CHARLIE GASTON
Real Name: Charles Gaston
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Train conductor for AmRail
Group Membership: AmRail staff
Affiliations: AmRail staff
Enemies: Hulk (Bruce Banner)
(perceived)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout the USA
First Appearance: (as "Charlie," voice only)
Avengers I#1 (September, 1963);
(fully seen & identified) Avengers: The Origin#1
(June, 2010)
Powers/Abilities: Charlie Gaston has no
superhuman powers but is a skilled train conductor, if not a bit prone
to panicking in the face of dangerous superhumans like the Hulk.
Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see
comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed (see comments)
Hair: Gray (balding)
History:
(Avengers: The Origin#1 (fb) - BTS) - During a AmRail train trip,
longtime conductor Charlie Gaston and his co-conductor witnessed the
Hulk dive onto the railroad track mere yards in front of them, unaware
that the Hulk had manipulated into smashing the track by the illusion
of dynamite placed there by the Asgardian god Loki.
(Avengers: The Origin#1 (fb)) - A shocked Charlie asked if his co-conductor saw what happened.
(Avengers I#1 - BTS) - The co-conductor looked out the train window and yelled back for Charlie to stop the train due to the smashed trestle ahead. Charlie yelled back that it would be impossible to stop the train, as they were going too fast to stop before they would crash into the smashed area. When the co-conductor noticed a head poking up through the tracks, Charlie recognized the face of the monstrous Hulk, whom Charlie assumed had smashed the trestle in an attempt to kill them. Exclaiming that the Hulk would kill them all, Charlie reiterated his inability to stop the train in time to prevent a crash but the Hulk propped up the smashed track with his back so the train could pass safely over the smashed trestle.
(Avengers: The Origin#1 - BTS) - Once the train had
stopped, Charlie Gaston and several of the train passengers were
interviewed on the GNN television network. Charlie told the reporter
how the Hulk had come out of nowhere and how the close distance of the
trestle smashing seemed to suggest the Hulk had deliberately attacked
the track. When the reporter noted Charlie's conducting experience and
asked if he had ever seen anything like the Hulk's seeming attack,
Charlie replied that he had never seen anything like it in his worst
nightmares before admitting that there was a moment during the
situation where all he could do was pray.
Comments: Nickname identified by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. Fully fleshed out by Joe Casey and Phil Noto.
Phil Noto's artistic rendition of Charlie Gaston somewhat resembles Avengers creator Stan Lee.
Charlie's height and weight were impossible to approximate, as he was only ever seen from the chest up and never next to any character whose height and weight had been officially determined. Additionally, his eye color could not be determined, as his tinted glasses always obscured his actual eye color.
Charlie is an interesting example
of taking an obscure, throwaway name whose only "appearance" is the
co-conductor yelling his name and the readers reading his voice in
Avengers I#1 and further fleshing the name out in a full character some
decades later. Much like characters like Sally Avril
from Amazing Fantasy I#15 or Herbert
Eagle from Fantastic Four I#5.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Charles Gaston should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Avengers I#1 (September, 1963) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Jack Kirby
(pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Avengers: The Origin#1 (June, 2010) - Joe Casey (writer), Phil Noto
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 08/21/2026
Last updated: 08/21/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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