EXPLORERS'
CLUB
 |
Membership: Ben Benson, Sam
Binder (aka the Great "Spell" Binder), Ulysses
Bloodstone, Felix
Bradin, Burton,
Jackson
Cole, Craine,
Clyde
Higgens, Harry
Spahn (honorary member), Alex
Steel, unidentified president,
unidentified
member;
possibly Dunstan
Blake (expelled), Anthony
Ludgate Druid, Ken
Hale, Makkari, Zawadi;
Harvey Elder (later the Mole Man) apparently
applied for membership, but was rejected on multiple occasions
Employees:
Stanley
Hathaway;
possibly Jacob
Hathaway
unrevealed association: Morgan (see
comments)
Purpose: The Explorers' Club was a social
organization for men who had traveled the world and hunted
and/or adventured extensively
Aliases: Eastern Explorers' Club, Manhattan
Explorers Club, Explorers Club, Explorer's Club (see
comments)
Affiliations: Bwana Brown, Zad Compton, David Hartnell, Monster Hunters (Ulysses
Bloodstone, Anthony Druid, Makkari,
Zawadi), Charles Xavier
Enemies: Harvey Elder;
possibly Dunstan
Blake
Base of Operations: Explorers' Club,
Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Journey
into Unknown Worlds#20/1 (July, 1953)
|
History:
(Strange Tales I#47 (fb) - BTS)
<Circa 1946> - 10 years before the main story, this man (main
image, balding white hair, in profile) became the president of the
Explorers' Club.
(Journey into Mystery I#47/1 (fb) -
BTS) - Craine joined the Explorers' Club, where
-- over a period of years -- he developed an intense rivalry with fellow
member Burton, whose own experiences mirrored Craine's.
(Strange Tales I#31/5 (fb) - BTS) -
Most meetings of the Explorers' Club meant a quiet, relaxing
evening.
 |
(Journey into Unknown
Worlds#20/1 (fb) - BTS) <1953> - The Manhattan Explorers' Club invited
adventurer and lecturer Bwana Brown to speak at one of their
meetings; Brown brought along a treasure chest filled with
diamonds and gold.
(Journey into Unknown Worlds#20/1) - During his
lecture, Bwana Brown roused many of the explorers listening into
a frenzy with tales of how the Kato-Kato
tribe would grant limitless gold and
diamonds if one could pass the tribe's test for immortality.
Many members felt they could easily dupe what they presumed to
be primitive tribesmen with their modern technology.
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(Journey into Unknown
Worlds#20/1) - Refusing to betray his vow
not to reveal the tribe's location, Bwana departed, but he
invited the club members to help themselves to the gold and
diamonds--like a pack of wild animals attracted to the scent of
blood, the explorers trampled, argued, and fought with each
other to get their hands on the treasure.
(Journey into Unknown
Worlds#20/1 - BTS) - Seeking to learn the Kato-Kato tribe's
location, club member Alex Steel followed Brown back to his
apartment and seemingly slew him, then he stole a pouch containing
a map with the tribe's location. Steel ultimately located the
tribe but failed their test of immortality when their test
decapitated him. Bwana then noted how he himself was truly
immortal. |
(Men's Adventures#26/4) <1954> - Seeking information
on the legendary Gorilla Men who filled his dreams, Ken Hale
sought out his old friend Benson at the Explorers' Club. Benson
shared that he knew there were stories of half-man/half-gorilla
creatures, and that their leader fought for his kingship to the
death; Benson told Hale he could learn more from natives of Kenya,
who spoke of the creatures. Hale immediately departed to make
plans to go to Africa.
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(Strange
Tales I#31/5 (fb) - BTS) <1954> - Jackson Cole, the only member of the club
who had never distinguished himself by any spectacular feats, announced
to the Explorers' Club that he planned to climb Mount Ka, the
second highest peak in the world.
(Strange Tales I#31/5) - The
other members exploded in protest, warning
Cole that it was suicide, and that no man had ever done it,
specifically noting that the ascent was an impossible sheer
drop, and that the whole peak was covered in ice and hidden fog.
But Cole insisted that he
would be the first man to climb Mount Ka, or he would die in the
attempt; he continued that there was nothing they could say to
stop him, and that he was leaving for Kashmir in the morning: "If Everest can be conquered, then
so can Mount Ka...and I'm going to plant our flag at the top!"
