GEORGE BEEMAN

Real Name: George Beeman

Identity/Class: Human mutate (1950s era) (see comments)

Occupation: Unrevealed (see comments)

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Helen (last name unrevealed), unidentified scientists

Enemies: Cosmic ray mutates

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unidentified American city

First Appearance: Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4 (February, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Although a bit of a nebbish with an unimpressive physical build, George Beeman was a normal human; apparently near-sighted, he wore eyeglasses.

After being exposed to the cosmic rays of a solar event, Beeman was temporarily mutated into a handsome "superman" with a brilliant mind and a muscular physique--his sight was augmented as well, giving him "telescopic" and "x-ray" vision (see comments). Through an act of will, the mutated Beeman could teleport himself over unspecified distances.

Beeman originally seemed to suffer from depression and an inferiority complex--prior to his mutation, he saw himself as a talentless "nobody". After an unspecified period of time, the effects of the cosmic rays wore off and Beemen returned to his normal self, but the experience left him with a new self-confidence and a positive outlook on life.

Height: 5'8" (by approximation); (after mutation) 6'2" (by approximation)
Weight: 150 lbs. (by approximation); (after mutation) 200 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond

History:
(Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of George Beeman is largely unrevealed, but the bespectacled man was plagued with self-doubt, and he considered himself a "nobody" who never got noticed. Beeman was secretly infatuated with Helen.

(Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4) - After failing to work up the courage to ask Helen for a date, the depressed Beeman lamented his personal faults and shortcomings to himself, then went for a walk--he passed the outskirts of the city and went into the surrounding woodlands. As he sat on a hilltop, Beeman tried to figure out a way to find some contentment with his life, because he couldn't go on being a human zero. But as he looked skyward, he noticed that the sun seemed to be pulsating strangely.

   Meanwhile, in an observatory, two scientists also noticed the bizarre solar phenomenon--their instruments indicated that a hole had formed in the planet's protective atmosphere, and they were concerned about the consequences the undiluted cosmic rays would have upon the planet.

   As the pure cosmic rays shot down to the world's surface, the genetic structures of some of the plants, animals, and insects of Earth were affected, and they mutated into monstrous life-forms.

   The radiation also affected George Beeman--his body expanded, and his muscles pulsed with life; his mind became clear and brilliant, and his brain could think and tabulate a thousand times faster than an ordinary brain. The transformed Beeman found he no longer needed his glasses, for his eyesight had also been greatly enhanced. He quickly deduced that radiation had caused a genetic mutation within him and other creatures of the planet.

   With his enhanced vision, Beeman saw some of the dangers posed by the monstrous mutates, so he went to help--with an act of will, he passed through space and appeared miles away, where some men were combating giant insects. Using his advanced intellect, Beeman quickly devised a formula for an insect spray to kill the monsters, then he teleported himself again.

   Beeman reappeared at a different location, where he assisted the military by coming up with a strategy to trap some other mutated creatures.

   After teleporting himself again, Beeman reached a locale where a rapidly growing mutated plant threatened to engulf the world--Beeman formulated a poison to kill the plant's roots. But then the transformed Beeman noticed Helen in the crowd of onlookers--he realized that in his present superior form, Helen was now so physically and mentally beneath him that in comparison, she was just a "nobody," and he wondered why he had ever been attracted to her.

   All the menaces born of radiation were finally destroyed by the unidentified superman, and just as a scientist complimented the unknown hero for his good deeds, the mutated Beeman suddenly faded away. Beeman reappeared upon the hilltop where he had started, but he had returned to his normal self--he theorized that the hole in Earth's atmosphere had closed, and the cosmic rays were no longer passing through.

   Beeman left the hilltop and walked back to town, where all the radios, televisions, and newspapers were reporting about one thing: They all spoke about the stranger who appeared from nowhere, saved the world from the crisis, then disappeared--nobody would ever know who the mysterious superman was, and no one would ever believe that he had been George Beeman.

   Beeman walked through the crowds unnoticed, and he was a "nobody" again; but Beeman smiled because he thought that a superman such as he had been for that brief time would have been so terribly lonely as the only one of his kind in the world--during that time, he had even been so conceited as to think that Helen was far beneath him, but now his feelings for her had returned, and he decided that she was the girl he was going to marry.

   Thinking back over the whole experience, Beeman thought it was like an amazing dream, but the spark of that dream would remain with him all his life, giving him a new confidence in himself, and he would never consider himself to be a "nobody" again.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Ted Galindo (artist).

Beeman's occupation was never mentioned, but since he was in the same office building as Helen (and assuming he wasn't just stalking her), he was probably a file-room clerk or some other sort of office-worker.

I would attribute Beeman's enhanced visual powers to some psionic sense, such as remote viewing.

Because of the world-wide disaster caused by those cosmic ray mutates, this 4-page story--Nobody Will Ever Know!--likely took place on an alternate world rather than Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe).

Those mutated monsters reminded me of the creatures created by Doctor Demonicus with the Lifestone.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
George Beeman has no known connections to:

Helen has no known connections to:

Helen

Helen appeared to be an office-worker, and she was the object of George Beeman's affection, but Beeman's own self-doubt kept him from asking her for a date.

When Beeman was mutated into a superman by cosmic rays, he went to save the world from monstrous creatures that had also been mutated--Helen happened to be in a crowd of onlookers. When the superior Beeman caught a glimpse of Helen, he realized that she was mentally and physically far beneath him, and he wondered why he'd ever been attracted to her.

Beeman eventually returned to his normal self, but the experience left him with a new self-confidence, and as his feelings for Helen returned, he was determined to marry her.

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4

Unidentified scientists

A pair of scientists working in an observatory, their instruments indicated that a hole had formed in Earth's protective atmosphere--they were concerned about the consequences that the undiluted cosmic rays would have on the planet.

The cosmic rays struck Earth's surface and caused various life-forms to mutate, including George Beeman, who became a superior man.

One of the scientists appeared to be present when the transformed Beeman used his superior intellect to create a poison to kill a rapidly growing plant.

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4

Cosmic ray mutates

Various plants, animals, and insects, they were all mutated into monstrous forms by the cosmic rays of a solar phenomenon.

They all threatened mankind's dominion over Earth until they were destroyed by George Beeman, who had also been mutated into a superior man by the same cosmic rays.

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p1, pan1 (Main Image - George Beeman)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p2, pan1 (Headshot - George Beeman (profile) looking at pulsating sun)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p3, pan3 (George Beeman, following cosmic ray mutation)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p4, pan3 (George Beeman, after he returns to normal)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p1, pan1 (Helen)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p4, pan1 (Helen; mutated George Beeman, unidentified scientist (background))
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p2, pan4 (two unidentified scientists notice increased cosmic radiation from sun)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p2, pan5 (unidentified scientist gives dire warning about cosmic rays)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p2, pan5 (unidentified scientist (left) compliments mutated Beeman for saving world, as Beeman teleports away; mutated plants (background))
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p3, pan1 (cosmic ray mutated creatures and insects on farm)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p3, pan5 (mutated George Beeman directs men to fight giant cosmic ray mutated insects)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4, p3, pan6 (mutated George Beeman (right) coordinates battle against cosmic ray mutates)

Appearances:
Strange Tales of the Unusual#8/4 (February, 1957) - unidentified writer, Ted Galindo (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 12/09/2018
Last updated: 12/09/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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