KING AMIR
Real Name: Amir
Identity/Class: Human; pre-Cataclysmic era (circa 50,000 BC)
Occupation: King of Crete
Group Membership: None
Enemies: Hairy Ones
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Crete of 50,000 BC
First Appearance: Captain America Comics#2/4 (April, 1941)
Powers/Abilities: King Amir possessed no superhuman powers but was known as a ruler possessing great wisdom and fairness.
Height: Unrevealed; approximately 5'8"
Weight: Unrevealed; approximately 140 lbs.
Eyes: Black
Hair: White
History:
(Captain America Comics#2/4 (fb) - BTS) - Amir's kingdom of Crete was overrun by the apish Hairy Ones. These animalistic creatures were the remnants of an older sub-species of humanity. The Hairy Ones killed a great number of Cretans and also tortured a fair share of citizens.
(Captain America Comics#2/4) - King Amir and the surviving inhabitants of Crete were driven into the city's courtyard where they were surrounded by the Hairy Ones. Around that time, traveling adventurers Tuk the Caveboy and Tanir the Cro-Magnon arrived in Crete, hoping to gather information about the fabulous city of Atlantis from Amir. Seeing the king and his followers were in trouble, Tuk and Tanir fought and killed all the Hairy Ones threatening Amir and his people. In the aftermath, an overjoyed Amir more than happily provided the adventurers with the route that would lead them to Atlantis.
Comments: Created by Al Gabriele and unknown (possibly Pierce Rice (pencils), Arthur Cazeneuve (inks); see comments)
In 1998, Roger Stern had plans to reintroduce Tuk the Caveboy in his series Marvel Universe, an anthology title that got scrapped after seven issues. It's not unthinkable King Amir or the Cretians could have been a part of this revival.
Here's how the Golden Age Captain America Omnibus HC credits the Tuk stories in Cap Comics #1-5 (information courtesy of Jeph York):
#1 - by Jack Kirby
#2 - art by Al Gabriele* & unknown
#3 - art by Mac Raboy*
#4 - art by unknown with Al Gabriele*
#5 - title page pencils by Jack Kirby, title page inks by Joe Simon, pencils by Al Avison*, inks by Al Gabriele** It was not industry standard in the Golden Age of comics to provide detailed credits for each strip. The artists worked with an ever-changing studio of assistants and secondary artists, while writers often did not sign their name to their work. The stories in this volume were produced by the Simon & Kirby studio and may have included varying levels of work by the creators cited as well as others:
Al Avison, Fred Bell, Martin Burstein, Reed Crandall, Howard Ferguson, Harry Fisk, Al Gabriele, Fred Guardineer, Ernie Hart, Chu Hing, William Clayton King, Bernard Klein, Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Gustav Schrotter, Syd Shores & C.A. Winter
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
King Amir has no known connections to
The city of Crete was ruled by King Amir, known beyond his own realm for his wisdom. The city itself was carved out of brightly colored stone formations.
--Captain America Comics#2/4
Note: Remarkably enough, much like the city of Atlantis, Crete looked particularly well constructed for its time. Also, despite the fact it was still 50,000 BC, the Cretans were wearing garments that looked rather modern.
It is unrevealed what, if any, relationship Crete circa 50,000 BC has with the Greek Isle of Crete, which had prominence in the Minoan Empire as early as 2700 BC. However, even on the real Earth, there were homonids living there as early as 130,000 BC, so the two may be the same.
A group of the apish Hairy Ones attacked the city of Crete, armed with spears. They managed to kill most of the guards and rounded up the surviving citizens and King Amir, forcing them to gather in the courtyard. Before the Hairy Ones could kill the Cretians, they were stopped by a riot that was started by Tuk the Caveboy and Tanir the Cro-Magnon who happened to be present during the Hairy Ones' assault.
Note: According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe HC#14: Circa 50,000 BC, early humanity existed as the thick-haired
Shaggy Ones, the apish Hairy Ones, the brain-eating Goreks, and the Hairless Ones, progenitors of the Cro-Magnons.
As for why the Hairy Ones attacked the humans of Crete, it's very likely they felt threatened by the humans. Because of the evolutionary ladder more and more humans would be born and the Hairy Ones would cease to exist as a species.
--Captain America Comics#2/4
images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#2, p48, pan3 (main image)
Captain America Comics#2, p48, pan6 (closeup)
Captain America Comics#2, p47, pan3 (crete)
Captain America Comics#2, p48, pan7 (Hairy Ones)
Appearances:
Captain America Comics#2/4 (April, 1941) - Al Gabriele and unknown (possibly Pierce Rice (pencils), Arthur Cazeneuve
(inks); see comments)
Last updated: 05/31/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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