Dr. PAUL ALLEN Dr. PAUL ALLEN
Real Name: Paul Allen
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Scientist, terrorist, A.I.M. group leader
Group Membership: A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics);
formerly Project Gladiator (Dr. Wilma Calvin, Dr. Barbara Morse, Dr. Ted Sallis (later the Man-Thing), Dr. Wendell; possibly Hamilton), S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division)
Affiliations: Ellen Brandt, unidentified other members of local A.I.M. group;
A.I.M. group seeking results from Project Gladiator,
including R-17, T-14, and their group that briefly captured the
Man-Thing and Ka-Zar; Alan and his unidenfied associate; the group involved with Dr. Calvin's shooting (including the mob leader and the shooter, as well as 3-4 others who may have been locals manipulated by the mob leader, or who may also have been A.I.M. agents); possibly Jasper Petrie (who also may or may not have been an A.I.M. agent or a manipulated local);
formerly Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder), Zabu (they aided him on multiple occasions before learning his true loyalites);
posed as an ally of Dr. Wilma Calvin, Dr. Barbara Morse, Dr. Ted Sallis, Dr. Wendell
Enemies: Dr. Wilma Calvin, Hamilton, Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder), "lizards who walk like men" (bipedal carnosaurs) , "Man-Apes" of Lost Lake, Dr. Barbara Morse, Neus Deutschlanders, New Brittanianas, Dr. Ted Sallis, S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Wendell, Zabu; unidentified plesiosaurids, unidentified pterosaur that crashed into his plane
posed as an enemy of A.I.M.
Known Relatives: None;
Barbara Morse (later Huntress and Mockingbird) was his former fiance'
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
former Project Gladiator base in the Everglades swamps outside Citrusville, Florida
First Appearance: Astonishing Tales I#8 (October, 1971)
Powers/Abilities: Paul was presumably a scientist with some expertise in a field revelent to the research associated with Project Gladiator (perhaps biology or biochemistry).
He was skilled in espionage, sufficient to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.
He also had some experience with firearms.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10"; he looked to be a few inches shorter than Ka-Zar)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 175 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark brown (varied from brown to black; see comments)
History:
(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Paul
apparently achieved the title of doctor, and he was most likely a
scientist of some sort, perhaps a biologist or biochemist.
(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - An agent of AIM, Paul came to head a group with the mission of obtaining the results of Project Gladiator, a S.H.I.E.L.D. research program taked with creating a process that would change an ordinary soldier into an indestructible warrior. To this end, he infiltrated and became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.
(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Paul and Barbara became engaged to fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and scientist Barbara Morse.
(Astonishing Tales I#12) - Drs. Barbara Morse and Paul Allen joined Project Gladiator, working with project head Dr. Ted Sallis, as well as Dr. Wilma Calvin and Dr. Wendell (and possibly Hamilton), and working out of a secret lab in the Florida Everglades.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - SHIELD agents warned the members of Project Gladiator about A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) who sought to obtain their super-soldier process.
(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Barbara suspected that Paul was AIM's group leader.
(Savage Tales I#1 (fb) - BTS /
Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - AIM paid Sallis' wife, Ellen
Brandt to facilitate their recovery of Sallis' formula.
(Savage Tales I#1 (fb) - BTS /
Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - After Sallis completed the process
and prepared to deliver it to Hamilton, Alan and another AIM agent slew
Hamilton. When Hamilton failed to show up for their meeting, Sallis
sought him out and was confronted by the AIM agents. Having burnt his
notes upon suspecting treachery, Sallis fled and injected himself with
the only sample of his formula. Sallis was ultimately transformed into
the monstrous Man-Thing who slew the two AIM agents.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) -
After Sallis vanished, Paul and Barbara (or their
associates) found Ellen Brandt wandering
throught he everglades, her mind gone and her face horribly scarred (by
the Man-Thing).
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Reports of the monstrous creature prevented locals from helping scouring the glades for evidence of Sallis, and it was feared that the same creature that had burnt Brandt had also killed Sallis.
AIM
agents further stirred up the local townspeople of Citrusville,
accusing Dr. Wilma Calvin of being a witch and the project of building
monsters.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - At the Project Gladiator facility, Paul helped Dr. Calvin out of her coat and listened to her vow that they would continue their work with or without Sallis and despite the interference of AIM, whom she correctly believed too be stirring up the townspeople against them.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Soon thereafter, five angry men, led by an AIM agent, approached the Project Gladiator facility, and took Barbara hostage.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - The AIM agent shouted from outside Project Gladiator, demanding Dr. Calvin come out so they could put an end to her monster-making; Barbara exposed the man as an AIM agent, but the man demanded Calvin turn herself over to them or he would kill Barbara.
The Man-Thing then appeared and slaughtered some of the men holding Barbara (the others fled), and Barbara rushed to Paul, who hugged her and asked if she was alright. Paul and Barbara stood and watched as the Man-Thing (still retaining some of Sallis' mind at this point) futilely tried to explain its nature. Paul could only watch as Dr. Calvin sensed the creature needed help and approached it, only to be shot in the back by one of the men who had fled.
(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Calvin was stabilized at Project Gladiator, but she remained nearly comatose, occasionally reviving enough to murmur "Ted Sallis" or "Man-Thing."
(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) -
BTS) <several weeks before Astonishing Tales I#12> - Seeking to
recover Sallis before A.I.M. (who had orchestrated Sallis' betrayal)
could do so, Paul and Barbara resolved to recruit the hunter-warrior
Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder) to accomplish this.
(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Paul and Barbara visited the servants at the Plunder manor in England, who gave them a map to the Savage Land, Ka-Zar had previously left there.
Via the map, Paul flew himself and Barbara to the Savage Land in his plane.
(Astonishing Tales I#8) - Flying over the Savage Land in a propeller-drive airplane, Paul and Barbara crashed into some sort of pterosaur that damaged the plane's wing. As Barbara asked what it was, Paul told her there was no time to talk; with her chute already in place, he instructed her to bail out, while he tried to pilot the craft to the ground.
(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Savage Land residents Ka-Zar and Zabu observed the ship's crashing and Barbara bailing out over Lost Lake.
Crashing on the surface, Paul used a wooden stick to fight off a trio of some sort of bipedal carnosaurs.
(Astonishing Tales I#8) -
Ka-Zar and Zabu arrived and attacked the "lizards who walk like men,"
slaying two of them in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Allen struggled
with the harsh reality of what he had previously enjoyed as a fantasy.
After the third carnosaur fled into the "Haunted Swamp," Ka-Zar
questioned Paul, who realized that he was Ka-Zar while trying to
explain how he had gotten there. Ka-Zar urged Paul to accompany him to Lost Lake so they could rescue Barbara from its threats.
As they reached Lost Lake, Ka-Zar noted that even he had never dared explore before; as Paul advised him that he better dare now so they could find Barbara, they were beset by a group of the "Man-Apes" of Lost Lake. After Ka-Zar and Zabu drove off the creatures, they and Allen took a raft out onto the lake, but the waters -- rough due to heat channeled into it -- suddenly releashed a waterspout.
(Astonishing Tales I#8 / Astonishing Tales I#10 (fb)) - Paul noted as the water erupted, and Ka-Zar advised him to jump off the raft.
(Astonishing Tales I#10) - As
Paul, Ka-Zar, and Zabu sank into the water, hungry plesiosaurids
approached. As Ka-Zar fought the creatures savagely, he instructed Paul
to swim for the shore.
Paul arrived alongside Zabu on the island of New Brittania, inhabited by British sailors stranded in the Savage Land decades before and perpetuating the conflict of World War II with similarly stranded Nazi sailors of Neus Deutschland . There, he was reunited with Barbara, but they were unable to stop the New Brittanians from lassoing and binding Zabu.
(Astonishing Tales I#10 - BTS) - Eventually, Ka-Zar exposed the perpetuation of the conflict by leaders Heinrich Draco and Rob Christopher; after both men fell into a volcano, their sons resolved to end the conflict.
(Astonishing Tales I#11 (fb) - BTS) - Agreeing to accompany them to the outside world, Ka-Zar instructed Paul and Barbara to keep moving forward until they reached a clearing.
(Astonishing Tales I#11) - Paul reminded Barbara of their instructions, after which she was grabbed by an anaconda. Ka-Zar savagely tackled the snake and knocked it into the waters before it could tighten around Barbara. After they had sunken beneath the waters, Paul commented how Ka-Zar had sounded just like Zabu as he attacked; considering how they had both vanished beneath the surface, he noted that Ka-Zar must have perished.
