JEFF CORLEY

Real Name: Jeff Corley

Identity/Class: Extratemporal human magic user (see comments) (04/14/1912, 05/06/1937, 08/06/1945, 1950s era)

Occupation: Convict

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Leo Hutten

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Big Jeff Corley" (as called by himself)

Base of Operations: Mobile in the past;
   originally his prison cell on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#61/6 (February, 1958)

Powers/Abilities: Corley was a convicted felon serving a life-sentence for an unspecified crime; he had no paranormal abilities.

Using a magic ebony idol, Corley was able to travel from his prison cell to three different time-periods in the past--during these voyages, his prison uniform was somehow altered to civilian clothing appropriate for the particular eras. Because of his evil nature, all of Corley's time-voyages took him to perilous historical events.

Height: 6' 2" (by approximation)
Weight: 190 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Gray

History:
(Strange Tales I#61/6 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Jeff Corley is unrevealed, but (by his own account) he was a "three-time loser"; after committing an unspecified crime, he received a life-sentence and was incarcerated in Alcatraz Prison.

   When the newly-arrived Corley was locked in his cell, he reclined on his cot and watched his cellmate, Leo Hutten--the little man was silently sitting on the floor and intently staring at a strange ebony idol.

(Strange Tales I#61/6) - Two hours later, Corley was shocked when Hutten and the idol faded away. Corley nervously paced the tiny cell, his mind seeking the answer to Hutten's mysterious disappearance, and he figured that it had something to do with the idol.

   Moments later, Hutten and the idol reappeared, and Corley demanded to know how he had vanished. But Hutten was emotionally distraught, claiming he'd nearly been killed during his disappearance, and he told Corley that he'd never try it again. Hutten explained that he had stolen the idol from an Indian mystic, and that by staring into its eyes and concentrating deeply, one could use the idol to transport himself to another time-period. Thinking the ebony idol would be the perfect means to escape from prison, Corley grabbed it from Hutten and stared into its eyes--Hutten tried to caution Corley about certain aspects of the idol, but Corley faded away before he could complete his warning...<

   Corley found himself aboard a ship...a very big ship, and he was initially pleased by his apparent escape to freedom; but then the ship suddenly struck an iceberg, and Corley learned he was on the Titanic! Panicking, Corley stared intently into the idol's eyes again...

   Corley reappeared back in his cell, and Hutten completed his interrupted warning: The possessor of the idol would get three voyages, all in keeping with the possessor's character--a good possessor would get a good voyage, but an evil possessor would get an evil voyage. Disregarding Hutten's warning, Corley stared into the idol's eyes again, and once more vanished...

   Corley next found himself on a luxurious airship...but he was alarmed when he learned from a fellow passenger that he was aboard the Hindenburg! Corley hurriedly wished himself back to his cell, just as the zeppelin burst into flames...

   Greatly distressed by his frightening time-travel experiences, Corley remained in his cell, not daring to use the idol for another escape attempt.

   But two weeks later, Corley was going stir-crazy from his incarceration, and he figured anything would be better than spending the rest of his life in a prison cell. In an act of desperation, Corley used the idol again--as he vanished into the past, Hutten warned him that he would have to stay wherever his third voyage took him, for he would be unable to wish himself back.

   Corley appeared in an Oriental city, where he was spotted by some armed Asian soldiers--he fled, but when the soldiers fired at him, he promptly surrendered. Corley was arrested and locked in a jail cell in the heart of the city, and a soldier told him that he would be released after the war between the United States and Japan was over.

   Suddenly, an air-raid siren sounded--as an American plane overhead dropped a single bomb, Corley was horrified to learn that his final time-voyage had taken him back to the Japanese city of Hiroshima...

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Bernie Krigstein (artist).

At the end of this 4-page story--The Eyes that Never Close!--it would appear that Jeff Corley suffered the same fate as Walter Krugg and Miko Kyusha; perhaps Corley became part of the the Everwraith.

I'm only assuming that idol was magic--I guess it's possible that it could have been a fusion of mysticism and technology like King Solomon's Frogs; presumably, the idol was destroyed in the bombing of Hiroshima, but you never know...

And the now-defunct Alcatraz prison would later be used as a base by the Corporation.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Jeff Corley has no known connections to:

Leo Hutten has no known connections to:

The ebony idol has no known connections to:

Leo Hutten

At some point in the past, Hutten was in India, where he stole an ebony idol from an Indian mystic; Hutten forced the mystic to tell him the idol's secret, and he learned that the figurine could transport its possessor into the past.

Hutten was eventually incarcerated in Alcatraz for some unspecified crime, and he somehow managed to take the idol with him.

In his prison cell, he was silently sitting on the floor, intently staring into the idol's eyes, when his new cellmate--Jeff Corley--was locked in with him.

Hutten used the idol to vanish into the past, but he returned back to his cell moments later because he had nearly been killed during his unrevealed voyage through time.

Corley forced the short and timid Hutten to tell him the secret of the idol, then Corley used it himself for his own ill-fated time-voyages.

Leo Hutten's eventual fate is unrevealed.

--Strange Tales I#61/6

Ebony idol

A black figurine with large glittering eyes, it belonged to an Indian mystic; it was stolen by Leo Hutten, who eventually took it with him to Alcatraz.

The idol was apparently magic, for when its possessor stared into its eyes and concentrated, the idol could transport that individual back in time--the idol would accompany its possessor on the time-voyage; by some means, the idol could also alter that individual's clothing to appropriate civilian attire for whatever time-period to which they were transported (e.g. Jeff Corley's prison uniform changing to civilian clothing)--whether this was accomplished by matter-transmutation or illusion-casting is unrevealed.

The idol could be used by its possessor for up to three time-voyages--for the first and second voyages, the possessor could return to his own time by wishing himself back, but with the third voyage, the possessor had to remain in the time-period in which the idol transported him.

The three time-voyages were all in keeping with the possessor's character--a good possessor would have good voyages, while an evil possessor would get evil voyages.

Leo Hutten first used the idol to disappear from his prison cell, but he had nearly been killed during his time-voyage and refused to try it again. The idol was then taken by Hutten's cellmate, Jeff Corley.

Corley used the idol himself, but he had two brushes with death in the past; Corley later used the idol on a third occasion, only to find himself stranded in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, just as the atomic bomb was dropped.

--Strange Tales I#61/6

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Jeff Corley (in prison uniform))
Strange Tales I#61/6, p2, pan2 (Headshot - Jeff Corley, after Leo Hutten vanishes)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p3, pan3 (Jeff Corley (in civilian clothing), holding idol, learns he's been transported aboard Titanic)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p4, pan7 (Jeff Corley (right, in civilian clothing), holding idol, learns from Japanese soldier that he's in Hiroshima)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p1, pan1 (Leo Hutten holding idol)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p2, pan3 (Leo Hutten reappears as Jeff Corley (left) watches)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p2, pan5 (Leo Hutten explains to Jeff Corley (right) how he got the idol)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p2, pan6 (idol in Jeff Corley's hands)
Strange Tales I#61/6, p4, pan3 (Jeff Corley holding idol, as Leo Hutten warns him about idol's limitation)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#61/6 (February, 1958) - unidentified writer, Bernie Krigstein (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Postd: 04/28/2020
Last updated: 04/28/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters