SPACE QUEEN
(Reality-53972)

Membership: Captain Jon Wilsnn, Derk Collin, Mara Wilsnn, Crewman Thomm, unidentified officers, unidentified crewman

Purpose: Space exploration

Aliases: None

Affiliations: Earth

Enemies: Osirusians

Base of Operations: Earth, mobile throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, Reality-53972

First Appearance: Menace#7/2 (September, 1953)

History:
(Menace#7/2 - BTS) - The Space Queen, with a crew of 75, were on a successful return voyage to Earth after having completed its mission of exploration.

(Menace#7/2) - The Earth rocket the Space Queen crash landed on the surface of Osirus due to negligence caused by a soon to be court martialled first mate Derk Collin, who, being drunk while piloting the rocket ship, did not care if the Space Queen crashed and killed all aboard as he was facing life in prison and possible torture for his alcoholic stupors while on duty and his recent inappropriate behavior towards the captain's daughter Mara who had recently spurned his sexual advances. Due to the Space Queen's Captain Jon Wilsnn and his capable crew, the spacecraft only made a hard landing on the planet Osirus but required extensive repairs.

(Menace#7/2) - While attempting to repair the ship, a group of Osirusians approached and using telepathy ordered them to put their ray guns down as they would be unable to harm them. A panicked crewman shot the lead Osirusian and in anger the Osirusian proceeded to entwine its wormlike body around the frightened man and constrict him, crushing his body and leaving him dead on the ground. The Osirusian in charge then tried to coerce Captain Jon Wilsnn into revealing the secret of atomic energy so they could use it to develop their own rockets and conquer the universe in exchange for helping them repair their ship and allow them to safely return to Earth. The Osirusian's offer was defiantly rejected by Captain Wilsnn but first mate Derk Collin stepped forward believing he had nothing to lose since he would be facing prison time on Earth, offered the Osirusian the formulae for atomic energy. He also requested that he be able to pilot the Space Queen's life raft to Jupiter along with the captain's daughter who he said was the most beautiful thing in the galaxy and that he wanted her. Agreeing with the request the Osirusians repaired the Space Queen, and it blasted off into space heading back to Earth. Left to his own devices on Osirus, Derk Collin as promised boarded the Space Queen's life raft but much to his horror discovered that the captain's daughter Mara was not there as he wanted but in her place was the Osirusian's captain's daughter. The horrified Derk Collin was informed that when he requested the captain's daughter due to her being the most beautiful thing in the galaxy, he meant it had to be her. The captain's daughter then said to Derk "not to shudder as they will be happy together."

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Russ Heath.

The Space Queen and its crew kind of had a Star Trek vibe as well as the story itself and could easily fit as an episode of the classic Trek series if the Space Queen and crew's names were changed to that of the Enterprise and crew. The crew wore different uniforms that possessed a different crest on their chests that distinguished their departments on the Space Queen and had modern rank insignia on their collars. Command rank crew members wore long sleeves with a sash draped across the right shoulder to the waist. One crewman of the Space Queen wore one bar, and another was seen with two bars on their collar and helmets. The modern-day equivalent for them would be an ensign or Lieutenant junior grade (1 bar) and a lieutenant (2 bars). Captain Jon Wilsnn may have been more than just a captain, he wore two stars, insignia suggesting he was also a rear admiral. But Derk Collin also wore one star and could not have been a rear admiral according to naval and military insignia. It is likely these were done in error by the artist as the most likely ranks for them would have been Captain or Commander and a Lieutenant commander. The closest match are insignia of a silver leaf for an air force major and a gold leaf for a lieutenant Colonel or Naval ranks of Lieutenant Commander and Commander.

    I do not know which crewman died when the Osirusian killed him after he fired his ray gun at it out of fear, but it is possible he was crewman Thomm or at least someone from his department and rank on the ship. The ship had a crew compliment of 75 and a handful of members of the Space Queen's crew were seen but never named. One was an older looking man with greying hair on the sides and wore what appeared to be a command rank uniform. It was likely he was the ship's doctor or science officer. The Space Queen did not appear large enough to carry 75 passengers and looked only capable of maybe a dozen at most. The spelling of their names were odd variations of normal ones, and they may not actually be from Earth. Maybe they were pink skinned Kree rather than humans from Earth and could be easily retconned and the story slightly altered to make it so.

    It is unrevealed whether this story takes place in a distant future or whether it was a present where humanity had interstellar starships circa 1953 A.D., but either way, it's an alternate reality: Earth-53972.
    --Snood

Profile by AvatarWarlord.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Space Queen have no known connections to:

Captain Jon Wilsnn

He was captain of the Space Queen and was well liked by his crew and respected for his bravery and leadership skills. His daughter either served aboard the Space Queen in some capacity or she was simply a passenger. The captain was aware his first mate Derk Collin had damaged the ship's rudder control while on duty, dismissed Derk from the bridge due to him being highly intoxicated and vowed to break him by preventing him from ever getting a job on a rocket ship in the galaxy again and make his name the most despised in the fleet. He led his crew in making repairs to the Space Queen's damaged rudder and they made a hard landing on the planet Osirus known for its reputation of having a murderous alien race from others that landed there in the past. After watching an Osirusian group approach them while working on repairing the Space Queen and killing one of his crew that shot at the Osirusian in fear, he was given a choice to provide the aliens the secrets of atomic energy for them to achieve space travel so they could conquer the universe in exchange for aiding in repairing the Space Queen or face death. Captain Jon Wilsnn chose not to, but Derk Collin came forward and offered them the atomic formulae. When the ship was repaired, he and the rest of his crew blasted off and he planned to inform Earth about Derk Collin's betrayal and the Osirusian's plans of conquest.