After Ka-Zar surfaced, triumphant, and began
preparing the dead snake for their next meal, Barbara asked why he
didn't return to England and reclaim his title as Lord Plunder. Paul
tried to stop her, but Ka-Zar noted that it was OK, as it eased
Barbara's mind to speak thusly, although he had no time to answer. Paul
further silenced Barbara, noting that Ka-Zar had more important things
to do than listening to her stumbling apologies, including finding
something else for her to eat, since she wouldn't eat the snake.
That night, Paul and Barbara slept a short distance from the campfire.
(Astonishing Tales I#12) - After their plane arrived in Miami International Airport, Paul pointed out to Ka-Zar that Zabu's cage had shattered, leading Ka-Zar to subdue a policeman preparing to fire on the wild cat; Paul noted that that was the bravest thing he had ever seen.
After additonal policeman arrived, Paul informed them that he and Barbara were with the government, but when the policeman attempted to arrest them all anyway, Ka-Zar knocked away their guns. Paul then urged Barbara to the jeep, as there was a helicopter waiting for them. They drove Ka-Zar and Zabu under fire to the helicopter, via which they escaped.
After their takeoff, Paul instructed Barbara to begin the debriefing, after which the pair explained their mission to recover Ted Sallis.
As their helicopter approached the Everglades,
AIM agents fired an energy blast that halted its motor. Paul tried to
glide the craft in, and they crashed into water. Ka-Zar and Zabu
carried/swam Barbara and Paul out of the craft and to the surface (Paul
held onto Zabu's tail), after which Zabu fought off approaching
alligators while Paul swam to the shore. Zabu sensed a nearby human
dwelling and led the others to the Project Gladiator complex. There Dr.
Wendell showed them that Dr. Calvin remained virtually comatose.
Paul remained in the facility when Ka-Zar heard something outside and rushed after the Man-Thing, only to be captured along with him by AIM agents.
(Astonishing Tales I#13) - Paul and Barbara located Ka-Zar shortly after he and Zabu had driven off a group of AIM agents. Paul asked why Ka-Zar hadn't been burned like others that had encountered the Man-Thing, and Kz-Zar credited his ceasing to feel fear. Paul was shocked when Barbara noted that due to the number of AIM agents in the area, they would move Project Gladiator headquarters in New York; she further noted that -- with Sallis and Calvin out of the picture -- she was next in command. Paul watched as Ka-Zar haul the massive Man-Thing out of the pit and they brought him back to the facility.
(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Paul went with Dr. Wendell to prepare Dr. Calvin for the journey.
AIM agents shot Dr. Wendell and abducted Dr. Calvin.
Paul Allen orchestrated this, but it is
unrevealed whether Dr. Wendell realized Paul's true allegience. Paul
reunited with AIM and took to wearing his AIM costume again.
(Astonishing Tales I#13 - BTS) - Dr. Wendell informed Barbara and Ka-Zar of Dr. Calvin's abduction before dying.
Using Zabu to terrify the AIM agent who had shot
Dr. Calvin, Ka-Zar and Zabu learned where they could find Paul and Dr.
Calvin.
Barbara, Ka-Zar, and Zabu stormed the facility,
but as Barbara located and rushed toward Dr. Calvin, Paul pulled off
his mask, grabbed Barbara from behind, and held her at gunpoint. He
considered that she had likely suspected all along that he was AIM's
group
leader but that she had become confused when the AIM agents (his own
men) had unwittingly shot them down in the helicopter. Barbara told him
he hadn't a chance, but Paul argued that he had her, a gun, and a clear
shot on Ka-Zar, whom he instructed to keep Zabu in tow. As Paul moved
towards Calvin and announced his plans to kill her since he couldn't
take her with him, the Man-Thing smashed through the wall. Paul
panicked as his bullets didn't faze the Man-Thing, and he begged
Barbara or Ka-Zar to stop the creature. The Man-Thing then reached
forward, grabbed the terrified Paul and lifted him into the air, frying
his face's flesh.
