MU

Real Name: Mu

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unrevealed) (1950s era)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Ann Brewster, Johnny, Vu

Enemies: George Brewster

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Temporarily assumed the form of an unidentified female babysitter (see comments)

Base of Operations: Interplanetary space (see comments);
   temporarily on Earth, in the home of George and Ann Brewster

First Appearance: Marvel Tales I#122/1 (April, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: In his (see comments) natural form, the extraterrestrial Mu resembled a green-skinned disembodied head, with twin antennae and insect-like compound eyes; below his form, he also seemed to have a number of tendril/tentacle-like appendages (at least four, possibly five). In one instance, Mu was able to receive a telephone call originating from Earth (presumably with his antennae).

Mu altered his form to appear to be a female babysitter--it was unrevealed whether this power was a physical shape-shifting ability, or some form of mental illusion-casting. Mu also demonstrated the ability to teleport himself, and at least one other individual, from Earth to interplanetary space.

An empathetic and compassionate being, Mu had an obedient and servile disposition, and he lived by the maxim "When I hear, I obey!"--due to his unfamiliarity with human idioms and metaphors, Mu inadvertently killed George Brewster when he took Brewster's request quite literally and teleported the man into airless space.

Height: 3' (by approximation); (as babysitter) 5' 7" (by approximation)
Weight: 100 lbs. (by approximation); (as babysitter) 130 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Green; (as babysitter) blue
Hair: Inapplicable; (as babysitter) red

History:
(Marvel Tales I#122/1 (fb) - BTS) - George Brewster had only married Ann for the money that her deceased husband left her; theirs was an unhappy marriage, because Ann--along with her young son Johnny--feared the verbally- and physically-abusive Brewster.

   When George and Ann were invited to a party, little Johnny began to cry because he wanted his mother to stay home with him. The angry George called a babysitting service to get somebody to watch his "crying brat" stepson; but somehow, an unspecified mishap caused the phone's wiring to become crossed, and Brewster's call went farther than he anticipated...

(Marvel Tales I#122/1) - The past of Mu and Vu is unrevealed, but while the two were in interplanetary space, their thought-waves accidentally picked up a phone-call from Earth requesting a "babysitter". With Vu's assistance, Mu figured out what a "babysitter" looked like.

(Marvel Tales I#122/1 - BTS) - Mu assumed the form of a babysitter and teleported to Earth; appearing outside the home of George and Ann Brewster, the transformed Mu rang the doorbell.

(Marvel Tales I#122/1) - When George answered the door, he was quite pleased to see the pretty babysitter (Mu), and he immediately began to openly flirt with her (...much to Ann's chagrin). As George and Ann left for the party, the babysitter sat on the couch next to Johnny--she noticed the boy had been crying, so she asked what was troubling him. Johnny told the babysitter about the problems he and his mother were having with his mother's new husband.

   Meanwhile, shortly after they arrived at the party, George became very restless and bored, and he demanded that Ann leave with him. During their drive back home, Ann accused George of only marrying her for her money, and she was suspicious that he was thinking about the babysitter--she tearfully wished George would go away and leave her and Johnny in peace. George cruelly admitted to Ann that all she said was true, but told her there was nothing she could do about it, and he threatened to hit her unless she shut up.

   When they returned home, George and Ann found little Johnny peacefully sleeping, with a smile on his face--Ann wondered why, because she hadn't seen her son smile in a long time. The babysitter explained that she just told the boy that he'd be happy from now on--the heartbroken Ann could only hope that the babysitter's good wishes would prove true.

   Being a "gentleman," George offered to drive the pretty babysitter home; but when she got in his car, the lecherous Brewster immediately made a pass at her--he told her that he wanted to "go out" with her. The babysitter replied, "To hear is to obey!"--then they both vanished from the car in a cloud of smoke.

(Marvel Tales I#122/1 - BTS) - Following George's mysterious disappearance, life went on for Ann Brewster and her son... but they were both much happier.

(Marvel Tales I#122/1) - Sometime later, Johnny and Ann were in the living room of their home. Johnny asked his mother if his stepfather was ever coming back, and Ann replied that it was unlikely. Johnny complimented the babysitter ("Gosh, that babysitter knew what she was talking about!"), while Ann could only wonder where George and the babysitter were.

   Meanwhile, in the vacuum of interplanetary space, the dead body of George Brewster floated between Vu and Mu--Vu asked his friend why he had brought "it" (George) with him; Mu explained that George had said he wanted to go out with Mu, and so Mu had obediently complied...

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Tony DiPreta (artist).

In this 5-page story--The Baby Sitter-- Mu's gender was never revealed, so I'm only assuming "he" was a male; however, in regards to Vu--a narrative caption in a panel referred to Mu as "his friend," so I guess we can safely assume that Vu was a male.

The exact location in space where Mu and Vu were located was never specified, but a ringed planet can be seen in the background, which could possibly be Saturn.

