PROFESSOR DUNCAN

Real Name: Unrevealed

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

Occupation: College instructor, Martian spy

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Bellows

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His apartment, near an unidentified college, somewhere in the USA;
   originally from the planet Mars

First Appearance: World of Suspense I#4/3 (October, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Appearing to be quite human-like (see comments), this Martian displayed no paranormal abilities; he was armed with some form of ray gun.

Originating from a planet where water was nonexistent, he seemed to never experience thirst, and he was unable to swim.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown (including mustache)

History:
(World of Suspense I#4/3 (fb) - BTS) - On the waterless planet Mars, an advanced civilization desired to conquer Earth; they somehow transported one of their race to Earth, to act as a spy for an upcoming Martian invasion.

   Once on Earth, the Martian spy adopted the human disguise of brilliant astronomer Professor Duncan, and he took a job as an instructor at a college -- this role enabled him to gather the data needed for the imminent invasion.

(World of Suspense I#4/3) - At the college, Professor Duncan was delivering a lecture to his class about the planet Mars; the Professor concluded that although water was nonexistent on Mars, it didn't disqualify the planet from supporting active, intelligent life. But just as Duncan concluded and excused the class, one of the students--Bellows--opined to him that any form of life that could exist without water would have to be very simple and primitive -- Duncan seemed to take Bellows' statement as a personal insult, and he began to suspect that Bellows might be suspicious about his true nature.

(World of Suspense I#4/3 - BTS) - When he wasn't teaching, Duncan continued to compile notes for the invasion of Earth.

(World of Suspense I#4/3) - Weeks later, on a warm and muggy day, Duncan was walking across the college campus when Bellows approached him and offered him a bottle of soda pop; angrily glaring at his student, Duncan insisted that he wasn't the least bit thirsty.

   When he returned to his apartment that night, Duncan sat in a chair and brooded in rage about Bellows -- the young fool might think he could continue to bait him, but soon Bellows and all humans would learn that Martians weren't to be trifled with!

   Then Duncan heard his apartment door quietly close behind him; he got up and looked out the window, and saw Bellows running from the building -- he figured that Bellows had been snooping in his apartment.

   Convinced that Bellows' behavior had gone too far, Duncan went to the student's rooming house to confront him -- from the landlady, he learned that Bellows had gone to the nearby lake to do some fishing.

   Short minutes later, Duncan arrived at the lake, where he saw Bellows just as he began to leave the shore in a rowboat. Duncan made a running leap and landed in the boat, then pulled out his ray gun and aimed it at Bellows. Admitting that he was a Martian, Duncan told Bellows that his spying was almost done, and when he returned to Mars, the invasion of Earth would begin!

   But suddenly, the boat swerved into a wave and capsized, and both occupants fell into the water. Bellows surfaced and searched in all directions for Duncan, but could find no sign of the Martian.

   By the time Bellows swam back to shore, all was silent, save for the gentle lapping of the waves. Since there was no water on Mars, Bellows figured that Duncan didn't know how to swim and had drowned, so the spy would never make his report to Mars, and the invasion would be cancelled.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Robert Q. Sale.

This 4-page story--He's Hiding On Earth!--never revealed how the Martian came to Earth, so it could have been by teleportation, spaceship, or by some other means.

This Martian mentioned that he was using a disguise (see his thought-balloon in third image above), and his natural form was never depicted -- it was unrevealed whether he was just a human-like Martian, or if he was a completely non-human shapeshifter; it was also unrevealed if there was a "real" Professor Duncan, whose identity the Martian assumed.

It was never explained why Bellows was so suspicious about Duncan -- by his reactions, Duncan could have just been a human teacher who didn't like his students disagreeing with him, and who didn't like soda pop. Maybe Bellows was really one of these disguised Venusians, and Duncan was one of these shapeshifting Martians.

Or maybe Professor Duncan had some connection to a later group of extraterrestrial invaders, who also came from a planet devoid of water.

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

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Professor Duncan should not be confused with:

Bellows has no known connections to:

Bellows

Bellows (first name unrevealed) was a student at an unidentified American college, where he attended a class taught by Professor Duncan.

For some reason, Bellows thought there was something strange about Duncan, and believed him to be a Martian spy (see comments).

On at least two occasions, he baited Duncan with tricks in attempts to crack the enigma of Duncan's true nature, and even snooped in his apartment.

One night, Bellows went to a lake to do some fishing; but just as he rowed from the shore, Duncan jumped aboard his boat and aimed a ray gun at him (...thus confirming Bellows' suspicions).

But the rowboat was overturned by a wave, and both Bellows and Duncan fell into the water. Bellows surfaced and began to search for Duncan, but found no sign of him, and Bellows believed that he had drowned -- since he came from a waterless planet, Bellows figured the Martian spy didn't know how to swim.

--World of Suspense I#4/3

images: (without ads)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p1, pan1 (main image - Professor Duncan teaching class, with chart of Mars)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p2, pan4 (headshot - Professor Duncan)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p3, pan2 (Professor Duncan)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p4, pan2 (Professor Duncan standing in rowboat, aiming ray gun at Bellows)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p2, pan2 (Bellows speaking to Professor Duncan)
World of Suspense I#4/3, p4, pan7 (Bellows, after swimming back to shore)

Appearances:
World of Suspense I#4/3 (October, 1956) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (pencils/inks), Joe Letterese (letters), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 05/30/2026
Last updated: 05/30/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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