"TAXI" TAYLOR

Real Name: Jim Taylor

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era)

Occupation: Mechanic, military corporal;
    former adventurer, taxi driver

Group Membership: Crazy S.U.E.S. (American Ace/Ace Masters, Archie the Gruesome/Alec Archie?, Blue Diamond/Elton Morrow, Bucky/James Barnes, Sgt. Byrd, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Flame/Frank Cortez, Davey Drew, Father Time/Larry Scott, Fighting Yank/Bill Prince, the Fin/Peter Noble, "Flash" Foster, Invisible Man/Leonard Gade, Doug "Jap-Buster" Johnson, Albert "Slow Motion" Jones, Merzah the Mystic, Moon-Man/Larry, Secret Stamp/Roddy Colt, Capt. Bob Strong, T-Mech, Vagabond/Pat Murphy, Victory Boys/Piotr & others, Young Avenger/Bill Byron)

Affiliations: Col. Ledford, Crazy S.U.E.S.

Enemies: Nazis, Swastikian spies

Known Relatives: "Taxi" Taylor (daughter)

Aliases: "Master Mechanic"

Base of Operations: Wendover Air Force Base, Wendover, Utah, USA;
    formerly Europe; the Pacific Theater of World War II; Washington, DC, USA; Annapolis, Maryland, USA

First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#2/7 (April, 1940)

Powers/Abilities: Jim "Taxi" Taylor was a brilliant inventor and a master mechanic, having invented and completely designed the weaponized Wonder Car vehicle. He was also trained in deep-sea diving and had firefighting, skills which he incorporated into the Wonder Car as well by making it capable of acting as a submarine and equipping it with firefighting devices such as collapsible ladders and safety nets, as well as chemical water jets.

Taylor also received military training. He typically wore a vest equipped with various wrenches and other tools.

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History: (Marvel Mystery Handbook 70th Anniversary Special - Taxi Taylor entry - BTS) - Jim Taylor was born in Annapolis, Maryland.

(Mystic Comics I#2/7 (fb) - BTS) - Jim Taylor became an established mechanic and sought to fight crime in the United States.

(Mystic Comics I#2/7) - In early 1940, Jim Taylor used his mechanical skills to invent what he called the Wonder Car, a vehicle designed to travel on land, sea, and air, as a weapon against crime. Upon building the Wonder Car, Taylor painted it, and when finished, he admitted that while he hated to part with it, it would be going to the United States government, where he felt it would do the most good. Hoping the Wonder Car would be used against enemies of the U.S., Taylor met with government officials and expressed interest in donating the Wonder Car to his country. Essentially laughed out of the office, the determined Taylor decided to prove the Wonder Car's worth by becoming a taxi driver in Washington, D.C., soon earning the nickname of "Taxi."

Soon after picking up two men from Swastikia, Taylor used one of the Wonder Car's devices to listen in on their conversation, overhearing their plans to plant mines. Dropping the men off at their destination so as to not arouse suspicion, Taylor then returned later that night and used the Wonder Car's short-wave interceptor to monitor for radio transmissions. Hours later, Taylor received the transmission he had been waiting for and learned that the mines were to be planted on the Queen Mary in New York in an effort to undermine the United States' then-neutrality in World War II. Converting the Wonder Car to flight mode, Taylor flew to Staten Island and used the Wonder Car's headlights to find the Swastikian agents. Realizing the agents were using magnetic mines that would have to be swept clear of the river, Taylor converted the Wonder Car to submersible mode and went underwater, using the Car's contra-magnetic electric rays to render the mines useless. The Swastikians retaliated by dropping a depth charge that hit the Wonder Car, forcing Taylor to don a diving suit to repair his vehicle. A Swastikian diver soon submerged to check the status of the Wonder Car and attacked Taylor with an underwater acetylene torch, but Taylor tore the oxygen lines of the agent's suit, causing the agent's death. Returning to the Wonder Car, Taylor then unleashed the Wonder Car's suction-creating gas bubbles and forced the Swastikian ship to sink. With the agents defeated, Taylor then returned to the home he had earlier dropped the Swastikians off at, only to find it in flames. Pulling next to a window, Taylor released the Wonder Car's collapsible ladder and donned a fireman's helmet and gear to check inside the burning building. Locating a safe, Taylor attempted to grab it, but his hand became electrically stuck to the safe's dial and he soon realized bombs inside the building were set to explode when the safe reached a certain temperature. Within two minutes time, however, the Wonder Car automatically pulled Taylor from the building, taking a layer of skin off his hand in the process. Yanked outside, Taylor dove into the Wonder Car's automatically regulated safety net. Taylor then utilized the Wonder Car's revolving chemical water jets to douse the fire and subsequently phoned the police, revealing the evidence inside the home to arrest the Swastikian agents.