Mu never mentioned a name while in babysitter form, so Ann Brewster essentially left her son in the care of an unidentified stranger--I guess parents were more trusting back in the 1950s...

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mu has no known connections to:

Vu has no known connections to:

George and Ann Brewster have no known connections to:

Johnny has no known connections to:

Vu

He (see comments) was the companion of Mu. While Vu and Mu were floating in interplanetary space, they both intercepted George Brewster's phone-call requesting a "babysitter". Vu helped Mu determine from which planet the phone-call had originated, and what a "babysitter" looked like; Mu then altered his form and teleported to Earth.

Later, Mu returned with something extra--the body of George Brewster (who apparently died from asphyxiation when he was teleported into the vacuum of space). Vu inquired why Mu had brought "it" (George) back with him; Mu (who had previously assumed the form of a pretty babysitter while on Earth) explained that George had said he wanted to "go out" with Mu, so Mu had obediently complied.

--Marvel Tales I#122/1

George Brewster

Brewster had married Ann after her first husband died; but Brewster didn't love Ann (and he didn't like her son Johnny, either), for he had only married her to get at the money that her first husband left her. The verbally- and physically-abusive Brewster made life miserable for Ann and Johnny.

George and Ann were invited to a party, so George telephoned a babysitting service to get someone to watch his "crying brat" stepson--unknown to Brewster, his phone-call had somehow gone into interplanetary space, where it was intercepted by the extraterrestrials Mu and Vu; Mu altered his form to become a babysitter and teleported to Earth.

After Brewster saw the pretty babysitter (actually Mu), he began to openly flirt with her, then he and Ann left for the party.

But shortly after arriving at the party, George became bored and restless, so he demanded that Ann leave with him. As they were driving back home, Ann and George got into an argument--Ann accused him of only marrying her for her money, and of thinking about the babysitter; George cruelly admitted that all Ann said was true, but told her there was nothing she could do about it, then threatened to hit her unless she shut up.

When they returned from the party, "gentlemen" George offered to drive the pretty babysitter home; but after she got in his car, the lecherous Brewster made a pass at her--he told the babysitter that he wanted to "go out" with her; the obedient Mu complied, and George Brewster was teleported to the vacuum of outer space, where he apparently died from asphyxiation.

--Marvel Tales I#122/1

Ann Brewster

Ann had been happily married to her first husband, and they lived in a house at 10 Heather Road with their son Johnny. Ann's first husband died, but he left her a large sum of money.

Ann later married George Brewster, but she found herself trapped in a loveless marriage, because Brewster had only married her to get at her money. The verbally- and physically-abusive Brewster made life miserable for Ann and her son.

But the extraterrestrial Mu (in the form of a pretty babysitter) would eventually appear and take the loathsome George out of Ann's life forever.

(Note: I'm assuming Ann owned the house, and that it originally belonged to Ann and her first husband.)

--Marvel Tales I#122/1

Johnny

A young boy (perhaps 5 years-old), he was the son of Ann and her first husband.

When Johnny's father died, his mother later married George Brewster. But Brewster was a verbally- and physically-abusive man, and he made life miserable for Johnny and his mother. 

The extraterrestrial Mu (in the form of a pretty babysitter) would eventually appear and take the loathsome Brewster out of the lives of Johnny and his mother forever.

(Note: Since Johnny was George Brewster's stepson, and George didn't seem likely to adopt him, then Johnny probably kept his actual father's surname (which was unrevealed).)

--Marvel Tales I#122/1

images: (without ads)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Mu (side view) in interplanetary space)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p1, pan2 (Headshot (...or in his case, Bodyshot) - Mu in interplanetary space, speaking to Vu (right))
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p2, pan8 (Mu (in the form of the babysitter), as George Brewster (left) ogles "her")
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p5, pan2 (Mu (in the form of the babysitter) teleports with George Brewster from Brewster's car)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p1, pan1 (in interplanetary space, Vu hears George Brewster's phone call and questions Mu)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p1, pan3 (angry George Brewster (left) slams phone down and yells at Ann Brewster and Johnny) 
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p3, pan1 (George Brewster flirts with babysitter (actually Mu))
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p5, pan1 (in his car, George Brewster starts to put the moves on the babysitter (actually Mu))
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p5, pan6 (in between Vu and Mu, George Brewster's dead body floats in interplanetary space)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p2, pan6 (Ann Brewster comforts tearful Johnny, as George Brewster yells a threat) 
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p5, pan5 (during their drive back home, tearful Ann Brewster confronts George Brewster (background) with the truth)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p3, pan5 (Johnny (sitting on couch) begins to tell babysitter (actually Mu) about his stepfather)
Marvel Tales I#122/1, p5, pan4 (Johnny wonders if his stepfather will ever be back; Ann Brewster (background))

Appearances:
Marvel Tales I#122/1 (April, 1954) - unidentified writer, Tony DiPreta (pencils), Stan Lee (editor) 

First Posted: 11/25/2019
Last updated: 11/25/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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