SAKU

Type; Extradimensional world

Environment: Essentially Earth-like
Saku was described as an "existence-plane" in a dimension parallel to the spherical Earth, where all time is the same from moment to moment, and only space changes (as per Desinna) -- Earth's own dimension of time corresponds to a linear dimension on Saku, thus merely by traveling a linear distance on Saku, a traveler may emerge on Earth many years before or after an earlier visit.

Natives of Saku possess some forms of advanced equipment capable of space-time manipulation, including the transubstantiator.

Usual means of access: Vibrational attunement

Dominant life form: Sakarians (blue-skinned humanoids)

Significant Inhabitants: Desinna, Tarros

First Appearance: Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (January, 1975)

History:
(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (fb)) - <see comments> Desinna was working on a project involving the exploration of sub-space (see comments) with her assistant Tarros. Tarros notified her of a major breakthrough, "a cosmic twisting of the space-time barriers"; however, in his zeal to show it to her, Tarros tripped and fell into their prototype space-time device, and a power surge killed his physical form, but transformed his "electrical aura" into a giant satyr-like creature and sent it to another dimension.

   Desinna took a transubtantiator and used it to arrive on Earth at the same time as Tarros, and she observed his fully changed form. Identifying it as evil and insane, she then traveled back a few hours in time to enlist the aid of others for assistance before Tarros would arrive.

(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3) - In 1934, Doc Savage (Clark Savage, Jr.) received a written message that informed him of an impending assassination attempt on mayor Fiorello La Guardia during the dedication of a construction site. Savage and his five allies--Ham, Johnny, Long Tom, Monk, and Renny--prevented the assassination; he later correctly determined that the message was from another world, and that its true meaning indicated a threat at the same construction site, but occurring that evening. Doc and his men returned to the site, where they were met by Desinna, who told them of the menace from beyond time, Tarros.

   Just then, Tarros arrived, denouncing Desinna and grabbing her -- as Tarros did not have a transubstantiator, Doc and his men were unable to understand what he was saying. Monk nailed Tarros in the back of his head with a brick, causing him to drop Desinna, and Doc Savage, Renny, and Ham lassoed  Tarros' neck, in an effort to bring the giant down; but Tarros easily broke free from them, leaving them strewn about the ground. Meanwhile, Savage had sent Johnny and Long Tom on an errand to retrieve something from their headquarters, while he occupied Tarros with anything he could get his hands on. Johnny and Long Tom completed their errand and delivered a special cadmium liquid spray tank. Savage then sprayed this liquid to dampen Tarros' electrical energy, trapping him inside the foundation stone for the building that La Guardia had dedicated that morning.

(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Construction of the building was eventually completed, with Tarros still trapped inside the building's cornerstone.

(Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3) - Several decades later (see comments), in the modern era, that same building was condemned and slated for demolition. Desinna traveled to that time and used her transubstantiator to send a Morse Code signal that she needed the help of Spider-Man (Peter Parker). Spidey swung to the scene to investigate, and Desinna told him of the past of Tarros; she then used her transubstantiator to show him images of the 1934 battle. But she was interrupted in mid-story when Tarros appeared and attempted to capture Desinna once again. Spidey tried in vain to stop the powerful Tarros, until he found an electrically operated jackhammer, which he used to disrupt and disperse Tarros' electrical form.

   Desinna then finished her story, telling Spider-Man he must finish off Tarros for good. However, Spidey had taken a course in comparative languages, and based on what he could understand, combined with the tone Tarros used when speaking to Desinna, he had grown suspicious of Desinna's story. He correctly figured that Tarros was, in fact, the victim. Using the jackhammer, Spidey shattered the foundation stone, fully freeing Tarros once again. Tarros then transported Desinna back to Saku, to face the music for her crimes, and he thanked Spidey for his help.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru.

If you can figure anything else out from this story, let me know. It just doesn't seem very well thought out or very well-wrapped up. It was still entertaining, though.

Desinna's account, in which she claimed to have merely observed Tarros' accident, is not the whole truth, though we were not given any more information on it. Apparently Desinna was to blame for Tarros' transformation. It may be that she tried to kill him, and he sought revenge on her. Perhaps Tarros was not her assistant at all, but vice-versa? Who knows?

Also, in the Marvel Universe, "sub-space" was initially the term used to describe the Negative Zone (@ Fantastic Four I#51), and later to describe Hyperspace. What exactly Desinna was referring to is not clear.

