JULES KEEN

Real Name: Jules Keen

Identity/Class: Human, possibly became Olympian God

Occupation: Gambler;
    possibly the God of Luck

Group Membership: Possibly Olympian Gods

Affiliations: Agent of Hermes

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: God of Luck; the Streak (as the title of his story)

Base of Operations: Various race tracks, casinos, etc.

First Appearance: Bizarre Adventures#32/5 (August, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: Jules possesses a psychic predisposition to win, granting him virtually unparalleled luck.

History:
(Bizarre Adventures#32/5) - Jules lived his life from gamble to gamble, winning almost all the time. He shunned relationships of any kind, seeing the casino as his only true mistress. One day he was summoned to Mt. Olympus by Hermes, who sought him to become the God of Luck that the Olympian Pantheon lacked. Granting Keen an even greater predisposition to win, he offered him the role of a god if he could hold the reins on luck. Picking up a beautiful woman on the way to the casino (by sheer, dumb luck, of course), Jules started to test his ability. After an hour and one hundred victorious games earlier, Jules began to feel himself evolve beyond humanity. After being taken into the special gameroom for the obscenely rich, Jules accepted his power fully, winning 100 grand at roulette. However, he quickly discovered that to never lose is a gambler's hell, as it removes the sport they enjoyed so much.

    Giant in size, dazed, and glowing, Jules wandered the street, dropping his money behind him.

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Ann Nocenti and Greg LaRoque

    An odd story, to be sure. Whatever happened to Jules? I seriously doubt we'll ever see him again. That being said, I like to place events that don't affect the modern age, like this one, in real time (i.e. NOT topical) at the point during which the story was published. In this case, in 1982.
    Is Jules now one of the Olympian Gods? Perhaps he had time to adapt to his new role better in the twenty years since this story.

    There is an Olympian goddess of fortune in the Olympian pantheon. Her name is Tyche and the Romans called her Fortuna; she is one of the Horae, sister to the Fates, and a daughter of Zeus and the Titaness
Themis.
    Possibly Hermes in his role as god of lies was decieving Keene in order to teach him a lesson.
    --Will U

The story that features the so called "God of Luck" bears a remarkable resemblence to a 1960 episode of the classic "Twilight Zone" called "A Nice Place to Visit". In the TZ episode, a petty thief is shot to death by the police and ends up in the afterlife. Meeting up with a friendly looking gentleman named Mr. Pip, the crook is lead to an otherworldy casino, filled with games of chance, flowing wine, and beautiful women. The crook has a good time, until (like Jule in the Marvel tale) he realizes that things are too good-he wins every game he tries his hand at, and becomes incredibly bored. Finding Mr. Pip, the crook explains his problem and pleads to be sent to "The other place", only to be told that he is already in "The Other Place" There are differences, to be sure, but the major theme (a gambler's version of Hell is a place where risk is nonexistant) is there. I wonder if the writers of the Marvel tale were influenced by the TZ episode?--Jim McNamara

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

 

Appearances:
Bizarre Adventures#32 (August, 1982) - Ann Nocenti (writer), Greg LaRocque (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)

Last updated: 09/05/03

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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