Real Name: Leonard Gade (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human mutate (World War II era)

Occupation: Adventurer, research scientist

Group Membership: "Crazy SUES" (Specialized Unit, Enhanced Soldiers) - American Ace/Ace Masters, Archie the Gruesome/Alec Archie?, Blue Diamond/Elton Morrow, Bucky/James Barnes, Sgt. Byrd, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Flame/Frank Cortez, Davey Drew, Father Time/Larry Scott, Fighting Yank/Bill Prince, the Fin/Peter Noble, Robert "Flash" Foster, Doug "Jap-Buster" Johnson, Albert "Slow Motion" Jones, Merzah the Mystic, Moon-Man/Larry, Secret Stamp/Roddy Colt, Captain. Bob Strong, Jim "Taxi" Taylor and T-Mech, Vagabond/Pat Murphy, Victory Boys/Piotr & others, Young Avenger/Bill Byron)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Joseph "Fatty" Lloyd, "Deadpan Louie" Sansome, George Sporvan, unidentified assassin

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His laboratory in an unidentified American city; mobile during World War II

First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#2/7 (April, 1940)

Powers/Abilities: Having a Ph.D. in physics, Gade was an inventive genius; following a laboratory mishap, he gained the power to mentally bend light waves around his body and become invisible -- although he could see while invisible, it is unrevealed how he maintained his eyesight. Initially, he was either completely invisible or visible; later, he seemed to have learned to make only portions of his body invisible (...or possibly an indication he was losing control of his power to remain visible; see comments).

He could be rendered visible while in range of the energy produced by an experimental generator he built, which gave him the ability to appear and disappear at will; earlier, he required occasional recharging from this same generator to maintain his power, but later he seemed to no longer need the device. He also seemed to be immune to flames (initially, at least).

His lab also had a disintegration machine that he had invented earlier.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

History:
(Mystic Comics I#2/7) - While working in his lab, Gade was assaulted by an assassin sent by George Sporvan, who resented that Gade's inventions benefited others. Gade was pushed into his work furnace by the hired killer, but wasn't burned by the flames -- an apparent combination of the chemicals he spilled upon himself when he was pushed and the furnace's heat somehow granted him the power to become invisible.

   The uninjured and unseen Gade climbed out of the furnace, but he seemed to be permanently invisible, so he used a ray generator which charged him with energy and gave him control of his newfound power. As the Invisible Man, Gade went to confront Sporvan in the criminal's office. After killing the assassin and Sporvan's partner Wymac, the Invisible Man departed and left Sporvan for the police, who came to investigate the disturbance; but Sporvan escaped arrest and stole the police car, then drove to Gade's laboratory to await his return.

   With his invisibility power waning, the fully-visible Gade returned to his lab to replenish himself; but before he could do so, Sporvan attacked him. Sporvan's punch knocked Gade into the generator, and Gade's power was restored. When the two pursuing police officers arrived, the Invisible Man picked up Sporvan and hurled him into his lab's disintegration machine, and Sporvan was blown to atoms.

   Since they felt that no one would ever believe what had happened, the police officers decided to just report that both Sporvan and Gade were missing -- meanwhile, the unseen Invisible Man thought to himself that he would have lots of upcoming adventures with his power.

(Mystic Comics I#3/9) - When "Deadpan Louie" and his henchmen were robbing the graves of wealthy people who had been buried with their valuables, the Invisible Man got involved, even to the extent of faking his own death.

(Mystic Comics I#4/6) - Gade investigated the death of pretty actress Janet Wayne, an apparent suicide; but after learning she was actually murdered by "Fatty" Lloyd and his gang, the Invisible Man exacted bitter justice.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (fb)) - During World War II, Gade was recruited into the "Crazy SUES," a specialized military unit attached to the 101st Air Assault Division -- these "super-soldiers" were minor heroes under the command of Sgt. Byrd and Captain America, and they would be sent on combat operations deep behind enemy lines. Gade wore a standard-issue infantry uniform, and he was armed with a standard military rifle.