Doc Savage, a pulp magazine character created in 1933 by Lester Dent, had an eight issue Marvel series in the 1970s, followed by an eight issue black-and-white magazine series. He also got directly involved with the Thing (Ben Grimm) against Blacksun in Marvel Two-in-One I#21. Spider-Man confirmed having read about Savage's real life adventures, and identified him as "one of the original crime-fighters back in the [Nineteen-] Thirties". He's a licensed character, and Marvel no longer owns/whatever his rights, but apparently he existed on Earth-616 in the 1930s.

The cover of this issue (by Gil Kane) showed Tarros as a solid, giant satyr-like being with an otherwise physical form. It also showed Desinna with a Caucasian complexion, dressed in green, and has Spidey and Doc Savage directly teamed up against Tarros -- none of this is the case within this story.

Also in this story, it was written as if the Spider-Man side of events were taking place "exactly forty years" after the Doc Savage part, but that is topical due to the sliding time-scale, and at best can be considered to occur perhaps on the anniversary of Doc Savage's previous encounter with Desinna and Tarros.

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The extradimensional world of Saku has no known connections to:

The Sakarian race has no known connection to:

Desinna should not be confused with:

Tarros should not be confused with:

Desinna

A Sakarian scientist and sub-space explorer, she lived in the extradimensional city of Saku-Mar.

She had developed some unrevealed grievance with Tarros and tried to destroy him. When she found out that he had merely been transformed, she traveled to find him on Earth in 1934, where she enlisted Doc Savage and his allies to help her, and they succeeded in trapping Tarros.

In the modern era, when Tarros would have escaped, she tried to convince Spider-Man (Peter Parker) to destroy him; but Spidey saw through her deception, freed Tarros, and let him take her back to Saku.

She used the transubstantiator to travel between her home-world of Saku and Earth. 

--Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (3(fb), 3(fb), 3

Tarros

Also referred to as "The Menace from Beyond Time" (at least on the cover), he was actually an apparently innocent Sakarian scientist.

He created the time-space device, but his equipment was sabotaged by Desinna -- as a result, he was transformed into a semi-transparent creature of electrical energy, with (for unspecified reasons) the form of a 25 foot tall goat-legged giant. He was shunted to Earth in New York of 1934, where Desinna tricked Doc Savage into trapping him in the foundation stone of a building under construction.

In the modern era, when that same building was set to undergo demolition, Desinna tried to dupe Spider-Man (Peter Parker) into destroying Tarros. Spidey defeated Tarros once, but eventually suspected the truth and set Tarros free, allowing him to take Desinna back to Saku for punishment.

--Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (3(fb), 3(fb), 3

Desinna's transubstantiator

A small multi-purpose device of Sakarian origin, it was worn on the wrist of Desinna.

It had at least four functions:

  • translation of her words into another language
  • creation of a protective force field
  • tracking energy signatures
  • penetrating the dimensions of time and space.

It was unrevealed if the transubstantiator had any other functions.

--Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (3(fb), 3

Tarros' space-time device

On the extradimensional world of Saku, Tarros created this machine as a a breakthrough in the twisting of time-space barriers; it could project, transform, and transmit a Sakarian's "electrical aura".

As Tarros excitedly ran toward his assistant Desinna, his foot slipped and he fell into the activated device; although his physical body died, Tarros' "electrical aura" took on the form of a giant semi-transparent satyr composed of electrical energy.

The transformed Tarros was next transmitted to Earth in the year 1934.

--Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (3(fb)

images: (without ads)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p21, pan1-5 (the nature of Saku compared to Earth, as explained by Desinna to Doc Savage)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p22, pan2 (in flashback, Desinna leaves city and travels to Tarros' laboratory)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p4, pan3 (Desinna [speaking her native language] first encounters Spider-Man)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p18, pan5 (Desinna speaks through transubstantiaror)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p22, pan3 (Tarros [original form])
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p16, pan5 (transformed Tarros battles Spider-Man)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p24, pan7 (in 1934, Tarros gets trapped in foundation block; Desinna, Doc Savage, Monk, Ham [right])
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p5, pan3 (Desinna uses transubstantiator to communicate with Spider-Man)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p23, pan2 (transubstantiator on Desinna's wrist)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p4, pan6 (Desinna uses transubstantiator's force field)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p22, pan4 (in Desinna's flashback, Tarros presents activated space-time device to Desinna)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p22, pan6 (in Desinna's flashback, Tarros falls into space-time device)
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3, p23, pan1 (in Desinna's flashback, Tarros gets transformed by space-time device; Desinna at control console)

Appearances:
Giant-Size Spider-Man I#3 (January, 1975) -  Gerry Conway (writer), Ross Andru (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), George Roussos (colors), Ray Holloway (letters), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 04/18/2003
Last updated: 04/26/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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