A few days later, "Taxi" Taylor picked up a newspaper and read that the police successfully apprehended the Swastikian agents, and how they had enough evidence against the spies.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1 (fb) - BTS) - "Taxi" Taylor apparently joined the U.S. military and was assigned the Crazy S.U.E.S. unit for enhanced soldiers. At some point, he built an armored vehicle (see comments) and his robotic assistant Transisto-Mech (T-Mech).

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (fb)) - Taylor and numerous other skilled and superhuman soldiers met with their commanding officer, Sgt. Byrd, and their field leader Captain America. On August 7th, 1942, following a mission in which Captain Flame destroyed numerous Japanese attackers from two directions, "Taxi" Taylor drove his armored car to pick up his teammates, and when his robotic assistant T-Mech began speaking in broken English, Bucky asked what the robot was saying. Taylor explained that he still needed to adjust T-Mech's linguistic circuits and informed Bucky that T-Mech was confirming that the Japanese were pulling troops from the airfield the S.U.E.S. had stormed.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, "Taxi" Taylor was featured in an issue of a Boys Hero Action Comic comic book published by Timely Comics that also featured "Jap-Buster" Johnson, Moon-Man, Captain America, Bucky, the Blue Diamond and the Vagabond.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4 (fb)) - After the S.U.E.S. were transferred from the Pacific Theater to Europe, they became a hardened fighting force, and "Taxi" spent most of his time thinking and tinkering with T-Mech.


(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1 (fb)) - By June 25th, 1944, Taylor waited as his captured teammates Blue Diamond and the Invisible Man were interrogated by a high-ranking Nazi officer. After the officer unintentionally gave away his troop strengths, Blue Diamond summoned Taylor, who drove through the wall of the interrogation cell with his armored car, hitting the officer. As Taylor's teammate the Young Avenger rescued Blue Diamond and the Invisible Man, Taylor emerged from his vehicle and warned the Young Avenger that they needed to get out of there before the building collapsed. When the Young Avenger suggested Taylor have T-Mech run the probabilities, Taylor informed Young Avenger that the robot estimated the S.U.E.S. had thirty seconds before more Nazi soldiers arrived.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (fb) - BTS) - On July 7th, 1944, new S.U.E.S. recruit American Ace was speaking with Captain Flame about their upcoming mission, and he asked if anyone had seen "Taxi" Taylor and T-Mech lately. At some point, Taylor achieved the military rank of corporal.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (fb)) - On July 12th, 1944, Taylor was tinkering with T-Mech in his armored vehicle as Captain America discussed Colonel Ledford's plan to transfer Taylor out of the Crazy S.U.E.S. As Cap argued against moving Taylor, Col. Ledford reminded Cap that, as Cap's superior officer, he was not required to provide a formal transfer for Taylor. While the two argued, Taylor himself suspected something was up and asked T-Mech why he thought they were there, but T-Mech was unable to theorize an answer based on the data. When Cap continued questioning military protocol, Ledford informed Cap about pieces of the government's Project: Alberta and warned that Cap was not to speak to anyone about what he was told, even if the S.U.E.S. inquired about Taylor. Taylor continued tinkering as Ledford informed Cap that Taylor would now be under Ledford's direct command and would be assigned to an intelligence gathering at Wendover. Ledford further explained that if any of the S.U.E.S. asked about Taylor's whereabouts, Captain America would only be allowed to say Taylor was working on a weapons guidance system for the Navy. By the time the S.U.E.S. were taken close to Paris, "Taxi" Taylor and T-Mech had been sent back to the United States. Without "Taxi" to aid them, the Crazy S.U.E.S. had to walk across the French countryside towards Belgium on their own.

(Marvel Zombies Destroy!#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Jim fathered a daughter.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and unidentified artist.

"Taxi" Taylor had entries in the Marvel Mystery Handbook 70th Anniversary Special (2009) and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC Vol. 12 (2010).

"Taxi" Taylor was driving a gray armored vehicle of some sort in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes. It seems likely that this vehicle was at least some form of the Wonder Car; or perhaps the multicolored version seen in Mystic Comics I#2 was a fictional comic book version of the Wonder Car. It's also possible that this armored vehicle was a different vehicle or an upgraded version of the previous Wonder Car that Taylor acquired while serving with the S.U.E.S. Since the vehicle is not identified as the Wonder Car, I am not treating it as such for the purposes of this profile.

While not explicitly stated, probably due to the cancellation of the All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes mini-series before it had been wrapped up, it seems likely that "Taxi" Taylor was transferred from the Crazy S.U.E.S. in order to work on the atomic bomb, given his inventiveness...

