BIG JOE

Real Name: Unrevealed (first name presumably Joe)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Criminal

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Several local criminals;
    formerly the Infant Terrible (whom Big Joe manipulated)

Enemies: The Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Storm, Thing/Ben Grimm), the Infant Terrible

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#24 (March, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: Big Joe is a skilled criminal organizer and manipulator, and is dangerous enough that his henchmen blindly follow his orders.

He often carries a handgun.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown

History: (Fantastic Four I#24) - Hearing on the news of the heroic Mr. Fantastic's theory that a recently attacking alien displayed infantile behavioral patterns, criminal leader Big Joe came up with an idea to manipulate the alien and called a meeting of other local criminals to discuss his idea. Big Joe subsequently ordered the criminals to locate the so-called alien Infant Terrible and entice him with candy. A group of thugs soon began searching for the Infant Terrible and when one expressed impatience, another insisted that Big Joe knew what he was doing. When the Infant Terrible appeared in a crowd, the thugs did as Big Joe ordered and presented the alien with candy. The alien willingly got into the car with the thugs and ate ice cream as the thugs commented on how pleased Big Joe would be. Once the Infant Terrible was brought to Big Joe, Big Joe tricked the alien into doing his bidding by drawing him simple pictures of what he wanted the alien to do. Big Joe then accompanied his henchmen as the Infant Terrible was tasked with stealing an armored car full of money. When one of his henchmen was surprised that the Infant Terrible had succeeded in stealing the armored car, Big Joe commented that the Infant had naturally done what he told him to. Big Joe then bragged about how he had tricked the Infant Terrible with simple pictures before ordering his men to pick up the money from the armored car, warning them against missing any of it.

When the Infant Terrible played a joke, transforming the armored car's money into various things such as a pig and mud, Big Joe drew a gun but warned his men to back away, reminding them that the alien had the mind of a child. Realizing the Infant Terrible thought he was being funny, Big Joe showed the alien a glittery diamond ring and asked the alien to make the gem bigger. The alien did as instructed and Big Joe gloated that a diamond that size would make a millionaire, announcing that they now needed to get rid of the alien before someone else took advantage of the creature. Before Big Joe could relay any new orders, however, the Infant Terrible transformed the giant diamond into an egg that hatched a large bird. Angry that he had now lost his diamond, Big Joe ordered his men to draw their guns and threatened to kill the Infant Terrible if he didn't transform the egg back into a diamond. Three of the Fantastic Four then appeared, having followed the levitating armored car there, and they attacked, prompting Big Joe to order his men to get the heroes. As his men battled the Thing and the Human Torch, Big Joe jumped in his car and attempted a hasty retreat towards New Jersey but the Invisible Girl spotted him and stopped his car with an invisible force field. The Thing then bound Big Joe up in the tires of his own car and Big Joe attempted to bribe the Thing with $1,000 if the hero would let him go. The Thing exclaimed that he ought to clobber Big Joe for insulting his integrity, commenting that he couldn't be tempted by money before jokingly suggesting Big Joe up the ante a little more. A frantic Big Joe then offered five then ten thousand, soon asking for a response from the Thing. The Thing then laughingly declined as the Human Torch sealed the tires together, pinning Big Joe against a cliffside to await the police. Invisible Girl then informed the Thing and the Human Torch that Big Joe didn't know how lucky he was, remarking that there was no telling what the Infant Terrible would do if Big Joe had tried to harm the alien. The heroes then began a search for the alien, soon finding the scared infant, whom the Torch figured Big Joe and his men had terrified into hating humanity.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and George Roussos.

The modern OHotMU profile of the Delinquent (formerly the Infant Terrible) mentions that Big Joe deduced the Infant Terrible's age on his own, apart from Reed Richards' deduction, but Fantastic Four I#24 clearly shows Big Joe getting the idea to lure the childlike alien with candy while watching a news report that was talking about the theory that the alien was a child. So Big Joe didn't deduce the Infant Terrible's age on his own, he was inspired to take advantage of the alien's age after seeing the news report.

This Big Joe shares many similarities between the Big Joe who later encountered Daredevil. Both were created by Stan Lee, both have brown hair, both were criminals and both had a penchant for nice hats. The Big Joe who battled Daredevil was employed by the Masked Marauder but I could see this Big Joe, having been embarrassed by his loss to the Fantastic Four, falling a bit lower in the criminal chain of command and having to take a job from the Masked Marauder to remain in the game. These things led me to think that perhaps they are the same character. However, one difference between the two is that the one who fought Daredevil did not have a thin mustache like this Big Joe. In additional, the Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four I#2 mentions that this profile's Big Joe had no further appearances to date, suggesting that the one in Daredevil was a different character. Therefore, I am treating them as if they are two different characters but if anything more concrete ever comes up to tie the two into one, I'll update both profiles to reflect this. Until then, they are considered two different Big Joes.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Big Joe should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#24, p13, pan1 (Big Joe, main image)
Fantastic Four I#24, p9, pan7 (Big Joe, headshot while on the phone)
Fantastic Four I#24, p13, pan6 (Big Joe with ring)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#24 (March, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), George Roussos (inks)

First posted: 07/18/2022
Last updated: 07/18/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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