   On August 7th, 1942, Gade and the other Crazy SUES were aboard a transport plane flying over the South Pacific. When the plane reached the jump-zone, the Crazy SUES--along with Captain America and Bucky--parachuted down to Guadalcanal to take on the forces of the Imperial Japanese Army. Upon landing, the Crazy SUES were pinned down by gunfire, so Sgt. Byrd ordered "Slow Motion" Jones to run up a hill at super-speed and take out the enemy machine gun nest by surprise from behind.

   During a break from combat, the Crazy SUES were relaxing after they set up camp -- the Young Avenger was showing a photograph of his girlfriend to the Invisible Man.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (fb)) - On August 13th, 1942, Gade and the Crazy SUES were still fighting the Japanese at Guadalcanal. During a battle, Captain Flame was having trouble containing his power with so many explosions going off nearby, and he warned the others to stay away. As the enemy soldiers advanced towards them, Captain Flame released a burst of fiery energy, which ended the attack, but also inadvertently killed "Jap-Buster" Johnson and disfigured the face of Davey Drew in the process.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4 (fb)) - At some point, Gade and the other Crazy SUES were aboard a transport plane headed to Europe, presumably to take part in the Normandy Invasion ("D-Day"); Gade seemed to struggle keeping himself visible during the flight (perhaps caused by his anxiety over the upcoming mission?). After reaching the jump-zone, they all parachuted down near the Normandy village of Sainte Mere Eglise. At some point later, the Crazy SUES went to a celebratory get-together with the Invaders and other military personnel -- presumably, the Invisible Man was present (see comments).

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1 (fb)) - Prior to June 25th, 1944, the Invisible Man and Blue Diamond were sent on an unspecified mission to Vimoutieres, France, but they were captured by the Nazis. While they were being interrogated, the Invisible Man refused to reveal anything but his name (see comments), rank, and serial number, despite being beaten bloody; but the two were rescued by Taxi Taylor, T-Mech, and Young Avenger.

(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (fb)) - On July 7th, 1944, Gade and the Crazy SUES were planning battle tactics with Sgt. Byrd in a barn on a farm near Bretteville-sur-Laise, France; they later went on to drive the Nazis out of France.

   By August 29th, 1944, Gade and his teammates were wearing dress uniforms and celebrating their battlefield victories at an outdoor cafe in Paris, France. The invisible Gade joined some of the other men when they went off to pursue some local women -- the women were probably startled when they saw Gade's seemingly "empty" uniform approaching them (see comments).

   Shortly afterward, in a small town in Belgium, Captain America, Bucky, and the Crazy SUES were clearing the town of Nazis; but the Nazis suddenly attacked in force, and a bullet hit Gade in his ankle. As a Panzer tank rolled up, the remaining Crazy SUES scattered for cover, but they were greatly outnumbered. The wounded Gade began to panic ("We're not gonna make it...we're gonna die..."), but Captain America offered him some words of encouragement. When all looked lost, "Slow Motion" Jones convinced Captain Flame (who was overcome with fear) to use his power at full-force, and the Panzer was destroyed.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Newt Alfred.

The blurb at the end of the story in Mystic Comics I#4 (NEXT MONTH THE INVISIBLE MAN STRIKES TERROR INTO THE HEARTS OF HARDENED CRIMINALS) implied there would be further tales, but it was actually the final story of this feature, and the Invisible Man would not be seen again for seven decades, until the Band of Heroes mini-series.

Dr. Gade's identity seemed to be publicly known -- not only did "Deadpan Louie" know that Gade could turn invisible, but he also knew where his lab was.

All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes was supposed to be an 8-issue mini-series, but it was cancelled with the fifth issue due to low sales, so unfortunately the story was never completed, thus the final fate of the Invisible Man remains unrevealed. The Invisible Man seemed to play a relatively minor role in this series and didn't really do much, so I may have missed some of his appearances (...gimme a break...after all, he was invisible).

In the Mystic Comics stories, Gade's original costume (which he was wearing when he got pushed in the furnace) also disappeared whenever he turned invisible -- maybe it underwent some kind of unstable molecule change during his origin (kind of like Sue Storm @ Fantastic Four I#1). But I have no idea why he was wearing gaudy red shirt and pants--along with a hat and a cape--while he was indoors -- maybe he was about to go to a costume party dressed as "The Crimson Crime-Fighter" or something.

