Dr. THOMAS MARLES

Real Name: Thomas Marles

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Scientist (likely a paleontologist)

Group Membership:

Affiliations: Noel Beckford, Daily Bugle staff, Devil Dinosaur of Earth-78411, John Jonah Jameson Jr., Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder), Moon-Boy of Earth-78411, Peter Parker (Spider-Man), mayor of New York

Enemies: Princess Python (Zelda DuBois), Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt);
    indirectly the other involved members of the Circus of Crime (Antoro, Bruto the Strongman/Bruce Olafsen, Clown/Eliot Franklin, Fire-Eater/Tomas Ramirez, Great Gambonnos/Ernesto & Luigi Gambonno, Human Cannonball/Jack Pulver, Live Wire/Rance Preston)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly the Savage Land;
    former the "National G" building (see comments), Manhattan, New York

Education: PhD (likely in paleontology)

First Appearance: Spider-Man '98 (1998)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Thomas Marles was an authority and dinosaurs and primitive life forms.

    Interested in studying alien life forms in some fashion similar to pre-historic terrestrial life forms, he was opposed to the exploitation of such beings.

    Thomas wore eyeglasses, although the specific nature of his vision limitation is unrevealed

History:

(Spider-Man '98 (fb) - BTS) - Thomas Marles earned his PhD (likely in paleontology)

(Ghost Rider III#81-82 - BTS) - The Tyrannosaur-like Devil Dinosaur and the apparent primitive hominid Moon-Boy were transported to Earth-616 from their native Earth-78411 ("Dinosaur World") when young mystic Jennifer Kale attempted to transport Howard the Duck back to his native world and instead opened a portal to Dinosaur World. Frightened and entering into a conflict with Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch/Noble Kale), Howard the Duck and New York SWAT team Code: Blue, the latter of whom subdued the alien duo and took them into custody.

(Spider-Man '98 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Marles was employed by the city of New York to study and communicate with the captured duo.

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1: Devil Dinosaur article) - Per Marles' notes, he and the captured duo swiftly became friends.

(Spider-Man '98 (fb) - BTS) - In his enthusiasm to teach Moon-Boy English, Dr. Marles gave him free access to television; as a result, Moon-Boy frequently mimicked the speech of various television characters.

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1: Devil Dinosaur article) - News of the presence of a dinosaur and a primitive hominid in New York brought out a number of animal rights activists who distrusted Marles' motives. In response, Marles turned to Daily Bugle journalist Noel Beckford to help promote his benevolent intentions.

(Spider-Man '98 (fb) - BTS) - Noel brought photographer Peter Parker with her to cover the story.

(Spider-Man '98) - Dr. Marles met with Beckford and Parker outside of the building out of which he was based. As a crowd of protesters shouted demands, Thomas apologized for the unpleasantness and asked her to accompany him inside where it was safer. Noel requested a minute, as the Daily Bugle had sent them to cover the whole story, and so Parker needed to get some pictures of the protesters.

    Inside the building, Dr. Marles noted that the heavy police presence was at the insistence of "certain misguided city officials," whom he suspected to have watched movies like "King Kong" and "Mighty Joe Young" too many times. He then brought Parker and Beckford to the cage containing Devil Dinosaur, assuring them that Devil Dinosaur could be quite friendly when given half a chance. When Parker noted that he'd never seen a dinosaur with red skin, Thomas -- unaware that Peter was Spider-Man and had actually encountered dinosaurs before -- assumed he meant from books or movies, and he noted that it was conceivable that his species was more colorful than modern scientists imagined. He then explained that Devil had been discovered in the East Village, but that how he had gotten there was still a mystery; at Peter's query, Thomas noted that it was possible that they had come from the Savage Land (the Antarctic habitat containing living species from Earth's history, created by the Nuwali at the behest of the Beyonders), but that the only way he could learn the answer was if he was given sufficient time to study Devil and his companion.

    At that point, Moon-Boy entered the room, and Dr. Marles introduced him, noting his potential origins and the close bond between him and Devil. Explaining why Moon-Boy's speech patterns shifted to rapidly, Thomas noted that it was obvious how intelligent he was; however, they were then interrupted by Maynard Tiboldt (with his assistant Zelda DuBois), who interjected, "...and yet, you believe you have the right to experiment on him and his dinosaur." After the surprised Dr. Marles advised him that this was supposed to be a secure area, Tiboldt introduced himself and explained that the guards had stepped aside upon seeing his court order, which he shared with Marles. Tiboldt stated that Moon-Boy had declared a member of a minority group and that the court had appointed and his assistant to investigate alleged violations of his civil rights.