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(Strange Tales I#47/6 (fb) -
BTS) <1956> - Zad Compton, president of the planet Pluto's Explorers
Club, sought to become a member of Earth's Explorers' Club as
well, hoping to experience Earth's locations and fauna.
(Strange Tales I#47/6 (fb) -
BTS) - Flying to Earth in his car, Compton traveled to the local
Explorers' Club and sought membership.
(Strange Tales I#47/6) -
Compton met with the local Explorers' Club, but consistently
seemed inexperienced with the Club's typical adventures. The Club
president considered him unworthy of membership, until Compton
finally piloted his car into his space and revealed that he was
from Pluto.
|
(Astonishing#53/4) <1956> - In the African bush country,
Clyde Higgens encountered a supposedly-extinct mammoth
(which ultimately proved to be a specimen from an interplanetary circus
that took it away), and Higgens was left with a chunk of the creature's
tusk. But Sewall
advised him that the Explorers' Club would probably list it as just a
prehistoric fossil (see comments);
Higgens agreed and thought it would be best not to try to convince anyone
otherwise, because no one would ever believe him...
(Marvel Universe#4 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age Marvel 2004) <1956> - In his guise as the National
Security Agency's Jake Curtiss (aka Michael "Mac" Curry), the
Eternal Makkari summoned the supernatural investigators Ulysses
Bloodstone, Dr. Anthony Ludgate Druid, and Zawadi of Wakanda to a
meeting at the Explorers' Club to discuss a number of recent
encounters with monstrous creatures.
(Marvel Universe#4 (fb) - BTS) - Harvey
Elder's tales of a land at the center of the Earth were
disbelieved by the Club employee Hathaway, who considered Elder a
madman and a nuisance.
(Marvel Universe#4) - As Druid arrived at the
Club, Stanley Hathaway denied Harvey Elder entrance, telling him
that his travels qualified him only for the "loony bin" and
questioned whether he was using a fake name. Elder warned that
when he was a member of the Club, he would have Hathaway's job,
but -- as he physically threw Elder out the door -- Hathaway
assured him that if Elder even became a member, he would resign.
Druid wondered if Hathaway hadn't been too hard on
the fellow, but Hathaway countered that Elder was a nuisance and a
fool. Hathaway then escorted Druid to the meeting room where
Bloodstone, "Curtiss," and Zawadi awaited, after which Hathaway
closed the door as he departed. |
 
Under the direction of "Curtiss," each of those
present shared their encounters with monsters, until Zawadi sensed
Elder spying on them from under a grate and exposed his presence.
Druid hypnotized Elder into forgetting he had witnessed anything
or anyone important, and Elder departed. "Curtiss" then explained
that his investigations had led him to believe there to be a
common source behind these monsters (though he did not reveal it
at the time, Makkari suspected this to be the Deviant Kro). The
group agreed to unite to investigate the cause. |
(Marvel Universe#5) - Still within the Explorers'
Club, Druid was pained as he sensed the arrival of Gorgilla
(under Kro's control, unknown to the others), and "Curtiss" recalled a
call confirming Gorgilla to have arrived in the harbor. After Bloodstone
supplied the others with a number of weapons, Druid sensed that Gorgilla
was heading to the Bronx, and the Monster Hunters departed to confront
Gorgilla after he appeared in Yankee Stadium.
(Marvel Universe#7 - BTS) - After thwarting Kro's
plots, Zawadi and the others were levitated by Makkari, presumably
to the Explorers' Club.
(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses
Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Explorers' Club served as the public front for the Monster Hunters, and
Stanley Hathaway maintained the records of their adventures.
|
 (Journey into Mystery I#47/1) <1957> - One night
at the Explorers' Club, Craine sat by himself in silent rage
while he listened to Burton boasting of his exploits to the
other club members--Burton was getting all the attention that
Craine thought
he rightfully deserved. Half mad with envy, Craine's
hatred for Burton churned within him, and as he left the Club
to go home, he decided to kill Burton.
Journey into Mystery
I#47/1 - BTS) - While Burton meditated at midnight,
Craine sent his astral self to try to kill Burton via
gas fumes by snuffing out his fireplace. However, Burton
resisted Craine, and Craine's body instead perished from
the stress of the effort.
|
| (Strange Tales I#66/4 (fb)) <1958> - At the Explorers'
Club, Felix Bradin made a presentation to his fellow members.
