MARTIAN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian; 1950s era)

Occupation: Envoy

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Eban Goad

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Unidentified human identity; formerly Charles I. Rompel

Base of Operations: Unidentified city, somewhere on Earth (see comments); originally from Mars

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#66/1 (December, 1958)

Powers/Abilities: Presumably like others of his race, this humanoid Martian could somehow assume the physical form of an Earthling and use it for a normal span of life; when that person died "a so-called normal death," the Martian could then assume the form of another "human structure" (see comments).

Later, by some unrevealed method, the Martian apparently caused the entire building containing Goad Antiques to vanish.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation; presumably variable)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None

History:
(Strange Tales I#66/1 (fb) - BTS) - This Martian was sent to Earth as a peaceful secret envoy; at some point, he assumed the identity of Charles I. Rompel (see comments).

   But after Rompel apparently died from natural causes, the Martian took the form of another unidentified human.

(Strange Tales I#66/1) - As part of his fraud scheme, antique shop proprietor Eban Goad would check the obituary section of the newspaper; then he would send phony sales invoices to the recently deceased--Goad figured that during their time of mourning, the grieving widows and relatives would just pay the bill for the false purchases without question.

(Strange Tales I#66/1 - BTS) - When he saw Charles Rompel's name in the obituaries, Goad sent a false sales invoice for a Queen Anne chair with matching footstool to Rompel's address.

   After he received the invoice, the Martian (in his new unidentified human form) knew the bill was an error, for he had never made such a purchase, so he went to pay a visit to Goad's shop.

(Strange Tales I#66/1) - In human form, the Martian entered the antique shop and spoke with Goad--he contested the legitimacy of the bill and explained that he knew it was in error because he was the late Charles I. Rompel!

   Goad experienced a momentary fright, but his reason intervened and he told the stranger that he knew Rompel to be dead because he had seen his name himself in the obituaries. The Martian explained that he had been using Rompel's "corporal self," but he was now using another "human structure" as his own for the time being. When the disbelieving Goad questioned the stranger's sanity, the stranger told him of his alien nature--this only led the doubting Goad to believe the stranger was using an outlandish lie so he could get out of paying the bill.

   But then Goad was shocked when the Martian revealed his true form; he fell to his knees, begged for the Martian's forgiveness, and pleaded for him to leave. However, the Martian only told Goad that he now knew too much and had be "exiled". Outside the antique shop, several passers-by heard Eban Goad cry out once again, then...nothing.

   The next morning, pedestrians walking along the sidewalk noticed that there was now an empty lot where Goad's antique shop had once been (see comments).

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Reed Crandall.

The fate of Eban Goad and his shop remains unrevealed, but since the Martian stated that he would be "exiled," perhaps Goad and his building were teleported to Mars, or sent into some other dimension.

In this 4-page story--The Ghost Came C.O.D.--Goad was the protagonist. The Martian didn't even appear in human form until the last three panels of page 3, and the two panels above are the only ones with him in his true form; consequently, his powers were never explained in detail--he could have been a shapeshifter, but I believe that he was somewhat like the extradimensional Possessors, and that he used humans as host-bodies for his mental essence to inhabit until they died.

It was never mentioned where Goad's antique shop was located, but it appeared to be on a cobblestone street--there are such streets in New York City and other older U.S. cities (e.g. Philadelphia, Boston, etc.), but this story could also have taken place somewhere in Europe.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
This Martian has no known connections to:

Eban Goad has no known connections to:

Eban Goad

A greedy and deceptive elderly man, he was the owner of a run-down antique shop. Since he rarely had any customers, he came up with a scheme to supplement his income: after combing through the newspaper's obituary pages, Goad would send phony sales invoices to the addresses of the deceased--he figured that in their time of mourning, the widows and relatives of the deceased individuals would simply pay the bills without question.

In one instance, Goad sent a fake invoice for Wedgwood China to the recently deceased Andrew J. Merkel; when Merkel's grief-stricken widow received it, she didn't remember her husband ever mentioning the purchase, but she sent Goad a check anyway just to get it off her mind.

Occasionally, when he received no response from his fake invoices, the unscrupulous Goad would next send letters threatening lawsuits--since he possessed the "evidence" of the falsified invoices, he could easily win any legal judgements and ultimately be paid from the deceased's estate.

Goad had sent an invoice for a Queen Anne chair with matching footstool to the recently-deceased Charles Rompol; but a man came into his shop and claimed that the bill was in error--the man revealed that he was the late Charles Rompol, and he had never made the purchase! At first thinking he was dealing with a madman, Goad soon learned that the stranger was a Martian who had the ability to assume any physical form.

When the Martian showed him his true form, Goad begged for forgiveness and pleaded for the Martian to leave him alone; but the Martian told Goad that he now knew too much, and would have to be "exiled".

The final fate of Eban Goad remains unrevealed (see comments).

--Strange Tales I#66/1

Goad Antiques

It was a run-down, dusty, and dismal antique shop owned by Eban Goad; not many shoppers stopped there, so Goad came up with a swindling scheme to supplement his income.

But a customer--actually a Martian--came to the shop to contest a phony bill, and then sent Goad into "exile".

The next morning, pedestrians walking along the sidewalk noticed an empty lot where Goad's antique shop had once been (see comments).

--Strange Tales I#66/1

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan5 (Martian reveals his true form)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan6 (Martian speaking to Eban Goad)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p3, pan7 (Martian in unidentified human form)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan2 (Martian in unidentified human form)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p1, pan3 (Eban Goad)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan3 (Eban Goad; Martian in unidentified human form)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan4 (Eban Goad; Martian begins to transform to his true form)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p1, pan1 (Goad's antique shop)
Strange Tales I#66/1, p4, pan7 (pedestrians notice empty lot where Goad's antique shop had once been)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#66/1 (December, 1958) - unidentified writer, Reed Crandall (pencils/inks), Morrie Kuramoto (letters) Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/30/2025
Last updated: 09/25/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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