SLEEPY EYES

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human mutant (?see comments; 1950s)

Occupation: Mentalist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Jimmy Woo and the F.B.I.

Enemies: Yellow Claw

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Central City

First Appearance: Yellow Claw#4/3 (April, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Sleepy Eyes could entrance and mentally dominate groups of individuals with his powers of suggestion, making them susceptible to his will; he could even affect their perceptions of reality.

History: (Yellow Claw#4/3 (fb) - BTS) - Sleepy Eyes' past is unknown, but at some point he was contacted by the Yellow Claw to take part in one of the Claw's evil schemes. Not liking the Yellow Claw or his proposition, Sleepy Eyes secretly went to the F.B.I. and worked with them to set up a counter-plan to dupe the Claw -- Sleepy Eyes would work as a double-agent under the pretense that he was an ally of the Yellow Claw.

(Yellow Claw#4/3) - Sleepy Eyes went with the Yellow Claw to Central City's Television Station XPA (Channel 14). The Claw extorted the station's owner, threatening to jam all his broadcasts if he didn't cooperate, then began an advertising blitz for a television program featuring Sleepy Eyes.

  That evening, millions of curious and unsuspecting viewers tuned in to Channel 14 to watch Sleepy Eyes, who used his powers to reach out through the tv screens and command his television audience to fall asleep. With the population of Central City transformed into five million sleepwalkers, the Yellow Claw's underlings were free to loot the city without fear of being challenged. As his men loaded the sacks and boxes of booty on his plane at an isolated airport, the Yellow Claw watched gleefully at how perfectly his plan was going -- soon his coffers would be filled with riches once more.

  Because the Claw and his gang were carrying "baby atom bombs" in case things went wrong, Jimmy Woo and other law-enforcement officials could only stand and watch as the Yellow Claw's plane took off, and the villain had seemingly gotten away with the biggest robbery in the history of crime...

  But as he watched the vanishing aircraft, Woo broke into a smile -- the Claw had nothing on his plane but empty sacks and boxes! When Sleepy Eyes rejoined Woo's group, the men all enjoyed a laugh together because the entire "robbery" had just been an illusion planted into the minds of the Yellow Claw and his gang by Sleepy Eyes' powers of suggestion -- it hadn't been the people of Central City that Sleepy Eyes put under his influence... but the Yellow Claw himself!

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and John Severin.

I think Sleepy Eyes was a mutant because he was referred to as a "mentalist" rather than a hypnotist, and because his powers seem to go far beyond conventional hypnotism.

If he actually had some form of psychic power, and considering his government affiliations, maybe Sleepy Eyes was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ESP Division.

According to George Olshevsky's Marvel Comics Index I#8A, Central City was next seen in Fantastic Four I#1, where it was the birthplace of the Fantastic Four (as seen on a billboard @ Incredible Hulk #235) -- however (not meaning to nit-pick), that Central City was in California, and the caption of the first panel of this story states that this Central City is "an American Mid-western metropolis".
  Anyway, for further information on events in Central City, see the profile on the Great Coordinator.

Since Sleepy Eyes' true name was never revealed, I suggest it should be Lee P. Eisner.

The Central City in the Sleepy Eyes story might not be the Central City from Fantastic Four I#1 (11/61), but it could be one of these: Central City (near Hannibal, Missouri) (Captain America Comics#39 (6/44) "On The Square" 9 text story ) or Central City (Human Torch Comics#23 (Summer 1946) Human Torch 1st story).
--Gammatotem

Perhaps this Central City is the one where Fastfoward came from... hehe...
--Wolfram Bane

And a BIG Thank You to Phil Parodayco/Monsterblog for getting me the scans of this story!

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sleepy Eyes has no known connection to:

• Jimmy Eyes, Maggia boss @ Slingers#1
• Sleepers, British Sleeper robots @ Plasmer#1
• Nazi Sleepers, robots created by the Nazis @ Tales of Suspense I#72
• any other character with a similar name

images:
Yellow Claw#4/3, p1, pan1 (main)