    Dr. Marles initially denounced the charges as preposterous, insisting that his authority had come directly from the mayor and that he had done everything by the book. He reviewed the document, which stated that he had been illegally detaining Moon-Boy against his will and that he should be free to leave whenever he wanted, and he considered that he could not believe that any sane judge at signed such nonsense. Although Parker recognized Tiboldt as the Ringmaster of Crime (and DuBois as Princess Python) and suspected that he had obtained the order by mesmerizing a judge, he was reluctant to divulge this to avoid exposing his own secret identity.

    Pressed by Tiboldt (and DuBois, who assured him, "Mr. Tiboldt has the child's best interests at heart"), Dr. Marles allowed Tiboldt to take Moon-Boy into a private room so he could examine him and make a recommendation.

(Spider-Man '98 - BTS) - Alone with Moon-Boy, Tiboldt mesmerized him to follow his instructions...

(Spider-Man '98) - Moon-Boy subsequently announced that while he liked Dr. Marles and his friends, he wished for himself and Devil to...

(Spider-Man '98 - BTS) - ...join the circus (of crime).

(Spider-Man '98) - At the Daily Bugle building, Dr. Marles discussed his concerns with Beckford, Parker and publisher J. Jonah Jameson, the latter of whom Thomas informed that he doubted that there was any real danger. He further asked Jameson to help him sway public opinion that if legitimate scientists were not permitted to study Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur that they should be released into the wild, rather than exploited for economic gain. Considering that Jonah would only jump on a cause that spiked his sales figures, Parker departed to investigate the Circus of Crime.

(Spider-Man '98 - BTS) - The Ringmaster assured Spider-Man that he only intended to honorably profit for using Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur as legitimate stars of his show. Unconvinced, Spider-Man promised to attend the opening night show, fully-prepared to bring him down.

(Spider-Man '98 (fb) - BTS) - Parker and Beckford were given tickets to the show, and Noel shared the extra given to her by her editor (Joe "Robbie" Robertson?) with Dr. Marles.

(Spider-Man '98) - As Dr. Marles and Noel were in line for the show, they encountered Parker, with whom Thomas shared that Tiboldt had agreed to a meeting with him, and that he hoped to convince Tiboldt of the importance of his studies. Once in their seats, Parker explained that he was wearing dark sunglasses per doctor's orders to cut down on eyestrain (although in reality he wore them to protect him against the Ringmaster's mesmerizing technology in case he reverted to his typical modus operandi). However, the show went off as the Ringmaster had stated, and he did not make any effort to mesmerize and/or loot the crowd.

(Spider-Man '98 - BTS) - Hearing from Ben Urich of robberies that would have seemed to require trained acrobats to accomplish, Parker correctly suspected the involvement of the Circus of Crimes' acrobatic Great Gambonnos. Investigating as Spider-Man, he confirmed that they were committing crimes while a large percentage of the police force was stationed by the circus performance. Spider-Man captured Luigi Gambonno and Fire-Eater in the process.

    Spider-Man subsequently returned to the show to confront the Ringmaster, who pitted the rest of the Circus of Crime, including the mesmerized Moon-Boy and Devil against him.

(Spider-Man '98) - Having come back for this show, Thomas told Noel that he was glad they had come back for this show, and she agreed it.

(Spider-Man '98 - BTS) - After Moon-Boy was struck by the Human Cannonball, he was snapped out of Tiboldt's mesmerism, and he led Devil to help Spider-Man finish off the rest of the Circus, including punching out the Ringmaster himself.

(Spider-Man '98) - As the police carted away the Circus of Crime, Spider-Man met with Noel and Dr. Marles, who noted his surprise at how Tiboldt had manipulated everyone. Thomas considered that he could have Moon-Boy and Devil returned to his custody, but at Spider-Man's suggestion, he instead agreed to have them re-located to the Savage Land.

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1: Devil Dinosaur article) - Devil and Moon-Boy were marked with radioactive tags in the event that should be interest in future study (presumably as well as locating them as needed).

(Spider-Man '98) - Dr. Marles, Noel and Parker were present in the Savage Land as Devil and Moon-Boy enjoyed their freedom, and Noel shared that she had decided to stay and help Thomas with his studies: "We're going on this grand adventure together!"

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1: Devil Dinosaur article (fb) - BTS) - Following Dr. Marles' (and presumably Noel's) departure, Ka-Zar (aka Lord Plunder) assured him that his old friends were getting along fine...although Devil refused to acknowledge Ka-Zar or any other human in the area as his "lord," insisting that he was just passing through.

    This profile was completed 05/21/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent the Monster Hunters.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Thomas Marles should be distinguished from:

• JACOB MARLEY - former partner of Ebenezer Scrooge--A Christmas Carol
• other "Thomas" or "Marley" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
  

First posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 05/21/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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