--Menace#7/2

Mara Wilsnn

She was the daughter of Jon Wilsnn, the captain of the Space Queen. During her flight back to Earth, Derk Collin, being drunk and attracted to her, made his intention known but she spurned his sexual advances and slapped his face in disgust. The next day, as the Space Queen faced imminent destruction by crashing into the planet Osirus (due to Derk Collin's negligence), she again was approached by Derk while she was rolling and preparing bandages. Derk attempted to force himself on her but was interrupted when the intercom blared that the ship's rudder was repaired allowing the Space Queen to safely make a hard landing. She was part of the landing party on the planet Osirus alongside her father and a couple others. After Derk provided the Osirusian's the formulae allowing for atomic spaceflight in exchange for helping in repairs, Mara and rest of the crew returned to the Space Queen and blasted off on their return trip to Earth.

--Menace#7/2

Derk Collin

Derk Collin was the first mate and second in command of the Earth exploration ship the Space Queen. He was a drunk. He was attracted to the ship's captain's daughter Mara who spurned his sexual advances and slapped his face in disgust. Facing a possible court martial and the likelihood of prison or torture back on Earth, he piloted the Space Queen while drunk, causing its rudder to malfunction, having no remorse, he hoped it would crash. The captain, aware he had been drunk on duty and piloting the ship and damaging the rudder control, dismissed Derk from the bridge due to him being highly intoxicated and vowed to break him by preventing him from ever getting a job on a rocket ship again in the galaxy and make his name the most despised in the fleet. Showing up in the auxiliary rudder control in the engineering section, crewman Thomm pushed Derk to the floor yelling that he was a disgrace to his uniform. He then made his way to Mara's cabin where he attempted to apparently force himself on her as he did not care since he thought they all would die in a crash anyway. His attempt was stopped when the ship's intercom blared that the rudder was fixed, and the ship and crew strapped into their seats as the Space Queen began to make a hard landing on the surface of Osirus, a planet known to be inhabited by a dangerous race of beings. When the Osirusians approached the ship and offered to help in repairs and allow them to leave their planet and return to Earth in exchange for the secrets of atomic energy and space travel, Derk Collin stepped forward believing he had nothing to lose since he would be facing prison time on Earth, offered them the formulae for atomic energy. He also requested that he be able to pilot the Space Queen's life raft to Jupiter along with the captain's daughter (Mara) who he said was the most beautiful thing in the galaxy and that he wanted her. Agreeing with the request the Osirusians repaired the Space Queen, and it blasted off into space heading back to Earth. Left to his own devices on Osirus, Derk Collin as promised boarded the Space Queen's life raft but much to his horror discovered that the captain's daughter Mara was not there as he genuinely wanted but in her place was the Osirusian's captain's daughter. The horrified Derk Collin was informed that when he requested the captain's daughter due to her being the most beautiful thing in the galaxy, he believed it had to be her. The captain's daughter then playfully said to Derk "not to shudder as they will be happy together."

--Menace#7/2

Thomm

He worked in the Space Queen's rudder control section located in the engine room and confronted a drunken Derk Collin, who entered the area, and knocked him to the floor calling him a disgrace to his uniform. He along with his engineering crew managed to fix the Space Queen's rudder, allowing the rocket to make a hard landing on the planet Osirus.

--Menace#7/2

unidentified officers

They were members of the Space Queen's crew that appeared on panel but was left nameless. (See comments)

--Menace#7/2

unidentified crewman

He was part of the Space Queen's landing party and was killed by an Osirusian after he shot it with his ray gun.

--Menace#7/2

auxiliary rudder control

This section of the Space Queen located within engineering was tended to by Thomm and a group of other unnamed crewmen and managed to repair the rudder allowing the captain to save the ship by piloting it into making a hard landing instead of a deadly crash.

--Menace#7/2

images: (without ads)
Menace#7/2, p2, pan4 (Space Queen)
Menace#7/2, p3, pan6 (crash landing)
Menace#7/2, p1, pan3 (Captain Jon Wilsnn)
Menace#7/2, p3, pan2 (Mara)
Menace#7/2, p5, pan5 (Derk Collin)
Menace#7/2, p2, pan6 (Thomm)
Menace#7/2, p5, pan6 (unidentified officer A)
Menace#7/2, p5, pan3 (unidentified officer B)
Menace#7/2, p4, pan4 (unidentified crewman B)
Menace#7/2, p2, pan5 (auxiliary rudder control)

Appearances:
Menace#7/2 (September, 1953) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Russ Heath (artist)

First Posted: 07/27/2021
Last updated: 09/02/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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