Bradin planned to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a midget
submarine; but the other explorers scoffed at his idea and told
him that the six month underwater voyage was impossible. Completely dejected, Bradin left the club, but honorary
member Harry Spahn came running out after him. Spahn offered to
finance the mission, under the condition that he could accompany
Bradin; since it meant the fulfillment of his plans, Bradin agreed
to the terms.
Eventually, Bradin came
to resent Spahn's overbearing attitude, and after the Wanderer mini-sub was
completed, he punched out Spahn and took out the Wanderer
without him.
However, without Spahn's
directness, Bradin explored an underground tunnel and wound up
trapped in a Marineland
exhibit.
|
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(Journey into Mystery I#54/1 (fb)) <1959> - After his
trained gorilla Moko
was injured and no longer useful for his act, mentalist Sam
Binder went to the Explorers' Club to get a line on some
possibilities where he could get another gorilla to replace
Moko; while he was there, he overheard another member talking
about an isolated isle off the African coast, where legends
claimed the world's largest gorilla could be found--Binder's
interest was piqued, for he would be an international success
with such an ape in his act!
(Journey into Mystery I#54/1 - BTS) - Binder went
to the isle and discovered Monstro,
but his hypnotism ultimately failed on the giant albino gorilla
due to the creature's blindness, and Monstro was returned to
Africa. Binder subsequently became the star of the new Jungle
Tales TV series.
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(Journey into Mystery I#54/2 (fb) - BTS) - At
some point, Dunstan Blake joined the "Soldiers and Explorers" Club
(see comments), where he
played poker with some of the club members--on at least two
occasions, he was caught cheating.
(Journey into Mystery I#54/2 (fb)) <1959> - While playing
poker at the Club, Blake was caught cheating for the third time
in the year--as a result of his disgraceful behavior, Blake's
membership was revoked and he was told to permanently leave the
organization.
(Journey into Mystery I#54/2 (fb) - BTS) - Blake
sought out a mysterious Tibetan
idol containing the largest diamond
ever seen on Earth, which led to him falling for a trap where
extraterrestrials from Superius
Rex sought a human lacking in morals to risk the journey
to their world.
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(Marvel
Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster
Hunters#1 (fb) - BTS) <Presumably 1960 or shortly thereafter> - Architecture student David Hartnell shared
information of Gorgolla with the Explorers' Club.
(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses
Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 (fb) - BTS) - When Stanley died in 1980, his job
was proudly inherited by his son Jacob Steven "Hath" Hathaway.
(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster
Hunters#1 (fb) - BTS) - Charles Xavier visited the Explorers' Club more
than once, considering his visits to be entertaining as well as
informative.
Comments: Created by unrevealed writer and Gene
Colan
Explorers Club? Explorers' Club? Explorer's Club? Manhattan Explorers
Club? Eastern Explorers' Club?
- Journey into Unknown Worlds#20/1 "Bwana Brown" - The name of the organization was specifically mentioned in a
caption as the "Manhattan
Explorers Club" (no apostrophe).
- Men's Adventures#26/4 "Gorilla Man" - The
name of the organization was specifically mentioned in a caption as
the "Explorers' Club" (plural
possessive/apostrophe; no location qualifier).
- Strange Tales I#31/5 "The First Man" - The
name of the organization was identified in a
caption as the "Eastern Explorers' Club" (plural
possessive/apostrophe; with location qualifier).
- Strange Tales I#47/6 "The New Member" - The
name of the organization was mentioned in a caption and dialogue as
the "Explorers' Club" (plural
possessive/apostrophe; no location qualifier).
Zad Compton's Pluto's Explorers Club had no
apostrophe.
- Astonishing#53/4 "The Hunter's Prey" does not picture
the group, but Sewall names them as the "Explorers Club" (no
apostrophe or location qualifier).
- Journey into Mystery I#47/1 "Bring Back My Body" shows
the group and has a sign on the building "EXPLORERS' CLUB" (plural
possessive/apostrophe; no location qualifier).
- Strange Tales I#66/4 "It Waits Under the Sea" - The
name of the organization was mentioned in a caption as the "Explorers' Club" (plural possessive/apostrophe; no location
qualifier).
