It would take the Martians a few hours to make repairs and readjust their spaceship's "weight assembly". Before they began their work, a Martian told Wolfe that if his fellow Earthlings came to rescue him, they'd leave him behind and take off without him because they didn't want to be caught; but if no one came for him, Wolfe would be taken to Mars.

   As the three Martians attended to their work, the now-humbled Darius Wolfe could only stare out a window at the movie set in the distance and tensely wait -- when he thought about how poorly he treated the actors and film crew, he could only hope that they would save him... (see comments)

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Joe Sinnott.

In regards to Wolfe's filming location  in the Mojave Desert: The desert is located primarily in the states of southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending into Arizona and Utah.

This 5-page story--I Was a Prisoner of the Martians!--had Darius Wolfe as the protagonist, so very little was revealed about the Martians, and it was left with an unresolved conclusion.

Despite the main image from the splash-page depicting an entire army of attacking Martians, only three of the aliens were actually in the story, and they didn't carry any apparent weapons -- this was just the best full image available. Perhaps the splash-page was an earlier filmed scene from Wolfe's movie?

Since the movie actors portraying the Martians looked so similar to the actual Martians, that would seem to imply that the people of Earth were aware that there was life on Mars.

This story was featured on the Jack Kirby cover, where it seemed like it was going to be set in contemporary times. However, the Joe Sinnott artwork in the story itself gave me the impression that it took place at some point in the future, although no specific year was mentioned -- various background items (e.g. people's clothing, a typewriter, a telephone) were drawn to have a "futuristic" look; also, in one panel, a blue spaceship marked with the letters WGM can be seen as the Martians flew to Earth (see Martians' spacecraft sub-profile), yet this was never elaborated upon.

I really saw no reason for the futuristic setting, as the basic plot (with minor alterations) would have worked just as well if it had taken place in the year it was published. More than likely, this story took place on some alternate Earth rather than Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe).

While doing this profile, I thought I remembered seeing extraterrestrials similar to these Martians somewhere else, so I did some checking -- I found them in the earlier-published Tales of Suspense I#3/5 (May, 1959), "The Aliens Who Conquered Earth", which was set in the year 2058. Like these Martians, those particular unidentified extraterrestrials (also drawn by Joe Sinnott) had one eye, flexible arms with two fingers, polka-dotted skin, and they wore "earphones" with antennas -- the only real difference was they had yellow skin rather than green. Perhaps these Martians and those unidentified aliens were from the same race?

It remains to be explained how so many different races/beings allegedly originated from Mars.

• Is there some Nexus of Realities on Mars through which numerous Martians from other realities have traveled to Earth-616?
• Is there some cosmic manipulator (like the Stranger or Immortus) who is transporting various races to Mars, and then removing any traces of their existence when they have served their purpose?
• Have the various incarnations of the Man on the Wall been eliminating Martian races/colonizers after they threaten Earth?
• We don’t have the answers to those questions, but maybe someone will answer them someday.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
These Martians have no known connection to:

• any other Martians

Darius Wolfe has no known connection to:

• BRAD WOLFE - host of Zaniac--Thor I#319
• HEDY WOLFE - business owner of Patsy-Hedy Entertainment, former model, actress--Fantastic Four Annual I#3
• LEENA WOLFE - private investigator--Midnight Sons Unlimited I#9/2
• SARA WOLFE - Dr. Strange ally--Doctor Strange II#38
• any other characters with similar names

Martians' spacecraft Capable of at least interplanetary travel, this vessel transported three Martians to Earth so they could capture a human and take him back to Mars. Any weaponry that this spacecraft possessed is unrevealed. The spacecraft landed deep in the Mojave Desert, where movie director Darius Wolfe happened to be filming. The Martians captured Wolfe and carried him aboard; but as they took flight, the spacecraft began to totter violently due to Wolfe's additional weight. The Martians were forced to land back in the same location so they could readjust their spaceship's "weight assembly". (Note: In the first image, the Martian ship was colored orange, while it was colored yellow in all subsequent appearances -- maybe the color change was the result of an optical effect as it slowed down to approach Earth? [Okay, I'm no scientist]. Also, that blue ship marked with WGN was never explained -- I'm assuming it was meant to be an Earth patrol spaceship.) --Tales to Astonish I#4/1

Darius Wolfe The arrogant and ill-tempered Wolfe was the world's greatest movie director (as per himself) who cruelly bullied actors and his underlings. When an elderly actor begged him for a movie role because he needed work, Wolfe insulted the "has-been" and ordered him to leave ("The sight of poverty-stricken bums depresses me!!"). After screening his latest cinematic masterpiece, Wolfe made arrangements to begin on his next film--a science fiction movie called "The Day the Martians Struck"--as soon as the budget was approved. Three days later, Wolfe took a troupe of actors, camera crews, and technicians into the Mojave Desert, where they began to construct an outdoor film set of a  futuristic city. When a technician was injured while carrying a heavy prop, the angry Wolfe (more concerned about the prop) fired the "clumsy oaf" and deducted the cost of the damaged prop from his salary. When filming finally began, Wolfe harshly criticized the actors' performances and demanded constant re-shoots. But just as they began to film the scene where the movie's "Martians" (actually actors, see comments) were about to kidnap the movie's hero, a trio of real Martians had landed nearby! The true Martians seized Wolfe and began to carry him away; since the cameras were still rolling, Wolfe--thinking that the aliens were just the actors--decided to play along because the scene would be too costly to shoot again -- everyone else on the set figured that Wolfe had just changed the script so he could play a part in the movie. But when the aliens and their captive approached the Martians' spacecraft, Wolfe realized what was actually happening and he began to scream for help -- the other actors were impressed with Wolfe's "acting" performance. After boarding their spacecraft with their prisoner, the Martians told Wolfe that he would be studied for an upcoming invasion of Earth. But after taking flight, the Martians' spaceship began to totter violently -- it seems it needed an adjustment to the "weight assembly" to compensate for Wolfe's additional weight. The Martians' spaceship landed right by the movie set again. One of the Martians told Wolfe that it would take a few hours for them to make repairs, so if his fellow Earthlings came to rescue him, they'd take off and leave him behind because they didn't want to get caught; however, if no one came for him, they'd take Wolfe to Mars. As the Martians were working on their spaceship, Wolfe looked out the window at the film set and thought about how badly he had treated everyone -- he could only wonder if any of his people would come to save him... --Tales to Astonish I#4/1

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p1, pan1(main image - Martians)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p5, pan6 (headshot - Martian)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p5, pan2 (Martians aboard their spacecraft, with captured Darius Wolfe)
Tales to Astonish I#4, cover (Martians kidnap unidentified man [Darius Wolfe?])
Tales of Suspense I#3/5, p4, pan6 (unidentified extraterrestrial with similar appearance to these Martians)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p3, pan4 (Martian spaceship [orange] approaches Earth; unidentified blue spaceship)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p3, pan5 (Martian spaceship [yellow] prepares to land on Earth)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p2, pan4 (Darius Wolfe, speaking on telephone)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p4, pan4 (Darius Wolfe, carried away by two Martians)
Tales to Astonish I#4/1, p5, pan7 (Darius Wolfe aboard Martian spacecraft, hoping someone will save him; futuristic city movie set [background])