However, in the Band of Heroes series, Gade's military-issue clothing always remained visible while his body was invisible -- to be completely invisible he would have to be naked (which he appeared to be when he was captured and interrogated by the Nazis), so I guess it's lucky for him he was in Europe during the summer months.

Gade didn't use the generator when he was with the Crazy SUES, and he seemed to be invisible most of the time -- I guess it was too inconvenient to transport such a large device around the various battlefields where he served.

The original Invisible Man feature would seem to have been inspired by the radio-program version of The Shadow (which was slightly different from the pulp-magazine character). Much like the Shadow, Gade seemed to have no qualms about killing his enemies.

His first name was never mentioned in any of the three Mystic Comics stories; but in Marvel Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special, his first name was revealed as "Leonard" (...along with the full names of his three adversaries). However, in the All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes series, there were some discrepancies regarding Gade's first name: In issue #1, when he was being interrogated by the Nazis, he gave his name as "Corporal Gade, William D.", and in Young Avenger/Bill Byron's narrative flashback in issue #2, Byron referred to him as "Harry Gade".

This profile was completed on 03/06/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Invisible Man (Leonard Gade) should not be confused with:

• ADAM CLAYTON - aka Invisible Man, could run at superhuman speed--Strange Tales I#67
• INVISBLE MAN (Gallahger) - enemy of Agent X--Agent X#8
• any other characters with similar names, or any other characters who could turn invisible

generator One of the devices in Dr. Gade's laboratory, it was used by the scientist after an attempt on his life had the effect of rendering him invisible. The rays emitted by the generator gave Gade increased vitality and enabled him to control of his invisibility. (Comment: In the Mystic Comics stories, Gade wore a belt with buttons that he pressed to turn visible or invisible -- the belt was probably some sort of battery that absorbed the generator's energy and acted as a portable version of the device; in his later appearances, Gade wasn't wearing the belt, so by then he had probably internalized enough of the energy in his body that he was able to just will himself to vanish and reappear.) --Mystic Comics I#2/7 (2/7, 3/9

disintegration machine One of the devices in Dr. Gade's laboratory, it could atomize anything that came into contact with it. During his battle with George Sporvan, the Invisible Man hurled the criminal into the machine, and Sporvan was reduced to atoms. (Comment: This device only appeared in two panels of the last page, and the one with Sporvan hitting it is the best view of it.) --Mystic Comics I#2/7

George Sporvan An "unscrupulous money king," Sporvan maintained an office on the 40th floor of an unidentified building with his partner Wymac (first name unrevealed). Sporvan was concerned that the "troublesome" Dr. Gade's inventions were making life "too easy, too cheap" for others, so he hired an assassin to kill Gade. But Gade actually survived the attempted murder, and was endowed with the power of invisibility. When the assassin went to Spovan's office to be paid, the Invisible Man threw him out a window; Gade momentarily turned himself visible, so Sporvan grabbed his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, Gade vanished again. The Invisible Man then grabbed Sporvan's arm and forced him to shoot Wymac. Moments later, two police officers arrived to investigate the disturbance -- Sporvan insisted he was innocent because the death's were caused by an invisible man, so the disbelieving cops took him into custody. But just as they got to the street, Sporvan broke away from his captors and drove away in their car to Gade's lab. Sporvan ambushed Gade when he returned to his laboratory, but was eventually thrown into Gade's disintegrating machine and blown to atoms. --Mystic Comics I#2/7

