MARTIAN
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Martian, Pre-Modern era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Daily Press staff (including unidentified editor and Sam)
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Man from Mars" (in newspaper headline); nut, crackpot
Base of Operations: Unidentified American city (possibly New York City); originally from Mars
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#32/4 (June, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: Although an extraterrestrial, this Martian displayed no paranormal physical abilities and appeared to be quite human (see comments).
Like others of his race, he was a master mechanic--by using the parts of a retired fire engine (see comments), he built a runabout spacecraft and transported himself back to his home-planet.
Height: Unrevealed (5'10"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black
History:
(Tales to Astonish I#32/4 (fb) - BTS) - Under unrevealed
circumstances, a Martian somehow came to be stranded on Earth (see
comments).
(Tales to Astonish I#32/4) - Apparently in an effort to get aid from Earthlings, the human-like Martian went to a police station; but when he told the desk sergeant about his extraterrestrial origin, the doubting police officer had the "nut" promptly escorted out of the building.
Out on the sidewalk, the Martian tried to convince a crowd of pedestrians about his true nature, but the disbelieving people merely laughed at his claim and walked on. Sadly realizing that no Earthlings would believe the truth about him, the Martian wondered what would become of him.
Meanwhile, word of the supposed "Man from Mars" reached the office of The Daily Press; the editor got an idea for increasing his newspaper's circulation--he could play up a story about the "crackpot" who was claiming to be a Martian! After the supposed Martian was brought to him, the editor wanted him to prove he was really from Mars. Since his people were master mechanics, the Martian told the editor he could improve the function of any Earth machine, and suggested that he could modify a fire engine's ladder so that it could reach any height of a building. The editor telephoned the fire department and made arrangements to purchase a retired fire truck, then assigned one of his reporters to write a front-page story about the "whacky" stunt.
A few days later, curious onlookers watched as the "Man from Mars" toiled at his task with the old fire truck, and the publicity stunt caused the newspaper's circulation figures to greatly increase.
Finally, the Martian was finished and he was ready to demonstrate how he could make the ladder reach any height. He climbed into a metallic pod at the end of the ladder, then raised the ladder straight up. Seconds later, before the disbelieving eyes of the crowd, the runabout pod launched into the sky, and the Martian returned home.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
This 5-page story--I Am a Martian!--never explained how the Martian came to be stranded. My guess is that his actual spacecraft crashed on Earth, but he was able to salvage some of the smaller components of its propulsion system, then incorporated them with parts from the fire truck to build his interplanetary runabout.
Although there have been other Martians who appeared quite human-like (e.g. Martians of Reality-61250), it's also possible that this one was using shapeshifting or illusion to make himself resemble Earthlings.
And Sam the reporter kind of resembled Daily Bugle reporter Frederick Foswell.
It remains to be explained how so many different races/beings allegedly originated from Mars.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Martian has no known connections to:
The Martian's runabout should not be confused with:
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Using the parts from an old out-of-date fire truck (see comments), the Martian built this single-occupant interplanetary spacecraft to return to his home-world. Under the pretense that he was modifying the fire truck's extendable ladder to reach any height, he actually used the extended ladder as a launch pad for the runabout. Its top speed unrevealed, the little spacecraft seemed to be capable of making the voyage from Earth to Mars in a relatively short time. --Tales to Astonish I#32/4 |
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In an unidentified city (possibly New York City), the staff of the Daily Press newspaper included an unidentified editor and reporter Sam (last name unrevealed). When they learned of a man claiming to be a Martian, the editor came up with the idea of exploiting him to help increase the newspaper's sales. The supposed Martian came to the editor's office and said he could improve the function of any Earth machine--he suggested that he could modify a fire truck's ladder so that it could reach the height of the tallest buildings. Figuring the story would make a great publicity stunt for the paper, the editor purchased a retired fire engine from the fire department, while Sam wrote the front-page headline stories with daily updates about the progress of the "Man from Mars" in the task--although they didn't believe the supposed Martian's claim and figured he was just making a fool of himself, the editor and Sam didn't care because the paper's circulation figures were increasing. |
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The supposed Martian finally completed his work, and the editor was somewhat disappointed because he figured the story could have run for weeks. But when the Martian climbed into a small spacecraft at the end of the fire truck's ladder and took flight, the editor and Sam were stunned. The editor realized that they had just lost out on the biggest story of all time, while Sam asked an unsettling question: If Martians looked just like regular humans, then how many more of them were hiding among the people of Earth? --Tales to Astonish I#32/4 |
images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p3, pan1 (main image - Martian in editor's office)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p3, pan2 (headshot - Martian)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p2, pan3 (Martian speaking to pedestrians on sidewalk)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p4, pan4 (Martian's runabout on top of fire truck's ladder)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p4, pan5 (Martian's runabout launches)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p5, pan1 (Martian's runabout flying through space)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p5, pan2 (Martian's runabout approaches Mars)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p2, pan7 (Sam, Martian, editor)
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p3, pan5 (editor holding newspaper, Sam [background])
Tales to Astonish I#32/4, p5, pan4 (editor, Sam)
Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#32/4 (June, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (pencils/inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)
First posted: 06/15/2025
Last updated: 06/15/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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