ROCKY BAINES

Real Name: Rocky Baines

Identity/Class: Human (1960s era)

Occupation: Car wash manager

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Escaped Martian prisoner

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A prison somewhere on Mars;
   formerly his Automatic Car Wash

First Appearance: Amazing Adventures I#2/3 (July, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: Baines was skilled at operating the mechanisms of a car wash. Although he had no paranormal abilities, the unscrupulous Baines was talented at feigning physical injuries.

Baines unknowingly climbed into a car/spaceship and found himself bound for a one-way trip to the planet Mars.

Height: 5' 11" (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Amazing Adventures I#2/3) - The past of Rocky Baines is largely unrevealed, but he was employed as the manager of a car-washing facility. Baines came up with a scheme to swindle some of his customers and make a little extra money on the side--while directing customers into the car wash bay, he'd fake an injury and claim the customers had struck him with their vehicles, then Baines would threaten a lawsuit unless they were willing to settle out of court and pay him upfront. Baines pulled this scam on at least two customers, and he always preyed upon little people who were too weak and timid to resist his demands.






   One day an unusual looking vehicle pulled up to the car wash--Baines saw the slight build of the driver within and knew that he was the perfect victim. Baines distracted the driver while he was directing him into the car wash bay, then claimed the driver had driven over his foot. Acting as though he were in great pain, Baines threatened to sue the driver for all he was worth; the driver said he had no money, but offered Baines his car because he was done with it anyway.

   As the driver walked away, Baines was dumbstruck by his good fortune, then he was overjoyed when he realized the "snazzy" car was now all his. But when he climbed inside and shut the door, Baines saw the car had no steering wheel or dashboard; he became alarmed when the car began to rise off the ground and took him higher and higher into the sky. The flying vehicle began its return to its point of origin, and the sobbing Baines was trapped inside, unaware that his final destination would be a prison farm on the planet Mars.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer) and Steve Ditko (artist).

A sort of similar story would be done a couple years later with Carl Barker.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Rocky Baines has no known connections to:

The escaped Martian prisoner has no known connections to:

The car/spaceship has no known connections to:

Automatic Car Wash

An automobile cleaning facility located in the American town of Midville, it was a successful business where Rocky Baines worked as the manager.

--Amazing Adventures I#2/3

Escaped Martian prisoner

A thin unidentified humanoid, he had been held prisoner by a work farm on the planet Mars, but he escaped in a car/spaceship and flew to Earth.

The prisoner landed by Rocky Baines' car wash. As he directed the vehicle into the car wash bay, Baines faked an injury and accused the prisoner of running over his foot, then threatened to sue him for all he was worth. Since he had no money, the prisoner offered to give the vehicle to Baines instead; Baines gladly accepted his offer.

As he walked away, the escaped Martian prisoner wondered why Baines wanted the vehicle, because it would only automatically return to the prison farm.

(I'm assuming he was an extraterrestrial, but he looks human enough--he could have been an Earthling who was earlier abducted by some alien race and was just returning to his home planet.)

--Amazing Adventures I#2/3

Car/spaceship

Resembling an earthly motor vehicle (circa 1961), it was actually a spacecraft owned by a prison farm on the planet Mars. It could fly by some unspecified means of propulsion, and was capable of interplanetary travel. Seemingly having no operator controls in its interior, it had an automatic guidance system to return it to its place of origin.

A prisoner used it when he escaped from the Martian prison and traveled to Earth. The vehicle had gotten quite dirty during its flight through space, so it pulled up to a car wash. While he was directing the vehicle into the car wash, Rocky Baines faked an injury and blamed it on the prisoner's carelessness. Baines threatened to sue the prisoner, but the prisoner had no money; since it would automatically return to Mars anyway and he had no further use for it, the prisoner offered the car/spaceship to Baines.

Baines was initially pleased to have the car, but when he got inside, he noticed there was no steering wheel or dashboard controls. Then the car began to rise off the ground and climb higher into the sky, beginning its return flight to Mars, with the sobbing Baines trapped inside.

(In regards to that image with the sign on the back of the vehicle being in English instead of some alien language--I'll just attribute that to artistic license and say the translation was provided for the benefit of the reader.)

--Amazing Adventures I#2/3

images: (without ads)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p3, pan2 (Main Image - Rocky Baines fakes being hit by car)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p4, pan4 (Headshot - Rocky Baines talking to escaped Martian prisoner)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p2, pan4 (as customer backs his car out of car wash bay, Rocky Baines fakes injury)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p5, pan4 (Rocky Baines in car/spaceship as it rises from ground)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p2, pan1 (Rocky Baines directing car into Automatic Car Wash)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p2, pan2 (Rocky Baines (left) operates car washing mechanism while plotting against customer)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p3, pan5 (escaped Martian prisoner pulls into car wash, Rocky Baines (background))
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p4, pan3 (while Rocky Baines (left) fakes injury, escaped Martian prisoner tells Rocky he has no money)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p5, pan1 (escaped Martian prisoner wonders why Rocky wants car/spaceship)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p1, pan1 (car/spaceship (front view) rises from ground, Rocky Baines inside)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p5, pan3 (Rocky Baines in car/spaceship interior, notices vehicle has no steering wheel or dashboard)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p5, pan5 (car/spaceship (side view) takes flight with Rocky Baines inside)
Amazing Adventures I#2/3, p5, pan6 (car/spaceship (rear view), Mars Prison Farm label)

Appearances:
Amazing Adventures I#2/3 (July, 1961) - Stan Lee (writer), Steve Ditko (pencils and inks), Artie Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 05/03/18
Last updated: 05/03/18

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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