- Journey into Mystery I#54/1 "I Unleashed Monstro on
the World" - The name of the organization was
mentioned in a caption as the "Explorers' Club"
(plural possessive/apostrophe; no location qualifier)
- Journey into Mystery I#54/2 "I Dared to Defy the Idol's
Curse" - The name of the organization is given in as the "Soldiers and
Explorers" Club (no apostrophe; quotation marks around the words
"Soldiers and Explorers" but not around the word "Club"; no location
qualifier). It is possible that this is not the same organization.
- Marvel Universe#4 "Monsters on the Loose" - The name
of the organization is mentioned in dialogue as the "Explorers' Club"
(plural possessive/apostrophe; no location
qualifier). It is also shown in a sign, but it is very distant, and I
don't see an apostrophe. It is confirmed to be in New York City.
- Marvel Universe#5 "Creature on the Prowl!" - The name
of the organization is shown in a sign as the "Explorers Club" (no
apostrophe; no location qualifier).
- Marvel Universe#6 "Return to Midnight Mountain!" -
Harvey Elder calls it the "Explorers' Club" (plural possessive/apostrophe; no location qualifier).
- Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone
and the Monster Hunters#1 has Elsa Bloodstone type it out as
"Explorer's Club" (singular possessive; no location qualifier).
Probably a typo...kids, today...
- Explorers' Club (plural possessive) seems to be the
most prevalent and logical name...
Regarding Higgens and Sewall's
lamenting that the tusk would be mistaken for a fossil: Fossils are
petrified (stone) remains, and examination could readily determine the
difference between a fresh piece of a tusk and a fossil...
I am not 100% certain that Felix Braden
was a member of the Explorers' Club, rather than just a person
soliciting funding, but the fact that he recognized Harry Spahn as an
honorary member makes me think he is pretty familiar with the group.
Bwana Brown was an invited speaker at
the Explorers' Club, and the story seems to support that he was a
guest-speaker.
Ken Hale met with his friend Benson at
the Explorers' Club. It seems to be implied that Benson is a member, but
there isn't anything to support Hale being a member; that being said, it
would fit with his history if he were a former/inactive member at the
time of that story.
What about the Monster Hunters?
Were they all members? Hathaway and Druid were certainly familiar with each other, so I'd think
that Druid, at least, was a member. The other members weren't directly
familiar with each other prior to that story, so I think they were not
members. However, I think it's likely that the others became members
since they used the building as their base of operations. Ulysses
Bloodstone was listed as a member of the Explorers' Club in his entry in
the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#2, and , as I reviewed the issues, it
became increasingly apparent that the room in which the Monster Hunters
first gathered was Ulysses Bloodstone's room.
Druid's and Makkari's OHotMU entries lists them as a
member of the Monster Hunters but not of the Explorers' Club.
The general rule is that we consider Golden Age and Atlas era stories
to occur at the time they were published, so that is the reason that
(and the basis for why) dates are listed in the histories above.
Thanks to John Holstein for compiling a
list of appearances and for Ron Fredricks for researching and profiling
most of the characters.
John
Holstein notes:
Gorilla
Man - Men's Adventures#26/4 (Mar/54)- there is a guy
with a tray seen from behind who could be identified as Hathaway.
Bring
Back My Body! - Journey Into Mystery#47/1 (Jun/57) - first page has characters in shadow who could be identified as Dr.
Druid & Ulysses Bloodstone (I don't see characters that look like
Druid or Bloodstone--Snood)
I
don't have access to Adventure Into Mystery or Mystical Tales or World
of Suspense or World of Fantasy or World of Mystery or Strange Stories
of Suspense, so I don't know if that is all the Explorers' Club
appearances.
Until
I saw these 2 stories I had thought they could be Explorers' Club
stories, but they aren't:
Mystic#12/4 (Sep/52) "The Man In The Tomb" - a mobster wants to join a
lodge
Adventures Into Terror#25/2 (Nov/53) "The Terrible Trophy" --a blowhard
who collects animal heads bores his friends at the club
Ron
Fredricks notes:
- Strange
Tales I#66 - Felix Bradin stated on p2 pan1 that Harry Spahn was an
honorary member, but I guess Spahn would still be considered an actual
member of the Club. Also, in that same panel, Spahn mentioned "Morgan"
-- "Morgan" was never identified in the story, so it was never clear
if he was an actual member, or just a Club employee
- Journey
into Mystery I#54 - Dunstan Blake - I kept it simple and just wrote
his profile with his "Soldiers and Explorers" Club as the same
organization, and just assumed that he--being a soldier of
fortune--just absent-mindedly added the "Soldiers and" part himself.