"Deadpan Louie" Sansome Grave-robber Sansome and his four underlings (none identified) would sneak into cemeteries late at night, where they dug up the final resting places of wealthy individuals who had been buried with their valuables -- in one known instance, they stole jewelry from a deceased financier. Their fiendish crimes were reported in newspapers, which attracted the attention of the Invisible Man. While Sansome's men were digging up a grave, they were frightened away by the Invisible Man, whom they thought to be a ghost; but when his men came back to their hideout empty-handed and told him what happened, Louie figured the "ghost" was Dr. Gade, because he knew Gade could render himself invisible (see comments). Louie and his men went to Gade's lab (see comments) and knocked him out, then tied a weight to Gade's feet and threw him in the river. But Gade was revived by the cold water and escaped; he then planted a newspaper story announcing that he had drowned and was buried with a "million dollar secret" -- Gade even arranged for allies in the police department to bury him in a grave. The next morning, Louie read a newspaper's account of Gade's "death" and wanted to get his hands on the that "million dollar secret"; that night, Louie and his men dug up Gade's casket and took it back to their hideout -- unknown to them, they were being followed by a police car.. When Louie opened the coffin and grabbed the paper with the secret, the Invisible Man's hand reached out and snatched it from him. Then the Invisible Man jumped out of the casket and made short work of the henchmen, and punched "Deadpan Louis" on the chin just as the police arrived. As "Deadpan Louie" Sonsome was arrested and taken into custody, he confessed to robbing graves, and begged the police to keep the Invisible Man away from him. --Mystic Comics I#3/9

Joseph "Fatty" Lloyd Fatty seemed to be the owner of an auto-repair garage (at least that's where his office was located), and he also owned a yacht. Possibly a crime-boss, Fatty employed four thugs (none identified) to handle his "dirty work". He was somehow involved in the drowning death of actress Janet Wayne; when Janet's friend Mary Alfred threatened to expose him for the crime, Fatty had his thugs capture Mary and take her aboard his yacht, so she would die in a similar manner as her deceased friend. Borrowing a motor boat, the Invisible Man made his way to Fatty's yacht; after climbing aboard, he freed Mary and sabotaged the yacht's engine. The Invisible Man then fought Fatty and his men, knocking them all into the ocean to drown. As Mary and the Invisible Man climbed into the motor boat and headed for shore, the yacht exploded -- the "official" story would be that Fatty was killed when the yacht blew up. --Mystic Comics I#4/6 (Comment: Fatty may have been based on silent-movie actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, whose career was ruined by scandal when he was accused of killing an aspiring actress.)

unidentified assassin This thug was hired by George Sporvan to murder scientist Dr. Gade. The killer pushed Gade into his laboratory's furnace, but exposure to some of his lab's chemicals granted Gade with the power to become invisible. When the assassin went to Sporvan's 40th floor office and collected payment for the hit, the Invisible Man punched him and pushed him out a window. --Mystic Comics I#2/7

images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special: Invisible Man profile (main image - Invisible Man)
Mystic Comics I#4/6, p1, pan1 (headshot - Invisible Man)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2, p18, pan1 (Invisible Man in Gudacanal)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4, p8, pan5 (Invisible Man aboard flight to Europe)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5, p12, pan1 (Invisible Man wearing dress uniform, approaching women in Paris, France)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1, p15, pan5 (Invisible Man reveals name while being interrogated by Nazis)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p2, pan3 (Invisible Man by generator)
Mystic Comics I#3/9, p3, pan5 (Invisible Man by generator)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p6, pan5 (George Sporvan gets hurled into disintegration machine)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p6, pan6 (disintegration machine atomizes George Sporvan)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p5, pan3 (George Sporvan)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p3, pan6 (George Sporvan; Invisible Man [background])
Mystic Comics I#3/9, p2, pan1 ("Deadpan Louie" Sansome)
Mystic Comics I#3/9, p3, pan6 ("Deadpan Louie" aims guns at Invisible Man)
Mystic Comics I#4/6, p5, pan6 (Joseph "Fatty" Lloyd)
Mystic Comics I#4/6, p2, pan6 ("Fatty" gets punched by Invisible Man)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p1, pan3 (unidentified assassin pushes Dr. Gade into furnace)
Mystic Comics I#2/7, p2, pan6 (unidentified assassin gets punched by Invisible Man)

Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#2/7 (April, 1940) - unidentified writer, Newt Alfred (pencils), Martin Goodman (editor)
Mystic Comics I#3/9 (June, 1940) - unidentified writer, Newt Alfred (pencils/inks), Martin Goodman (editor)
Mystic Comics I#4/6 (July, 1940) - unidentified writer, George Harrison (pencils/inks), Martin Goodman (editor)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#1-5 (August-December, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Bill Rosemann & Alejandro Arbona (editors)

First posted: 09/05/2026
Last updated: 03/26/2026