Believing Paul dead, Ka-Zar fled with Dr. Calvin, Barbara, and Zabu, after which the Man-Thing flipped a lever that detonated the AIM facility, apparently killing Paul and everyone else present.
Although not shown, the Man-Thing survived...
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Gary Griedrich, Herb Trimpe, and Tom Sutton.
Astonishing Tales I#9 was an inventory story. The story from #8 continued in #10.
Paul's last name was revealed in Astonishing Tales I#12.
Neus Deutschland was identified in
the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#10: Savage Land
profile.
Perpetuating World War II into the early 70's wasn't such a stretch...there were many stories of Japanese soldiers living on islands and continuing to believe they were fighting the war for decades. The sliding timescale makes it a little less plausible, as now 70+ years would have passed since World War II, but ignorance is a powerful tool, and perhaps the senior conflict perpetuators, Heinrich Draco and Rob Christopher, kept it going and maintained relative youth by some means...or perhaps it was their children and grandchildren seen in the Astonishing Tales story.
Paul's hair was brown in his
earliest appearance, but seeme to range from brown to black. After he
returned to AIM, it was its darkest black; perhaps
he either resumed his true hair color or chose to dye (re-dye?) it
black; or perhaps it was artistic license...only his hairdresser knows
for sure...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Paul Allen should be distinguished from:
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(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - After Ted Sallis was transformed into the Man-Thing and the burnt Ellen Brandt was found, reports of the monstrous creature prevented locals from helping scouring the glades for evidence of Sallis, and it was feared that the same creature that had burnt Brandt had also killed Sallis. AIM agents (presumably under direction from Paul Allen, who had infiltrated Project Gladiator) further stirred up the local townspeople of Citrusville, accusing Dr. Wilma Calvin of being a witch and the project of building monsters.  (Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Local Jasper Petrie (possibly an AIM agent; see note?) confronted and threatened Dr. Calvin in the swamps, but the Man-Thing attacked him, burning his arm and causing him to flee. (Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Soon thereafter, an AIM agent rallied four others into a small, angry mob (or possibly they were all AIM agents) captured Project Gladiator's Barbara Morse. (Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) -
Barely minutes after Dr. Calvin returned to the Project Gladiator base,
the AIM agent shouted, Warning the "old witch" that it was time for a
reckoning and threatening to kill her partner if she didn't come out.
As he ranted about the monsters she had been "mixin' up in this little
hunk of Hell," Dr. Calvin, alongside Paul Allen and Project Gladiator
worker Jim, came out and vainly tried to explain that they were only
doing research there. The ringleader replied that "Jasper Petrie met up with some of your 'research' -- and the doc just finished cutting off his arm!" (see note). While Jim tried to warn them off with a shotgun, the group leader argued that he'd kill the girl before Jim could hit him, and "even all your dark powers or the high-falutin' gizmos you've got tucked away in there won't be able to put her back together so's you can recognize here."Suddenly, the Man-Thing, who had followed Calvin back to the base felt anger and attacked. Smashing the bone and cartilage in one man's face with its fist, the Man-Thing picked another of the hostile group and threw him into two others before grabbing and fatally burning the face of the frightened agent who was holding Morse.  However, as Calvin approached the Man-Thing, one of the men (or another, who had been hiding in the woods in reserve) then used a shotgun to shoot Calvin in the back. Note: The group leader and the shooter were confirmed as A.I.M. agents (the latter in #13); however, it is not known whether the others were also A.I.M. agents or whether they were just locals stirred up by the group leader, as Barbara Morse believed. Jasper Petrie will get his own profile, and I'll discuss therein whether he was an AIM agent or not. After Petrie rushed off, the Man-Thing followed Dr. Calvin back to Project Gladiator, and he listened as she had a brief conversation with Jim and Paul Allen in the laboratory when the AIM agent started yelling for Dr. Calvin. We don't know how long the Man-Thing followed her through the swamp after that confrontation, but it didn't seem like more than 5-10 minutes. Maybe it was a couple of hours (although it's a little hard to believe the elderly Calvin would travel that far/long by herself through the swamps, especially knowing how the townspeople felt about her), but even then, it seems hard to believe that Petrie could have made it to a doctor and have his arm amputated, and then the AIM agent and his associates made it to Project Gladiator. So, perhaps the AIM agent was just exaggerating, or outright lying, to get the townspeople to support him in violently confronting Calvin...? I had a hard time deciding where to profile these AIM agents...since none of their names have been revealed and there were six of them, it didn't seem right to give them their own profile. A.I.M. doesn't have its own profile yet, just links. I'm working on a Project: Gladiator profile, but they're enemies of Project: Gladiator, not members. So, I decided to add them in to Paul Allen's profile, finished about a year earlier, since he was the head of the AIM group involved with Project Gladiator. |
