"GIMMICK" GARSON

Real Name: Garson (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human technology user (1950s era)

Occupation: Inventor, thief

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Officer James Casey

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Gimmick" Garson

Base of Operations: His apartment in an unidentified city

First Appearance: Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5 (October, 1955)

Powers/Abilities: Apparently an inventive genius, Garson built a small robot, along with an electro-video set to remotely view it; he vocally controlled the robot with a microphone attached to the electro-video set, and used the little mechanical man to steal diamonds.

Height: Unrevealed (5'10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (165 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5 (fb) - BTS) - The past of "Gimmick" Garson is largely unrevealed, but he spent all his money to build a doll-sized mechanical man, along with an electro-video set to command the small robot's movements. Using the little robot as his proxy, Garson sent it out to commit a series of diamond robberies.

   Over the next two weeks, Garson used the tiny robot to commit six diamond robberies, and after it returned to him with the loot, the robot tried to sneak off "a couple of times" to turn itself in to the police; but Garson managed to catch the little mechanical man before it could escape and got it back under his control.

(Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5) - The world's most fabulous diamond, the Star of the Sahara, was on exhibition at a museum, where three of the insurances company's detectives were hired to stand guard around the priceless gem. But behind the detectives' backs, the robot took the diamond, squeezed through a heat grating on the floor, and carried the gem back to Garson's apartment; the three detectives were left perplexed by the diamond's mysterious disappearance.

   Twenty minutes later, Garson opened the door to let the mechanical man in; after taking the diamond, Garson ordered the robot to sit in the corner while he disconnected it. But while Garson gloated over the glittering gem, the little robot got back up and tried to get away by crawling under the door; Garson managed to grab it before the mechanical man could get away, then he verbally scolded it ("...Gimmick" Garson is the brains of this outfit... not you!").

   Meanwhile, the chief of the city's police department alerted the entire force of the baffling diamond robberies, and rookie cop James Casey was assigned to pound his beat outside one of the city's jewelry stores.

   That night, Garson sent the robot to rob that particular store, but while the little mechanical man was inside and carrying a stolen diamond to make its getaway, it tripped over the burglar alarm wire, which activated the security system; monitoring the robot's progress on his video screen, Garson yelled at the fallen mechanical man to pick up the gem and run before the police arrived. But when Casey heard the clanging alarm, he came crashing through the door of the establishment and saw the robot running with the diamond. Casey grabbed the robot before it could get away, and it seemingly deactivated.

   Later, when the police chief and his detectives arrived, Casey told his story to them, but they all doubted him and figured they would be laughed at if they announced that the "toy" was the mysterious diamond robber. When the chief told Casey to go home and get some rest, Casey asked him if he could take the "toy" with him, and the chief allowed him to do so.

   Using his video-screen, Garson watched as Casey spent hours in his home examining the mechanical man for clues. When Casey found nothing and gave up, Garson saw him give the little robot to his kids to play with, so Garson figured he'd wait until they all went to sleep, then he'd activate the robot and guide it back to him; Garson then turned his attention to counting his loot.

(Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5 - BTS) - Casey's sons played "cops and robbers" with the little inert robot. They started to interrogate the mechanical man, asking it all kinds of questions; but when they asked it who the brains of the operation was, the little robot repeated Garson's previous verbal scolding--Casey overheard the robot's response and thereby learned the identity of the true culprit.

(Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5) - Garson had counted his loot a dozen times, and just as he started to count for the thirteenth time, his apartment door came crashing down as Officer Casey burst in to arrest him.

   Later, when the police chief and his detectives arrived, "Gimmick" Garson was taken into custody. Casey explained how the robot revealed Garson's identity--because Garson had repeated his scolding phrase so often, the mechanical man had learned to say it!

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Syd Shores.

The plot of this 5-page story--Man of Mystery--would sort-of be redone a few years later with "Isaac Nicholson".

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"Gimmick" Garson has no known connections to:

Garson's mechanical man has no known connections to:

Officer James Casey has no known connections to:

Garson's mechanical man

Built by "Gimmick" Garson, it was a doll-sized humanoid automaton that stood about 6-8 inches tall. Garson vocally commanded its actions with a microphone attached to an electro-video set, which also allowed him to monitor the robot from afar. Although the robot obeyed Garson's transmitted voice commands, it seemed to be semi-sentient and had some capacity for independent thought; it also seemed to be endowed with a conscience, which gave it the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

Garson used the mechanical man to commit a series of diamond thefts--because of its small size, the robot could easily enter and exit buildings unseen. But following some of its robberies, the robot seemed to develop a will of its own--it tried to turn itself in to the police before Garson caught it and got it back under his control, often scolding the robot by referring to himself by name as being "the brains of the outfit".

One night, while Garson sent the robot to steal from a jewelry store, the robot accidentally set off the burglar alarm. When police officer James Casey responded to the alarm, he caught the little mechanical man, then took it home to examine it for clues; but when he found nothing significant, Casey gave it to his two sons to play with. While the boys were playing "cops and robbers," they interrogated the little robot, which resulted in the robot repeating Garson's scolding phrase, and thus revealed Garson's identity to Officer Casey.

After "Gimmick" Garson was arrested, the robot got a new home with Casey and his kids.

--Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5

Officer James Casey

He was a rookie police officer in an unidentified city, and the father of two sons (names unrevealed).

When the city was plagued by a series of diamond thefts, Officer Casey was stationed outside a jewelry store; when he heard the store's burglar alarm go off, Casey went crashing through the door and found a little mechanical man trying to steal a diamond. After he caught the robot, Casey showed it to the police chief and his detectives, but they all doubted Casey's claim and figured the public would never believe that a "toy" was responsible for the robberies.

Casey later took the mechanical man home to examine it for clues, but after he spent hours checking it over, he found nothing significant. Casey then gave the little robot to his sons to play with, and while the kids used it to play "cops and robbers," the robot repeated a phrase that revealed "Gimmick" Garson as its master.

After putting his uniform back on, Officer Casey went to Garson's apartment and smashed through the door, where he found the criminal mastermind with the stolen diamonds; Garson was arrested and taken into custody.

With the case of the mysterious diamond thefts solved, the police chief congratulated Officer Casey and likely gave him a promotion; and the little robot got a new home with James Casey and his kids.

--Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5

(Comments: Casey's marital status was never mentioned, nor was a "Mrs. Casey" ever mentioned or depicted--possibly he was a single parent. And considering how easily he seemed to burst through the doors of that jewelry store and Garson's apartment [see third image of this sub-profile], possibly Casey had enhanced strength.)

images: (without ads)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p3, pan2 (main image - "Gimmick" Garson by electro-video set)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p2, pan6 (headshot - "Gimmick" Garson using microphone of electro-video set to control robot)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p3, pan5 ("Gimmick" Garson catches robot crawling under door)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p5, pan2 ("Gimmick" Garson counts stolen diamonds)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p1, pan5 (Garson's robot stealing Star of Sahara diamond)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p3, pan6 (Garson scolds robot)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p5, pan7 (robot in Officer Casey's pocket)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p4, pan2 (Officer James Casey outside jewelry store)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p5, pan5 (in flashback, James Casey at his home [background] hears robot mentioning "Gimmick" Garson's name while his sons interrogate it)
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5, p5, pan3 (Officer James Casey bursts through door of "Gimmick" Garson's apartment; "Gimmick" Garson [background])

Appearances:
Strange Stories of Suspense#5/5 (October, 1955) - unidentified writer, Syd Shores (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 07/09/2025
Last updated: 07/09/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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