EMPEROR OF MARS

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extratemporal extraterrestrial (Martian) (Reality-59523 2306 AD, Earth-616 modern era);
   citizen of Mars

Occupation: Emperor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Martians of Reality-59523

Enemies: Earth, Lynn Hamilton, Jojo, Rajah, Seaweed, World Council;
Earth-616: Asgardians, Earth, Pulsar (Monica Rambeau)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile;
   formerly Isle of Exiles;
   formerly Mars of Reality-59523 2306 AD

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#52 (May, 1959)

Powers/Abilities: The Emperor was over 7' tall like all Martians and possessed the proportional strength of a well-trained man his size. He was a loudmouth, who judged others by their appearance and considered pure strength the only trait necessary to succeed. He could fly by unknown means, even in outer space, and apparently survive there without oxygen.

   He could apparently change his size, hair and eye color by will (of different artists; see comments).

Height: Variable (usually around 7'3" by approximation)
Weight: Variable (and unknown because it is unknown if a Martian's body was build denser than a human's)
Eyes: Red or blue
Hair: Brown or blond

History:

(Journey into Mystery I#52 (fb) - BTS) - The past of the Emperor of Mars in Reality-59523 is unknown, but at some point in the past he became the ruler of Mars.

   After E-M600A, Earth's first manned spaceship to Mars, made contact with the Martians the Emperor of Mars considered invading Earth, but before making the decision he requested the Earthlings to send an envoy to Mars.

(Journey into Mystery I#52) - In 2306 AD Earth's envoy Lynn Hamilton arrived on Mars with his cargo and was brought before the Emperor of Mars, who laughed at the puny human and decided that there was no need for negotiations because the Martians could easily conquer Earth if Hamilton was the best they could send to represent them. To proof his point the Emperor showed the pure strength of his people by lifting Hamilton up like a child with one hand. Hamilton had already assumed that the Martians would judge him by his appearance and had his cargo brought in, three animals he introduced as three of the mightiest creatures on Earth. The Emperor was shocked when the gorilla Jojo picked him and his aide up and nearly squeezed him to death. The gorilla only dropped the Emperor and his aide when Hamilton offered it a banana. The Emperor couldn't believe how this creature nearly crushed him. The horse Seaweed then kicked through the wall, which crumbled to the shock of the Emperor's aide. The elephant Rajah then walked through a column, destroying it and scaring another of the Emperor's aides because there was no creature as powerful as the elephant on Mars. Hamilton then showed his superiority by ordering around the three trained animals. Then he rode on Rajah to the Emperor, who meekly called his past threats against Earth a joke because Earth was too powerful and it would be foolish by the Martians to wage war against them.

(Journey into Mystery I#649 (fb) - BTS) - At some point the Emperor of Mars ended up centuries in the past in Reality-616 and was captured and banished to the Isle of Exiles by Asgardians.

(Journey into Mystery I#649) - Upon his escape from the Isle of Exiles the Emperor of Mars approached the Avengers Deep Space Monitoring Station, which at the moment was in the process to be repaired by Monica Rambeau. The Emperor told her that there was no way to stop his people's invasion of Earth. Iron Man (Tony Stark), who was in contact with Monica, asked her if she was able to take him down and Monica blasted the Emperor of Mars with an energy blast, leaving him floating through outer space.

Comments: Created by unidentified writer and Joe Sinnott (artist).

So these Martians are pretty much Viking Overlords from outer space.
--Markus Raymond

Journey into Mystery with Sif as main character showed a few old Marvel Monsters in its first arc, but the artist clearly relied on splash pages and covers for the look of said monsters and not the actual stories. Sometimes the monsters looked different in the actual story in those old comics. See also Ruler of Earth and Rro as examples for this.

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for cleaning up the main image.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Emperor of Mars should not be confused with:

The Martians from reality-59523 have no known connections to:

Lynn Hamilton had no known connections to:

Jojo had no known connections to:

Rajah had no known connections to:

Seaweed had no known connections to:

E-M600A crew

(Journey into Mystery I#52 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-59523 sent E-M600A, their first manned spaceship, to Mars where the made contact with the warlike Martians, who were all over 7' tall. They quickly realized that the Martians were capable of invading and conquering Earth, but even though the Martians considered exactly that they wanted Earth to send an envoy before making the decision.

(Journey into Mystery I#52) - In the year 2306 AD the E-M600A spaceship returned to Earth. Even befor they landed they sent messages back to Earth to warn them of the threat posed by the warlike Martians and that they considered conquering Earth after meeting with Earth's envoy.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

Martians

The Martians of Reality-59523 were all over 7' tall though the unseen women were a bit smaller. They all possessed strength proportional to their size and muscular build. They were a warlike race, who considered it their right to conquer and subjugate anyone they could. Their technology level was similar to Earth of that era. They presumably all possessed the power of unassisted flight in outer space.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

Lynn Hamilton

Lynn was a member of the World Council on Earth-59523. He suggested himself as Earth's envoy to Mars even though he lacked in strength because he believed his mind was capable of handling the Martians. He was chosen by the president and took three trained animals with him on a spaceship to Mars.