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So, there were clearly four other guys standing with mob leader when he originally yelled out to Dr. Calvin and drew everyone outside. One of the guys died when the Man-Thing crushed his skull and then threw him at the others. It is hard to tell how many guys the Man-Thing threw the skull-crushed guy at...definitely at least two, maybe three; but the narrative notes that after that strike, only the leader was left...so presumably he hit all three of these guys. The mob leader was then fatally fried by the Man-Thing, after which it looks like at least two guys ran off. And then, shortly thereafter, someone from the woods shot Dr. Calvin in the back. The shooter could have been one of the guys who ran off, or it could have been a sixth person who was waiting there all along.... |  |
 |
An A.I.M. agent presumably serving under Paul Allen in the mission to obtain Sallis' Super-Soldier serum variant. To this end, he stirred up locals, fanning the flames of superstition that Dr. Calvin was creating monsters in the Project Gladiator base. Working with at least one other A.I.M. agent, he apparently gathered 3-4 local men and led them to travel to Project Gladiator base to confront Calvin. En route, they took Barbara Morse hostage and then demanded to see Calvin. Ultimately, his hateful threats goaded the Man-Thing to attack, and the mob-leader was apparently fatally burnt by the Man-Thing. --Astonishing Tales I#12 Note: His name and everything else about him remain unrevealed. | * |
 |
 Also an A.I.M. agent, he was either one of the mob who survived the assault by the Man-Thing, or he was waiting in the woods all along. (Astonishing Tales I#12) - After the Man-Thing had broken up the mob and killed two its members, shortly thereafter the shooter fired a shotgun from the wood and hit Dr. Calvin in the back, sending her into a coma. (Astonishing Tales I#13 - BTS) - The shooter was captured and held within Project Gladiator base. (Astonishing Tales I#13) - After Paul Allen took Dr. Calvin to the local A.I.M. base, Dr. Morse had the shooter brought out for questioning. He denied being associated with A.I.M., insisting he had shot Dr. Calvin because he thought she was a witch, but when Ka-Zar threatened to turn Zabu on him, the terrified agent was instantly forthcoming with information sufficient to allow them to find Paul Allen and Dr. Calvin. Ka-Zar and Dr. Morse had the shooter sent back to his room. --Astonishing Tales I#12 Note: His name and everything else about him remain unrevealed. However, as far as I could tell, he remained alive at the end of the story, so it is possible that he could show up again some day... The black and white image is virtually unitelligible in the original comic. | 
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images: (without ads)
Astonishing Tales I#8, pg. 3, panel 3 (stumbling from plane);
#11, pg. 1 (mostly full, with spear);
#12, pg. 3, panel 1 (running in suit & tie);
pg. 13, panel 1 (5 men behind Barbara Morse);
panel 3 (mob leader, face);
panel 4 (mob leader, full);
pg. 14, panel 3 (Man-Thing confronting mob);
panel 4 (skull crusher);
pg. 15, panel 1-2 (picking up and throwing skull crushed man);
pg. 16, panel 4 (shooter, shadowed in woods);
#13, pg. 11, panel 1 (Dr. Calvin's shooter, mostly full);
panel 4 (shooter, face);
pg. 17, panel 4 (AIM costume);
panel 5 (taking Barbara hostage);
panel 6 (face);
pg. 19, panel 1 (grabbed by Man-Thing)
Appearances:
Astonishing Tales I#8 (October, 1971) - Roy Thomas & Gary Friedrich (writers), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Tom Sutton (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#10 (February, 1972) - Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway (writers), Barry Smith (penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#11 (April, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#12 (June, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (penciler), Dan Adkins (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#13 (August, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema & Rich Buckler (penciler), Dan Adkins (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 03/01/2020
Last updated: 02/28/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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