BRUNO STORME
Real Name: Bruno Storme
Identity/Class: Human mutant (see comments;)
Occupation: Businessman
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Henry Stubbs (lifelong friend)
Enemies: The inhabitants of an unnamed planet (including Ulthar and Kloron)
Known Relatives: Father, mother (both unnamed)
Aliases: "The Miracle Man"
Base of Operations: A zoo on an unnamed planet; formerly Earth in the 21st century
First Appearance: Strange Worlds#2/2 (February, 1959)
Powers/Abilities: Having an I.Q. of 450, Bruno Storme thought faster, better, and more clearly than any other Earthman, and he claimed that no man on Earth was his mental equal. His superior mind also helped him to excel in athletics since it gave him a faster reaction time than his opponents.
History: (Strange Worlds#2/2) - Born on August 18, 2000 A.D., Bruno Storme was a remarkably intelligent child, but very inaffectionate and emotionally aloof from other people -- to such a degree, he was almost contemptuous of others.
Storme's only childhood friend was Henry Stubbs, who shared the same birthday as Storme. Young Bruno enjoyed playing with Henry, but with his superior intellect, he always won at any games.
After college, Storme went into business, but he was ruthless and ruined many a competitor. He became a hated figure in the business world -- hated, but feared and respected. He was called "The Miracle Man," and was said to be the most brilliant man alive by the rest of the world, but Storme felt nothing but disdain for his "mental inferiors".
For the next few years, he lived like a king, amassed a fortune, and owned the world's largest companies, but he was looked upon as heartless.
One day, Storme told Henry he was bored, had greater ambitions, and wanted more -- "I want to conquer the whole world!" Henry told him that with his tremendous intelligence, if he conquered Earth, it would be a hollow victory. Henry suggested that he design and have built a rocket ship that could reach other star systems -- there, in the galaxy, Bruno could choose an alien planet to conquer, pit his mind against the inhabitants, and dominate them. Bruno saw this as a worthy challenge.
One month later, Bruno left Earth in the spaceship he designed. After three months, he reached a remote star system and landed on one of the planets. He found a city that was modern enough, but all the people dressed in robes like Earth's ancients, and he saw no means of transportation -- "They haven't even invented the automobile yet!" -- Bruno saw it as a conquest hardly worth the effort.
And none of the inhabitants spoke ("How do you idiots communicate?")...but then Bruno began to receive thought waves -- they used mental telepathy to communicate!
The inhabitants regarded Bruno as being from a really primitive planet -- one where they still had to communicate by means of those ugly animal-like sounds called "talking" -- so they wanted to put the barbarian (Bruno) in a suitable place before he created a disturbance with his noise. They used their thought projection to teleport Bruno into their local zoo.
Four years later, Bruno was still in the zoo hoping that he could make the inhabitants realize that he, too, had a brain...but on a planet where the average I.Q. was over 1000, Bruno's mere 450 made them look upon him as a moron.
Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Al Williamson.
It was never specifically stated that Bruno Storme was a mutant, but considering his incredibly high I.Q., it's the only reason I can think of for it.
Given the year of his birth (2000 A.D.), and based on his physical appearance at the time in the story, I would estimate that the main events of Bruno Storme's story took place somewhere around the years of 2040 - 2050 A.D.
Those aliens -- possibly an offshoot of the Eternals?
And a big THANK YOU to Dennis Giansante for scanning this story for me!
Profile by John Kaminski
CLARIFICATIONS:
Bruno Storme/"The Miracle Man" has no known connections to:
The inhabitants of an unnamed planet
A human-like race attired in robes, and with no apparent means of transportation or communication, they were actually far mentally superior to Bruno Storme. They possessed such psionic abilities as telepathy and teleportation. Seeing Storme to be little more than a primitive animal, they imprisoned him in their zoo.
--Strange Worlds#2/2
Sharing the same birthday as Bruno Storme, he was Storme's only friend since childhood. He saw that Bruno was a man of far superior intellect, and realizing he needed a challenge to match his lofty ambitions, he suggested that Bruno travel to another world and conquer it.
--Strange Worlds#2/2
images:
Strange Worlds#2, p10, pan8 (main image)
Last updated: 12/26/13
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com