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COZO

Real Name: Cozo (full name unrevealed, see comments)

Identity/Class: Normal human (19th Century era?)

Occupation: Failed stage actor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Hans (last name unrevealed), Zamoff

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Town in the "heartland of old Europe"

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#35/4 (November, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Cozo is an aggressive, overconfident and ambitious gaunt man desperate for an acting career. He had access to a pistol.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Black (formerly bald)

History:

(Tales of Suspense I#35/4) - Aspiring actors Cozo and Hans looked for acting jobs and they both went for the same role in a stage play. However, keen to be the only candidate, Cozo knocked out Hans from behind so that Hans would miss the audition. Later at the theater, the director accepted Cozo's trial but dismissed him off as the role required a handsome man with full hair such as Hans.

(Tales of Suspense I#35/4 (fb) - BTS) - Hans revived and made it to the audition. He was hired, much to Cozo's chagrin, yet Cozo had still learned the role as understudy.

(Tales of Suspense I#35/4) - On opening night, Cozo put mild poison in Hans' tea. Hoping to avoid closing the play, the director offered the role to Cozo and compensated for the missing hair by using a wig. Cozo gleefully took the role but his overconfidence was derailing the play and his wig came off when he removed his hat on stage, ruining the performance. The director sacked him. Cozo thought them all jealous but still longed for hair. The next night, Cozo chanced upon the town's witchman Zamoff. Cozo confronted Zamoff and demanded the witchman give him a hair-growing potion. Zamoff denied him because of the dangers, so Cozo threatened him with a gun. The potion was soon completed and Cozo greedily drank it, then left. The next morning after sleeping, Cozo happily saw hair growing on his head.

(Tales of Suspense I#35/4 (fb) - BTS) - But the hair never stopped growing all over his body. He tried shaving it off but it grew back faster. He achieved fame as a sideshow attraction, a hairy "freak" dubbed half-human, half-monkey as "the Great Cozo"; this provided some (possibly the only available) income.

(Tales of Suspense I#35/4) - At the sideshow, Cozo glumly reflected on the witchman's warning.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko.

"Cozo" -- shortened name? Nickname? Stage name?

The buildings are the half-timbered style and horse-drawn carriages used on cobblestoned roads with gas-lamps, so I've placed it in the 19th Century.

This story was later reprinted and coloring updated in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales of Suspense, which is where the images are from.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Cozo has no known connections to:

Zamoff

Zamoff was a self-described "witchman" and considered to have magic powers with the potions he concocted. Desperate for a successful acting career that he believed relied on a full head of hair, Cozo approached Zamoff at his home one night and demanded a hair-growing potion. Zamoff denied him because of the dangers, so Cozo threatened him with a gun. The potion was soon completed and Cozo greedily drank it, then left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Tales of Suspense I#35/4

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#35/4, p3, pan1 (main image)
   p3, pan5 (headshot with wig)
   p4, pan2 (covered with hair)
   p5, pan5 (Zamoff)

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#35/4 (November, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (art)

First posted: 11/02/2026
Last updated: 11/02/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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