The GREAT GAMBO

Real Name: Gambo (presumably, first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human mutant/mutate (see comments)

Occupation: Unemployed stage magician

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Mac Connors

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Great Gambo" (stage-name)

Base of Operations: His apartment in an unidentified American city

First Appearance: Spellbound I#31/2 (December, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Following an unspecified "accident," Gambo developed the power of telekinesis (see comments) -- the limits of this ability are unrevealed, but in one instance, he was able to levitate a loaded armored truck at least two floors above the street.

As an after-effect of the accident, Gambo would occasionally suffer from bouts of confusion and befuddlement, which temporarily left him in a bewildered condition where he was unable to think logically.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (180 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black, with greying temples

History:
(Spellbound I#31/2 (fb) - BTS) - In his younger days, Gambo worked as a stage magician, but his talents faded as he grew older, and he became unemployed. For years, he had attempted to levitate objects with his mind; however, despite all his practice, nothing ever happened. But at some point, he was in an accident, and when he recovered, he found he had the power of telekinesis (see comments).

(Spellbound I#31/2) - Gambo had no money left and was trying to find work, so he went to the office of theatrical booking agent Mac Connors. He displayed his power by levitating Connors' telephone from his desk, but then experienced a mild bout of bewilderment. Gambo begged Connors to find him a job, but the theatrical agent wanted further proof of Gambo's power, so Gambo complied by making Connors float out of his chair and gently lowered him down. Convinced of the authenticity of Gambo's power, Connors had Gambo sign a contract and promised to find something for him to do. But as Gambo left his office, Connors had more nefarious money-making plans for Gambo's amazing power rather than just performing on stage.

   A week later, Connors went to Gambo's shabby apartment and told him his plan -- Connors wanted Gambo to use his power to steal for him. However, Gambo was no thief, so he refused and told Connors he would go to another booking agent to find work; but then Connors pulled out the contract that Gambo had signed, which locked him into working exclusively for Connors. Connors then told Gambo that he'd get him plenty of theatrical bookings if he cooperated, otherwise Gambo would never work again.

   Some time later, the starving Gambo reached his limit and went back to Connors' second-floor office -- he was a broken man who was desperate for work, so he agreed to help Connors with the crime. Connors then pointed out his open office window to a bank across the street, where an armored truck was being loaded with a million dollars in cash. Connors ordered Gambo to use his power to float all the cash up to his office.

   But just before he began to levitate bags of cash out of the truck, Gambo experienced another bout of bewilderment and didn't think too logically -- the confused Gambo wanted so much to please Connors that he levitated the entire armored truck into Connors' office; with the resultant damage done to the building, Connors was knocked unconscious by a chunk of plaster that fell from the ceiling.

(Spellbound I#31/2 - BTS) - When his mind cleared, Gambo notified the police about Connors and told them the whole story; his subsequent whereabouts are unrevealed.

(Spellbound I#31/2) - Connors revived and saw a policeman standing over him. The cop chastised Connors for exploiting Gambo's talent, and presumably placed him under arrest.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Howard O'Donnell.

Much like Marvel Girl/Jean Grey in X-Men I#1, Gambo's power was also incorrectly referred to as "teleportation" (see third image) -- I chose to just call it telekinesis in the profile to avoid confusion.

The accident Gambo suffered which gave him his power was never elaborated upon. My guess is that he was a latent mutant whose power never manifested, but he suffered from some sort of concussion, and the injury "awakened" the part of his brain where his power originated (...much like the character Johnny Smith in Stephen King's The Dead Zone) -- I like that explanation better than attributing it to yet another of those million-to-one atomic radiation accidents.

This 4-page story--Oh, Perfect Crime!--was featured on the cover of this issue, which depicted the entire bank building being levitated; however, Gambo never displayed such a high degree of power.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Great Gambo has no known connections to:

• Gambit (Remy LeBeau) - mutant--Uncanny X-Men Annual I#14
• Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble - former member of Time Variance Authority--Power Man and Iron Fist I#79
• Great Gambonnos - acrobatic twins, Circus of Crime members--Amazing Spider-Man I#22
• Oliver Gombol - heartless businessman who was visited by Santa Claus--Strange Tales of the Unusual#2/3
• any other characters with similar names, or any other "great" characters

Mac Connors has no known connections to:

• Ambrose Connors - Special Project Director at Cross Technological Enterprises--Black Goliath#2
• Cam Connors - old friend of Carl Lucas/Luke Cage--Power Man and Iron Fist I#68
• Curt Connors - aka the Lizard--Amazing Spider-Man I#6
• any other characters with similar names, or any other theatrical agents

	Mac Connors A theatrical booking agent, he was in his second-floor office when the Great Gambo demonstrated his power of telekinesis by levitating Connors' telephone. But Connors wasn't fully convinced until Gambo made him float out of his chair. He then had Gambo sign an exclusive contract that locked him into working only for Connors. Connors came up with a plan for Gambo to use his power to steal for him -- Gambo initially refused, but Connors reminded him of the contract he had signed and promised that he'd never work again unless he cooperated. The unemployed and desperate Gambo eventually relented and agreed to help Connors with a crime. Connors pointed to an armored truck loading money from a bank across the street from his office, and told Gambo to levitate all the bags of cash to his office.
	The robbery began when Gambo levitated the sacks of money individually out of the armored truck and into Connors' office. But then Gambo's mind experienced a bout of bewilderment -- the confused Gambo was so eager to please Connors that he levitated the entire armored truck into his office; as a result of the damage done to the building, Connors was struck on the head by a chunk of plaster that fell from the ceiling, and he blacked out. Gambo then notified the police. When he later revived, Connors found a police officer standing over him. The cop explained to Connors what happened, and chastised him for exploiting Gambo's talent, then presumably placed him under arrest. --Spellbound I#31/2

armored truck Parked in front of a bank building, it was loaded with a million dollars in cash. Unbeknownst to the guards, Mac Connors had ordered the Great Gambo to use his telekinesis to levitate the bags of cash into his second-floor office across the street. But seconds later, Gambo experienced a bout of confusion and levitated the entire armored truck into Connors' office. --Spellbound I#31/2

images: (without ads)
Spellbound I#31/2, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Great Gambo levitating telephone; Mac Connors (background))
Spellbound I#31/2, p3, pan5 (Headshot - Great Gambo experiences bout of confusion before armored truck robbery)
Spellbound I#31/2, p1, pan2 (Great Gambo explains his power and mental condition)
Spellbound I#31/2, p2, pan4 (Great Gambo leaves Connors' office)
Spellbound I#31/2, p2, pan1 (Mac Connors being levitated by Great Gambo)
Spellbound I#31/2, p2, pan7 (Mac Connors reminds Gambo about the contract he signed)
Spellbound I#31/2, p4, pan3 (Mac Connors, hit by chunk of plaster falling from ceiling)
Spellbound I#31/2, p3, pan6 (guard by armored truck; Mac Connors and Great Gambo in office window (background))
Spellbound I#31/2, p3, pan7 (bags of money being levitated out of armored truck by Great Gambo)
Spellbound I#31/2, p4, pan7 (armored truck in Connors' office; Mac Connors, policeman (foreground))

Appearances:
Spellbound I#31/2 (December, 1956) - unidentified writer, Howard O'Donnell (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 03/14/2023
Last updated: 03/14/2023