Arriving on Mars in a spaceship Hamilton was mocked by Martian warriors because he was even smaller than their women. Hamilton was brough before the Emperor of Mars, who immediately wanted to end all negotiations and attack Earth when he was the puny human Hamilton standing before him. Though Hamilton suggested that it won't be so easy to conquer Earth the Emperor showed that it would be by picking Hamilton up with one hand, but Hamilton had already assumed that the Martians would judge him by his appearance and ordered his cargo to be brought in. Hamilton introduced them as three of the mightiest creatures on Earth. The gorilla Jojo easily picked up the Emperor and his aide, nearly squeezing the former to death with its strong grip, and only let them go when Hamilton offered Jojo a banana. The horse Seaweed then kicked on command by Hamilton through a wall, which frightened the Emperor and his aides. The elephant Rajah then walked through a column on Hamilton's command, destroying it in the process and frightening one of the Emperor's aides even more because there was no creature on Mars strong enough to do something like that. After the Martians had seen what these creatures could do Hamilton showed his superiority over them by ordering the trained horse to sit before him, the trained gorilla to roll over and the trained elephant to stand on its hind legs. Hamilton then rode on Rajah to the Emperor and pointed out that these creatures feared him even tough they were more powerful than Martians. While the aide wondered what unseen powers Hamilton had the Emperor apologized and suggested that it was only a joke that the Martians wanted to wage war against Earth because he considered Earth too powerful and attacking them would be foolish. With his mission a success Hamilton returned to Earth on his spaceship to Earth (presumably with the animals).

--Journey into Mystery I#52

Jojo

Jojo was a gorilla from Earth-59523. It was one of the animals Lynn decided to bring to Mars to show the superiority of humanity. Hamilton had Jojo and the other animals brought to the Emperor's throne room where he ordered Jojo to pick up the Emperor and his aide, which Jojo easily did. Jojo's grasp was so strong that the Emperor could hardly breath, but Jojo dropped both Martians as soon as Hamilton offered Jojo a banana. Hamilton later showed his superiority over the trained gorilla by ordering Jojo to roll over. Jojo presumably returned returned with Hamilton and the other animals to Earth on their spaceship.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

Rajah

Rajah was an elephant from Earth-59523. It was one of the animals Lynn decided to bring to Mars to show the superiority of humanity. Hamilton had Rajah and the other animals brought to the Emperor's throne room where he ordered Rajah push through a column, destroying it by walking right through it, scaring the Martians with its strength. Hamilton then showed his superiority over the trained elephant by ordering it to stand on its hind legs. He then rode the elephant in fron of the Emperor, who was so scared that he told Hamilton that the Martians were only joking about waging war against Earth. Rajah presumably returned with Hamilton and the other animals to Earth on their spaceship.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

Seaweed

Seaweeed was a horse from Earth-59523. It was one of the animals Lynn decided to bring to Mars to show the superiority of humanity. He had Seaweed and the other animals brought to the Emperor's throne rome where he ordered Seaweed with a whistle and a command to kick through the throne room's wall, which frightened the Martians. Hamilton then showed his superiority over the horse by making it to lay down, which the trained horse did. Seaweed presumably returned returned with Hamilton and the other animals to Earth on their spaceship..

--Journey into Mystery I#52

spaceship

An unidentified spaceship from Earth-59523 used to bring Lynn Hamilton to Mars for his meeting as Earth's envoy with the Martians. The ship's crew was never seen, but in its cargobay were three animals Hamilton wanted to bring with him to Mars. The gorilla Jojo, the horse Seaweed and the elephant Rajah. After demonstrating his superiority over the animals, whose strength even scared the Martians, the spaceship was used to bring Hamilton and presumably the trained animals back to Earth.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

World Council

In the year 2306 AD the World Council of Earth-59523 had an emergency meeting after the E-M600A spaceship's crew warned them of the threat posed by the Martians and their request to meet an envoy from Earth. The World Council discussed who should become the envoy they sent to meet with the Martians and despite the President of the Council suggesting a powerful human, who can match the Martians' pure strength, council member Lynn Hamilton suggested himself. Hamilton convinced the president that he was the right choice because what Hamilton lacked in strength he made up with his mind.

--Journey into Mystery I#52

images (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#52, Cover (main)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p3, pan5 (head shot)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p3, pan3 (on throne)
Journey into Mystery I#649, p11, pan3 (vs Pulsar)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p1, pan2 (E-M600A crew)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p3, pan1 (other Martians), pan
Journey into Mystery I#52, p2, pan2 (Lynn Hamilton head shot)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p3, pan1 (Lynn body shot)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p4, pan3 (Jojo)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p5, pan1 (Rajah)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p4, pan6 (Seaweed)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p2, pan5 (Hamilton's spaceship)
Journey into Mystery I#52, p2, pan1 (World Council)

Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#52 (June, 1959) - Jack Kirby (pencils), Christopher Rule (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#649 (April, 2013) - Kathryn Immonen (writer), Valerio Schiti (artist), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)

First Posted: 06/15/2019
Last updated: 06/23/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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