JESSE FESTON

Real Name: Jesse Feston (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human, possible mutant (Post-World War II Era)

Occupation: Scientist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Dr. Ofstrom

Enemies: Ambrosius, Claire Feston, Curt Feston, a tribe of cannibals

Known Relatives: Claire Feston (aunt, deceased), Curt Feston (uncle, deceased), unidentified mother (deceased), unidentified father (deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An unidentified location in an African jungle;
    formerly unidentified locations in the USA

First Appearance: Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 (June, 1953)

Powers/Abilities: Jesse Feston possessed a superhuman intellect. He seemed to possess some degree of precognition that warned him of imminent danger. Among his inventions was a shrinking formula created from atomized gas that could shrink the basic molecular structure of anything it touched. Jesse later designed a device worn on his back with a hose and spray nozzle held in his hand so he could spray people with the formula. He also created an antidote which rendered people immune to the effects of the formula.

    Jesse also grew enormous vegetables.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'1")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Bald (originally blonde)

History:
(Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 (fb) - BTS) - Jesse was orphaned at a young age. His aunt and uncle Claire and Curt Feston took custody of Jesse, adopting him as their son and receiving all the money that had belonged to his parents. Although they were supposed to hold the money in trust for Jesse until he came of age, they began spending it on themselves. Neither of them cared for Jesse, only his money.

    Jesse' strange behavior in school caused his teacher to assign Dr. Ofstrom of the College of Advanced Sciences to perform tests on him. Dr. Ofstrom determined that Jesse was physically different from other humans, noting that "Mentally, he's vastly different! He knows things that we have only guessed at... things that seem part of his subconscious! He's a phenomenon! Jesse was born two centuries too soon!"

(Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19) - While Jesse toiled in his cellar laboratory, his schoolteacher and Dr. Ofstrom held a meeting upstairs with his aunt and uncle in which Dr. Ofstrom shared the finding his tests with them. When Claire and Curt's pet cat Ambrosius wandered into the cellar, Jesse resolved to test his new shrinking formula on the pet. Jesse injected the cat, causing it to cry out. When Claire and Curt came downstairs, Jesse informed them of what he'd done and they watched as Ambrosius grew smaller until he disappeared. Jesse explained the principles of the formula to his aunt and uncle and exhibited its power again by shrinking a steel bar. Curt saw in this formula a means for them to acquire great wealth but Jesse told his uncle the formula would have to remain a secret because in the wrong hands it could be used against mankind.

    Curt suggested Jesse go upstairs and take a nap on their sofa. Once he was gone, Curt told Claire to gather up all of Jesse's notes so they would have the formula for themselves. Taking a hammer, Curt intended to club Jesse to death while he was asleep then use the formula to make his body disappear. However, at the moment Curt swung the hammer, Jesse awoke, his great brain having evidently warned him of the peril. Curt continued to menace Jesse with the hammer but Jesse noted that, while he had worn a mask during his demonstrations in the cellar, his uncle and aunt hadn't and must have been exposed to the formula because they were shrinking in size. Claire and Curt pleaded with Jesse to save them but he dispassionately watched them shrink. Once they were no larger than ants, he stepped on them. Jesse resolved that Dr. Ofstrom was correct about him, in that he was not of this generation and people wouldn't understand him, and like his aunt and uncle, people who didn't understand and would try to destroy him. Jesse also resolved that, to protect himself, he would have to destroy all mankind. He left his aunt and uncle's house to begin his plans.

(Adventures into Weird Worlds I#20) - Jesse fled to an abandoned shack far from any populated areas where he could live apart from other people. He began to work at perfecting his shrinking gas. To sustain himself, he grew crops of enormous vegetables and shrunk cattle so he could keep them in pens at his laboratory.

    As Jesse grew to maturity, his cranium continued to grow and he began wearing glasses. Jesse's remote laboratory was eventually visited by a husband, wife and child who had purchased the property and were surprised to find someone else living there. When the man demanded Jesse leave, Jesse sprayed the husband and wife with his formula. Once they were the size of ants, he stepped on them. The couple's son fled but dropped a copy of Gulliver's Travels as he ran. Examining the book, Jesse was reminded of how it depicted the giant Gulliver amongst a population of miniature people. Realizing he would never live to reach the world of the future in which he belonged, Jesse resolved to be master of the world by shrinking the Earth's population so that he would tower over them.

    In the years that followed, Jesse journeyed to remote locations across the globe but as people kept discovering his laboratories, he would have to leave them. He finally located a remote corner of an African jungle and set up his laboratory there. He finally perfected the shrinking formula but his laboratory was found by a tribe of cannibals. Jesse exposed them to the formula while taking his antidote so he wouldn't shrink from exposure to it. The shrunken cannibals begged Jesse for mercy and he resolved to let them live as his slaves.

    Jesse soon began lording over the shrunken cannibals, seeing his rule over them as the beginning of what would soon be his domination over all mankind. However, the cannibals still despised him. One night, one of them knocked over a bottle of the formula and the vapors affected Jesse as he woke up. Realizing he was shrinking, Jesse ran to the antidote but he was already too small to open the bottle. As Jesse continued to shrink, the shrunken cannibals surrounded him until he was smaller than they were. Finally, one of them crushed Jesse under his foot.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and John Forte.

    It's a bit odd that this two-parter was drawn by two different artists. Joe Maneely's recap of the events of Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 at the start of issue #20 looks quite different in his distinctive style than what John Forte drew. Claire, Curt and Dr. Ofstrom all appeared in the recap in issue #20 but with no new information revealed.

    We don't seem to actually know for sure that Jesse's original last name was Feston but it was indeed legally changed to Feston when he was adopted by his aunt and uncle. Since Curt Feston was the brother of Jesse's mother, making Feston his mother's maiden name (assuming she was married to Jesse's father), it seems somewhat unlikely that Jesse's birth surname was Feston. His birth surname was likely that of his father's and it was legally changed by adoption to Feston. --Proto-Man

    This profile was completed 05/20/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Jesse Feston should not be confused with:

Claire & Curt Feston

Claire and Curt Feston were Jesse's aunt and uncle. Curt was the brother of Jesse's mother. After Jesse's parents were killed, Claire and Curt adopted Jesse but cared very little for him, instead wishing to possess his money. Although they were supposed the hold the money in trust until Jesse came of age, they began spending the money on themselves and feared what might happen if the fate of the money were found out.

One day, while Jesse was toiling in his cellar laboratory, Claire and Curt were visited by Jesse's schoolteacher and Dr. Ofstrom, who shared the results of tests Dr. Ofstrom had performed on Jesse which revealed he was unusually smart. After Dr. Ofstrom left, they saw Jesse use his newly-created formula to shrink their pet cat Ambrosius into nothing. Jesse went on to explain the formula's use and demonstrate its abilities to them but when Curt suggested this could earn them millions, Jesse opined his formula should remain a secret lest it be misused. Curt sent Jesse upstairs to rest on the sofa then explained to Claire they would have to kill Jesse so they could have the formula for themselves. Claire took up the paper copy of the formula while Curt took a hammer, intending to bludgeon Jesse to death in his sleep then use the formula to shrink his remains into nothing. However, Jesse's great intellect warned him of impending danger and he awoke a moment before the hammer could strike him. Curt continued to menace him but, during the earlier demonstration, Claire and Curt had both breathed in the formula while Jesse wore a mask. Realizing their danger, they begged Jesse for help but their attempted murder had cooled Jesse's demeanor. Jesse let them shrink to the size of ants then stepped on them. This episode hardened Jesse's heart, causing his resolve to destroy mankind.

--Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 (#20 (fb),

Dr. Ofstrom

Dr. Ofstrom was a professor from the College of Advanced Sciences. Dr. Ofstrom was assigned by Jesse's school to examine him. From his tests, Dr. Ofstrom determined Jesse was physically different from other humans, concluding he was born "two centuries too soon!" Dr. Ofstrom held a meeting with Claire and Curt Feston in their home, where he shared his findings and advised them Jesse was a genius. Dr. Ofstrom opined that Claire and Curt should treat Jesse "wisely and with affection" but to allow him to do as he wished. Dr. Ofstrom thought in particular that Jesse's experiments could be extremely helpful to science and civilization.





--Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 (#20 (fb),

images: (without ads)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#20, page 4, panel 6 (Jesse Feston, main)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#20, page 4, panel 2 (Jesse Feston, headshot)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19, page 1, panel 1 (teenage Jesse Feston)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19, page 1, panel 2 (Claire/Curt)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19, page 3, panel 1 (Ofstrom)

Appearances:
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#19 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, John Forte (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Adventures into Weird Worlds I#20 (July, 1953) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/09/2026
Last updated: 05/20/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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