"WILLARD TEMPLETON"
Real Name: "Willard Templeton" (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Convict
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His fellow inmates
Enemies: Mysterious stranger
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Slimy (see comments)
Base of Operations: Unidentified penitentiary, somewhere in America
First Appearance: Amazing Detective Cases#12/3 (May, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: By supernatural means, "Templeton" was given the power to transform his body--from human form to that of a small, rat-like hybrid creature--for one night.
History: (Amazing Detective Cases#12/3 (fb) - BTS) - The past of "Willard Templeton" (better known as Slimy) is unknown, but he was serving a prison sentence for his crimes.
(Amazing Detective Cases#12/3) - One day, while working in the prison machine shop, Slimy dozed off and had a curious dream--he had turned into a rat! He crawled into a mansion, turned back into a man, grabbed a handful of jewelry, and was about to make his getaway out a window... but just then, a guard shook Slimy awake and told him to get back to work. Slimy told the other convicts about his dream, and they were all amused.
Later in his cell, Slimy sat and pondered the dream, and thought about how terrific it would be if it were real--at the size of a rat, he could easily escape from this miserable prison! Then he heard a voice speak to him from the darkened corner of the cell. A mysterious stranger stepped out of the gloom and told Slimy he could give him the power to make his dream come true. Thinking this was all some kind of a gag perpetrated by the other prisoners, Slimy threatened the weird man, so the stranger gave him a demonstration of what he could do--he concentrated, snapped his fingers... there was smoke and a soft hissing sound, and the air smelled like rotting blood...
And Slimy found himself turned into a half-man/half rat!
The stranger snapped his fingers again, and Slimy returned to normal.
Thinking he had been the victim of a hypnotic illusion, Slimy angrily confronted his uncanny visitor, but the stranger told him that he now had the power to change himself for that one night only, and advised him to use it. Then the stranger disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Alone in his cell, Slimy thought of what the stranger told him--he didn't believe any of what happened, but figured he might as well try it anyway, so he concentrated and snapped his fingers... and he once again became a rat!
Seeing this as his big chance to make a break for it, the transformed Slimy began his eerie escape. He crawled into a rat hole in the wall, made his way through a narrow tunnel in the wainscoting, until he emerged outside the prison.
But just as Slimy thought he had made his way to freedom, he unexpectedly ran into the stranger, who had transformed himself into a hungry cat, ready to pounce...
Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Bernie Krigstein.
...And unless Slimy was able to somehow get away, I'd say he probably made a delicious midnight snack for that kill-crazy kitty-cat.
This character was only addressed as "Slimy" in the story, which I'm assuming was just a nickname (If it was his real name, it's no wonder he wound up in prison!), so I took the liberty of giving him a name--for the record, it's derived from the main character from the movie "Willard" and the rat from the book "Charlotte's Web".
In regards to that mysterious stranger: It's likely that he was intended to be "Satan," so maybe he was actually Mephisto or some other demonic entity--since Slimy first had a dream about becoming a rat, maybe the stranger was really Nightmare, having a little fun out in the earthly realm.
And a BIG Thank You to The Horrors of It All for the scans!
Profile by John Kaminski
CLARIFICATIONS:
"Willard Templeton" has no known connection to:
The mysterious stranger has no known connection to:
Described by Slimy as looking like "a guy who's starving, or crazy with fever," he mysteriously appeared from the darkness and promised Slimy he'd give him the power to escape from prison.
A seemingly supernatural being, he demonstrated such powers as teleportation, transforming Slimy into a rat, and changing himself into a cat.
--Amazing Detective Cases#12/3
images:
Amazing Detective Cases#12/3, p4, pan7 (main)
Appearances:
Amazing Detective Cases#12/3 (May, 1952) - Bernie Krigstein (artist)
Last updated: 10/28/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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