This profile was completed 7/13/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Maybe Jim "Taxi" Taylor was the taxi-driver Jim who was abducted by gangster Clip Walton, but later saved by the Thin Man (@ Mystic Comics I#4/3) -- although "Taxi" Taylor was introduced before the Thin Man, there probably isn't any reason why the Thin Man story couldn't have chronologically occurred before "Taxi" Taylor's first appearance (with a little re-working). My reasoning is that maybe the Thin Man and Jim became friends after that adventure, and the Thin Man shared some of his advanced Kalahian technology from his Stratoplane with Jim, which could explain where Taylor got the knowledge and resources to build his Wonder Car.

Taylor's armored car in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes was only used as a land vehicle, but early concept sketches for the series depicted it to be a transforming vehicle, with tank, aeroplane, submarine, and robot modes; since the series was cancelled prematurely, we never learned if it could do all that, and we don't know much about its other capabilities. There also weren't many images available where the armored vehicle was clearly seen , which is why it wasn't included as a sub-profile. -- Ron Fredricks

Cleaned up main and head shot by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"Taxi" Taylor has no known connections to:

Wonder Car

The Wonder Car was a powerful, weaponized vehicle designed and built by Jim "Taxi" Taylor. Determined to use the Car to assist the United States, Taylor presented the Car to the U.S. government, but was laughed out of the room. In an effort to prove the Wonder Car's worth, Taylor became a taxi driver in Washington, D.C. and soon used the Wonder Car to learn of a Swastikian plot to plant magnetic mines in New York harbor from two of his passengers. After dropping the passengers off, Taylor returned later in the Wonder Car and used it to listen for incriminating radio transmissions. Once he received the transmissions, Taylor converted the Wonder Car to flight mode and flew to New York harbor, where he found Swastikian agents and used the Wonder Car's submersible mode to disable the magnetic mines. When the agents retaliated with a depth charge, Taylor repaired the Wonder Car and used it pull the Swastikian boat underwater. He then used the Wonder Car to return to the location he had dropped the passengers off at, only to find it on fire. Using the Wonder Car's collapsible ladder, Taylor entered the home and attempted to gather evidence against the spies, but when he became electrically frozen to a safe, the Wonder Car automatically pulled Taylor back outside into an automatically extended safety net. He then doused the fire with the Wonder Car's revolving chemical water jets before phoning the police to tell them of the evidence against the spies.

The Wonder Car was a steel-plate armored vehicle equipped with a super-sensitive radio interceptor, a radio-graph capable of transcribing radio transmissions, powerful focusing headlights, contra-magnetic electric ray emitters capable of disabling at least magnetic mines, gas bubble projectors that created intense suction, an extendable ladder and automatic safety net, an automatically-retracting belt harness, and revolving chemical water jets to douse fires. It also housed miniature surveillance devices capable of recording and magnifying the slightest whispers. It could also be retrofitted for almost any use, including underwater travel and air travel via extendable wings and retractable propeller.

--Mystic Comics I#2/7

images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC Vol. 12, Taxi Taylor entry, main image (Taxi Taylor, main)
Mystic Comics I#2, p37, pan4 (Taxi Taylor, headshot without hat)
Mystic Comics I#2, p41, pan5 (Taxi Taylor in diving suit)
Mystic Comics I#2, p44, pan1 (Taxi Taylor in firefighter's gear)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2, p2, pan2 (Taxi Taylor in military uniform)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1, p18, pan1 (Taxi Taylor in Crazy S.U.E.S. gear)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2, p18, pan1 (Taxi Taylor sitting on armored car; T-Mech, Bucky, Captain America)
concept drawings of Taxi Taylor's armored car in its various modes
Mystic Comics I#2, p39, pan3 (Wonder Car)

Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#2 (April, 1940) - "Taxi Taylor & His Wonder Car" story - Martin Goodman (editor)
Marvel Mystery Handbook 70th Anniversary Special (2009) - Michael Hoskin (head writer, coordinator), Ronald Byrd, Anthony Flamini, Stuart Vandal, Kevin Garcia, Jacob Rougemont, David Wiltfong, Sean McQuaid (writers), Gus Vazquez (Taxi Taylor entry art), Mike Fichera, Jason Lewis (art refurbishment), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1 (August, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Bill Rosemann, Alejandro Arbona (editors)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (September, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Bill Rosemann, Alejandro Arbona (editors)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (October, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Bill Rosemann, Alejandro Arbona (editors)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4 (November, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Bill Rosemann, Alejandro Arbona (editors)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (December, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Bill Rosemann, Alejandro Arbona (editors)
Marvel Zombies Destroy!#1 (July, 2012) - Frank Marraffino (writer), Mirco Pierfederici (artist), Jake Thomas (editor)

First Posted: 09/30/2021
Last updated: 10/10/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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