"WEIRD WOMAN"
Real Name: "Gloria Beasley" (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Perry Hammond (? possible husband)
Enemies: George Timmins
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The Weird Woman" (in story title)
Base of Operations: An unidentified midwestern city in America
First Appearance: Amazing Detective Cases#11/2 (March, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: Born a mutant ("a creature that is different from others of its kind, having special characteristics or powers"), Gloria displayed such powers as the ability to make herself immaterial, telekinesis, and possibly she had some degree of mental telepathy.
History: (Amazing Detective Cases#11/2 (fb)) - Gloria's past is unknown, but at some point she heard of a man with powers like herself, so she went in search of him to be her mate. She eventually met the acquaintance of George Timmins, and the two began to date. Timmins fell in love with her at first sight -- Gloria initially seemed to share the same feelings for him, mistakenly believing George to be the man she was seeking.
Timmins was working in his apartment one night when Gloria walked in -- although the door was locked -- and Timmins could think of nothing except that he loved her madly. He proposed marriage to Gloria, but she only told him that she wasn't sure of him yet.
Timmins drove Gloria home later, and as he sat in his car and watched her cross the street, he saw a speeding car headed straight for her... but the car seemed to pass right through her and Gloria walked on as if nothing had happened. Timmins just blamed the "hallucination" on the fact that he had been working too hard.
The next evening, Gloria came to Timmins' apartment and broke up with him, telling him that he wasn't the one she was looking for. When Timmins demanded an explanation, Gloria further elaborated and told him that she was looking for the only other person like herself. Enraged with jealousy, Timmins tried to grab her by her shoulders, but Gloria instinctively became immaterial and Timmins' hands passed right through her. Angered, Gloria explained that she was a mutant ("a superhuman being with powers that your puny mind will never grasp"), then further demonstrated her powers by levitating the furniture in Timmins' apartment. She told Timmins that she was leaving him to find her true mate, then they would be the Adam and Eve of a new super race, and humans would soon be extinct.
Now seeing Gloria as the threat that she was, Timmins put his hands about her neck and tried to strangle her -- which was just what Gloria had planned. Gloria let out a horrible, unearthly scream and Timmins blacked out. The next thing he knew, Timmins was being taken away by a cop who heard Gloria's cries for help, and Gloria told the policeman that George went utterly mad. Shaken by the experience, Timmins was unsure of what had just transpired, wondering if he hadn't imagined all that had happened, but looking back at Gloria, he saw the evil smile on her face and could sense the thoughts she was thinking.
George Timmins was tried for attempted murder, and Gloria appeared at his trial. The judge thought Timmins' claims to be those of a mentally ill man and ordered him to be confined to the state hospital for the criminally insane for the rest of his life.
(Amazing Detective Cases#11/2) - Months later in the asylum, Timmins was escorted by the guards to the visiting room to receive a visitor -- world-famous lawyer Perry Hammond. Having read the judge's confidential report on the case, Hammond told Timmins that he believed his claims, and asked him to tell him the whole story from the beginning.
After hearing Timmins' story, Hammond thanked him, explaining that he had been looking for Gloria just as she had been looking for him.
As he turned immaterial and stepped through a solid wall to leave to find his future wife, Hammond thought it strange that "such a lowly insignificant creature" (Timmins) should be responsible for bringing the two of them together, and then told Timmins that he had served his purpose and soon would die very painfully.
Horrified by these events, Timmins sank to his knees and began to scream, which brought the asylum guards into the room; they wondered where his visitor had gone -- the door had been locked -- but they were more concerned about getting Timmins to the doctor, who wanted to operate on the "insane" man's brain...
Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Joe Sinnott.
Chronologically speaking, this is probably the very first Atlas/Marvel story to feature mutants -- who'd have guessed that the company would one day build an entire franchise from it?
You're forgetting about Namor, Marvel's first and mightiest mutant!
--Markus Raymond
But I don't believe that he was actually named as a mutant until Fantastic Four Annual #1/X-Men I#6, years after this story was published.
--John Kaminski
She was called "Weird Woman" in the story title only, and I took some liberties in giving Gloria a last name -- which was never revealed in the story, so it's subject to change.
And a BIG Thank You to Brian Hirsch for getting me the scans of this story!
Profile by John Kaminski
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gloria Beasley/"The Weird Woman" has no known connections to:
Perry Hammond has no known connections to:
A writer (I'm assuming -- he did spend a lot of time at a typewriter) who fell madly in love with Gloria, only to learn that she was a mutant in search of a mate. Gloria framed him for attempted murder, and Timmins was locked up in an asylum.
Timmins later met Perry Hammond and told him all about Gloria, not realizing that Hammond was also a mutant in search of a mate.
Driven to the brink of insanity by his experiences with the two mutants, the unwitting matchmaker was later subjected to brain surgery, his final fate unknown.
--Amazing Detective Cases#11/2
The most famous lawyer in the world, he had been on vacation in Africa when he heard of George Timmins' case, then paid the man a visit in the hopes that he could help him find his true mate.
Hammond was apparently a mutant, having the ability to pass through solid walls and possibly other abilities.
--Amazing Detective Cases#11/2
images:
Amazing Detective Cases#11, p8, pan5 (main)
Appearances:
Amazing Detective Cases#11 (March, 1952) - Joe Sinnott (artist)
Last updated: 10/28/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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