This profile was completed 04/17/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Explorers' Club has no known connections to:
- the explorer
from the Baloneyverse who inhabited Wildmoon--Sensational She-Hulk#13
- EXPLORER
(Zamanathan Rambunazeth) - Elder of the Universe, sought to possess
the newborn Origin. Blue skinned male humanoid, desires to investigate
the unknown, loses interest if anybody has knowledge or experience
with the subject--Quasar I#47
- The Explorers Club from a Distant Cosmos - in which Green Lantern/Alan Scott if president--Green Lantern#13 (Fall/1944)
- other Explorers or
Clubs
images: (without ads)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#20/1, pg.
1, panel 2 (Club members at Bwana Brown's lecture)
Journey into Unknown World#20/1, pg. 2, panel 4 (Club members
demanding information from Brown)
Journey into Unknown Worlds#20/1, pg.2, panel 7 (Club members fighting
over gold and jewels)
Men's Adventures#26/4, pg. 2, panel 9 (Benson
with Ken Hale)
Strange Tales I#31/5, pg. 1, panel 1 (Jackson Cole
at podium; picture of Mount Ka)
Strange Tales I#31/5, pg. 1, panel 2 (Explorers' Club
members)
Strange Tales I#47/6, pg. 3, panel
6 (Explorers' Club president and Zad Compton in Compton's car, flying
into space)
Journey into Mystery I#47/1, pg. 1, panel 1 (Craine
listening to Burton regale others)
Strange Tales I#66/4, p1, panel 3 (Felix Bradin,
presenting his plans at Explorers' Club)
Journey into Mystery I#54/1, pg. 1, panel 3
(Binder listening to unidentified member)
Journey into Mystery I#54/2, pg. 1, panel 1 (after
cheating at poker game, Blake gets expelled)
Marvel Universe#4, pg. 8, panel 1 (exterior)
Marvel Universe#4, pg. 8, panel 2 (entry)
Marvel Universe#4, pg.8, panel 7 (hallway)
Marvel Universe#4, pg. 9, panel 1 (room)
Marvel Universe#4, pg. 13, panel 1 (room from above)
Appearances:
Journey into Unknown Worlds#20/1 (July, 1953)
"Bwana Brown" - unidentified writer, Gene Colan (pencils and inks), Stan
Lee (editor)
Men's Adventures#26/4 (March, 1954) "Gorilla Man" - Robert
Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Strange Tales I#31/5 "The First Man" (August, 1954) - Paul
S. Newman (script), Bill Savage (artist)
Strange Tales I#47/6 "The New
Member" (June, 1956) - Vic
Carrabotta (artist, at least)
Astonishing#53/4 (September, 1956)
"The Hunter's Prey" - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (pencils and
inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#47/1 (June, 1957)
"Bring Back My Body"- unidentified writer, George Woodbridge (pencils
and inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Strange Tales I#66/4 (December, 1958) "It Waits Under the
Sea" - unidentified writer, Al Eadeh (pencils and inks), Joe Rosen
(letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#54/1 (September, 1959) "I Unleashed Monstro on the World" -
unidentified writer, Steve Ditko (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg
(colors), Artie Simek (letters) Stan Lee (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#54/2 (September, 1959) "I
Dared to Defy the Idol's Curse"- Stan Lee (plot/editor) Larry
Lieber (script), Joe Sinnott (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg (colors)
Artie Simek (letters)
Journey into Mystery I#55/2 (November, 1959) "I Was a
Prisoner of the...Ape Creatures!" - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber
(script), Joe Sinnott (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Ray
Halloway (letters)
Marvel Universe#4-7 (September-December, 1998) - Roger
Stern (writer), Bret Blevins (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Tom Brevoort
(editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation#2 (January, 2001) - Roger Stern (writer),
John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster
Hunters#1 (January, 2006) - Michael Hoskin, Madison Carter, Jeff
Christiansen, Sean McQuaid, Stuart Vandal, Eric Moreels, Ronald Byrd,
Barry Reese (writers), Jennifer Grunwald & Michael Short (assistant
editors), Jeff Younquist (editor)
First posted: 09/02/2021
Last updated: 08/29/2021
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
www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
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