GORKI

Real Name: Gorki (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Spy/saboteur/terrorist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Rick Jones, Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His apartment, near Cape Kennedy, Florida

First Appearance: (Seen only) Tales to Astonish I#84/2 (October, 1966); (identified) Tales to Astonish I#85/2 (November, 1966)

Powers/Abilities: Gorki had no paranormal powers, but utilized such advanced devices as an ultra-wave scanner and a "telescopic robot".

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (200 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Gray (balding)

History:
(Tales to Astonish I#84/2 (fb) - BTS) - Gorki had established a hideout near Cape Kennedy, Florida; he planned to sabotage the launch of the military's Orion Missile. He placed a classified ad in a local newspaper to find someone to play the dupe and drive his car--with a robot secretly concealed in the trunk--to New York.

(Tales to Astonish I#84/2) - While down in the area of Cape Kennedy, Rick Jones heard a news report about the Hulk being sighted in New York City; not having any money for fare to get there, he answered Gorki's classified ad to drive his car north. Gorki warned Rick not to open the trunk, and offered him a bonus if he got there is less than 48 hours.

(Tales to Astonish I#85/2) - Gorki monitored Rick's progress via a concealed ultra-wave scanner hidden beneath the car's floor-board, then grabbed a pair of binoculars and watched out the window of his apartment as the Orion Missile was launched.

   Rick finally reached New York, where he found the Hulk running amok, so he drove him to safety a few blocks away. Meanwhile, military intelligence tracked down Gorki and burst into his hideout; but just before they could take him into custody, Gorki pressed a button that opened the car's trunk remotely and activated the robot. The Hulk battled the robot, but before he destroyed it, it fired an energy beam into the sky that caused the Orion Missile to veer off its test-flight course and head towards New York City. The Hulk jumped aboard the approaching missile, but then he suddenly reverted back to Bruce Banner...

(Tales to Astonish I#86/2) - Banner altered the missile's direction finder manually by rewiring a control panel while it was in flight (he did design it, after all). He once more transformed into the Hulk, then jumped off the runaway missile after successfully diverting it into the ocean.

(Tales to Astonish I#87/2) - While the Hulk battled the Leader's Hulk-Killer robot in New York, Gorki was being interrogated by the military in Florida -- he had confessed to sabotaging the Orion Missile, but denied that the Hulk played any part in his scheme, and cleared him from any involvement in his plot to destroy New York.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and John Buscema.

Although the Secret Empire was also attempting to sabotage the Orion Missile's launch (employing Boomerang/Fred Myers as their agent) a few issues previously, I don't believe it was stated that Gorki was affiliated with the Secret Empire -- possibly he was a Russian agent.

NOTE: Tales to Astonish I#84/2 (where Gorki first appeared) was a mixture of various artists for the Hulk story, but #85/2 (where my scans are from) was by John Buscema -- since Gorki only appeared in about 3 panels of #84, and I can't determine which artist(s) originally drew those panels, I guess we can just give Buscema credit for him.

New and improved images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by John Kaminski.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Gorki has no known connections to:

Gorki's "telescopic robot" has no known connections to:

Gorki's "telescopic robot"

This robot was retracted down and stored in a car trunk. When activated, it expanded to full size, where it stood about ten feet tall, and it could fire electrical bolts from the antennae on its head.

Unwittingly delivered to New York City by Rick Jones and activated remotely by Gorki, the robot was destroyed by the Hulk shortly afterward, but not before it accomplished its main objective -- it fired an energy beam into the sky which diverted the course of the Orion Missile, forcing it to zero in on New York City.

(And considering how the full-sized robot crushed the car that had been carrying it, I'd say there was probably some kind of device being used to neutralize its weight, otherwise the car would have been severely weighed down, and Rick would have gotten really lousy gas mileage.)

--Tales to Astonish I#84/2 (fb) - BTS (Tales to Astonish I#84/2 (fb) - BTS, 85/2

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#85/2, p7, pan2 (main image - Gorki activates "telescopic robot" as military arrests him)
Tales to Astonish I#85/2, p3, pan1 (headshot - Gorki)
Tales to Astonish I#87/2, p3, pan3 (Gorki denies Hulk worked with him)
Tales to Astonish I#85/2, p7, pan5 (activated "telescopic robot" emerges from trunk of car; Hulk [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#85/2, p8, pan4 ("telescopic robot" [left] fires an electrical blast at Hulk)
Tales to Astonish I#85/2, p9, pan3 (Hulk smashes "telescopic robot")

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#84 (October, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Bill Everett, Jack Kirby & Gene Colan (pencils), Bill Everett, Dick Ayers, Paul Reinman & John Romita Sr. (inks)
Tales to Astonish I#85 (November, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Buscema (pencils), John Tartaglione (inks)
Tales to Astonish I#87 (January, 1967) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Buscema (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks)

First posted: 04/25/2007
Last updated: 11/04/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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