ROGER REYNOLDS

Real Name: Roger Reynolds

Identity/Class: Human technology user (1950s era)

Occupation: Car mechanic (see comments), car thief

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Police officers

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His garage, somewhere in an unidentified American city

First Appearance: Mystery Tales#52/4 (April, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: A known sports car enthusiast, Reynolds was also an inventive genius who built a camera-like device mounted on a tripod. The "camera" projected a beam of greenish light that shrank an object at which it was aimed; by adjusting the device's controls, Reynolds could restore the shrunken object back to its normal size.

Reynolds used his "camera" in a plot to steal cars, which he would later resell; but when the police got wise to his scheme, Reynolds used the "camera" on himself and shrank to the height of three inches so he could hide. But Reynolds was left trapped in a miniaturized state, for he was too small to reach the "camera" on its tripod, and thus was unable to adjust the device to restore himself to his normal size.

Height: 5' 10" (by approximation); 3" (after shrinking)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History:
(Mystery Tales#52/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Roger Reynolds is largely unrevealed, but at some point, he invented a "camera" which could shrink objects. Reynolds began to use the device to steal cars--he shrank the automobiles to the size of toys, then pocketed them and took them back to his garage, where he restored them to normal size and resold them.

   On at least one occasion, Reynolds was seen by an unsuspecting cop who thought that Reynolds was only photographing somebody's car--shortly afterward, that car was reported stolen.

(Mystery Tales#52/4) - One night, Reynolds spotted a sleek new Jaguar parked on a lonely, dark street, so he set up his "camera" and activated it. As the device emitted a greenish glow, the car he was "photographing" grew smaller and smaller until it was reduced to the size of a toy. Reynolds nonchalantly picked up the miniaturized Jaguar and put it in his pocket. With equal nonchalance, he placed the tripod and "camera" over his shoulder and walked down the street, back to his garage--on the way, he passed a police officer out on foot patrol (the same cop who had seen him previously), and Reynolds innocently wished him a good evening.

   When he got back to his garage (where he had other expensive stolen cars stored), Reynolds pulled the shrunken Jaguar out of his pocket and placed it on the floor. After aiming the "camera" at the car and making some adjustments, Reynolds activated the device and restored the Jaguar to its normal size--he figured he could easily get $4000 for it.

   Meanwhile, back on the street, there was a flurry of excitement when the owner of the Jaguar ran up to the cop and reported his car stolen. The cop remembered Reynolds photographing the Jaguar a little while earlier, then he remembered once before seeing Reynolds photographing another car which was also reported stolen, and he wondered where Reynolds got all his money, because he only owned a small garage. With his suspicions aroused, the cop called police headquarters and sent a patrol car over to Reynolds' garage to investigate.

   When the police got to Reynolds' garage, they found the windows painted over, but they thought they could see some cars inside. The police pounded on the door and ordered Reynolds to let them in--the once cocky car thief realized he was cornered, and he began to panic. But after regaining his composure, Reynolds thought and acted fast--first, he destroyed the evidence by reducing all the cars, so they'd be too small for the police to see...but he still wouldn't be able to explain his large bank account. Then Reynolds thought of the perfect solution--he turned the "camera" on himself, and shrank down to the height of three inches!

   The police broke down the door and entered the garage, but they found nothing but a "camera" on a tripod--they couldn't see the tiny Reynolds hiding behind some oil cans on the floor. Reynolds gleefully laughed to himself, because he was convinced that he had committed the perfect crime.

   But the shrunken Roger Reynolds' moment of celebration was short-lived, for he suddenly realized that he was now so small that he'd never be able to reach the "camera" on its tripod stand, so he couldn't adjust it to return to his normal size...

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Pete Morisi.

This 3-page story--The Too-Perfect Crime!-- ended with Reynolds' fate unresolved.

It was never revealed what Reynolds' occupation was, but it was mentioned that he owned a garage, so I'm just assuming it was his place of business.

Reynolds never called his device by any specific name, but it was referred to as a "camera" (with quotation marks) in three captions.

My guess is that Reynolds' "camera" projected a stream of what would later be dubbed the size-altering Pym Particles.

Reynolds wasn't too bright...he built something that could be worth millions of dollars, yet he wasted it for penny-ante car thefts.

This profile was completed 6/03/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Roger Reynolds has no known connections to:

Roger Reynolds' "camera"

Resembling a camera on a standard-height tripod stand, it was a device built by Roger Reynolds.

When activated, it emitted a greenish glow that reduced the size of an object at which it was aimed; the device could also be adjusted to restore that object to its normal size.

Reynolds utilized the "camera" in his scheme to steal cars; but when the police later had him cornered in his garage, Reynolds used the device on himself, and shrank down to a height of three inches.

The tiny Reynolds successfully hid from the police, but he overlooked one important fact: At his reduced size, he was now too small to reach the "camera" on the tripod, so he had no way to adjust its controls and return himself to his normal size.

--Mystery Tales#52/4

police officers

They were a trio of unidentified lawmen in an unidentified American city.

At some point in the past, the first cop saw Roger Reynolds photographing somebody's car with his "camera"--later, that car was reported stolen.

On another night, while he was walking his beat, that same cop noticed Reynolds photographing a Jaguar. Later, he passed by Reynolds when Reynolds was carrying his "camera" back to his garage, and they both wished each other a good evening.

But when the owner of the Jaguar came running up to him and reported his car as stolen, the cop was suspicious, because he had seen Reynolds photographing both missing cars, so he called police headquarters and requested a patrol car. When the two patrol car officers arrived, the cop advised them to investigate Reynolds' garage.

The two policemen headed to the garage, and when they arrived, they thought they saw some cars inside, so they pounded on the door and ordered Reynolds to let them in. When they got no response, the police broke the door down and went inside, but the garage seemed to be empty... with the exception of a "camera" on a tripod--the policemen were unaware that Roger Reynolds had used the "camera" to shrink the stolen cars and himself.

--Mystery Tales#52/4

images: (without ads)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan1 (Main Image - Roger Reynolds pockets miniaturized Jaguar; "camera" (background) )
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan3 (Headshot - Roger Reynolds, passing by cop (background) )
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan4 (Roger Reynolds puts shrunken Jaguar on the floor of his garage)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p3, pan5 (Roger Reynolds reduced in size)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p3, pan6 (tiny Roger Reynolds hides behind oil can on floor; police (background) )
Mystery Tales#52/4, p1, pan1 (Roger Reynolds aims "camera" at Jaguar)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p3, pan3 (Roger Reynolds uses "camera" to shrink other stolen cars)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p3, pan4 (Roger Reynolds uses "camera" on himself)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan2 (after shrinking Jaguar, Roger Reynolds wishes cop a good evening)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan6 (owner of Jaguar reports his car stolen to cop)
Mystery Tales#52/4, p2, pan7 (cop voices his suspicions about Roger Reynolds to fellow officers)

Appearances:
Mystery Tales#52/4 (April, 1957) - unidentified writer, Pete Morisi (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 09/30/2021
Last updated: 09/29/2021

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 http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters