GORKO

Real Name: Gorko

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unknown)

Occupation: Poacher for an interplanetary zoo

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Friend with many gypsies within a 'small European nation'

Enemies: Baron Radzik

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Impersonated a gypsy

Base of Operations: His home 'in the Ninth Galaxy'

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#55/2 (May,1964)

Powers/Abilities: Gorko had the ability to transform lead into gold. He appeared to be a skilled pilot.

 

 

 

History: (Tales To Astonish I#55/2) - Gorko was sent by the interplanetary zoo to capture a human specimen. However, he could only capture one who would not be missed upon Earth. He took on the guise of an elderly gypsy, and after disguising his ship as a wagon, he traveled about the countryside of a small European nation, encountering many people on the way. One day, his 'wagon' got stuck in some mud and he asked for assistance at the nearby castle of Baron Radzik. However, Radzik responded by calling Gorko a beggar and threatening to release his hounds. Gorko said he was not a beggar, and claimed to know the secret of alchemy. Radzik attempted to force Gorko to tell him the secret, but when Gorko refused, he was thrown in the dungeon. Eventually he gave in and promised to give the Baron the secret, but only if he could retrieve his secret from his 'wagon'. Once they got there, he imprisoned Radzik, and revealed his true identity before departing. He said he would keep his promise, for on his planet, gold was the basest of all metals.

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber

This is, of course, one of the 'Tales of the Wasp' back-up stories in Tales to Astonish. The full story is that the Wasp told this story to Hank Pym to teach him that even if you find what you want, you may not be satisfied. This made Pym give up an experiment, but instead of making him go on a date with the Wasp as she wanted, he tried to find a formula for making gold from lead.

This story is similar to the Tales of the Wasp tale from Tales to Astonish I#52/2, in which escaped criminals from the future helped the men in a battle of the sexes on another planet, only to discover the men wished to put them in their zoo, while the women disagreed with this.

 

Profile by Voice of Doom

CLARIFICATIONS:
Gorko is not to be confused with:

Baron Radzik should not be confused with:

Baron Radzik

 

He was a greedy (and very stereotypical) European baron. After being captured by Gorko, he presumably became an attraction in the interplanetary zoo.

 

--Tales to Astonish I#55/2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#55 (May, 1964) - Stan Lee & Larry Lieber (writers), Larry Lieber (pencils), George Roussos (inks), Stan Lee (editor)

Last updated: 04/17/03

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

Back to Characters