The horrified Dawes ran from the slow-moving giants and begged the "old man" for help; but the "old man" merely removed his disguise and revealed himself to be the Captain of the Stone Men.

--Tales of Suspense I#28/2

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p4, pan7 (main image - Stone Men)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p5, pan4 (in flashback, Stone Men abandon their spaceship)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p4, pan4 (Stone Men buried in ground, as their disguised Captain recites magic incantation)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p4, pan6 (revived Stone Men emerge from ground)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p3, pan2 (disguised Captain of Stone Men; Harry Dawes (background))
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p6, pan6 (Captain of Stone Men begins to remove his face-mask)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p6, pan9 (Captain of Stone Men)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p1, pan1 (Harry Dawes)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p4, pan2 (Harry Dawes finds parchment)
Tales of Suspense I#28/2, p5, pan2 (Harry Dawes tries to take command of revived Stone Men; disguised Captain (background))

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#8/2 (April, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Ray Holloway (letters)

First Posted: 04/07/2006
Last updated: 02/22/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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