ALFRED POOK
Real Name: Alfred Pook
Identity/Class: Human (Pre-Modern era) (see comments)
Occupation: Unrevealed;
formerly astronaut (accidental volunteer)
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Harold, Dr. Smith
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: An unidentified town;
formerly an unidentified planet;
Pre-Modern era
Powers/Abilities: Alfred was an extraordinarily timid and nervous man.
History: (Mystery Tales#45/5) - When Alfred Pook's tooth came loose, his co-worker Harold gave him a piece of paper with the name and address of his family dentist. Alfred was terrified of having his tooth pulled, but resolved to go through with it. He misread the dentist's street address and instead ended up at "Smith's Laboratories" where Dr. Smith was preparing to send a volunteer into space. Alfred mistook Smith's space vessel for a dentist's chair and strapped himself in. The liftoff knocked out his tooth, and following Smith's orders, he landed on another planet and put out a flag. Alfred thought this was a joke, Smith's way of easing a patient's tension after dentistry. When Alfred returned to Earth, he was shocked to discover that his space voyage had made him a hero -- he was just happy he'd gotten his loose tooth removed.
Comments: Created by an unknown writer.
As with many 1950s and 1960s Marvel monster stories, this
story is not confirmed as part of Earth-616 continuity, but there's nothing
to exclude it either.
--Leave it in unless something rules it out!--Snood.
This is one outlandish, ridiculous story....even by 1960s Marvel monster comics standards. Love it.
By 1960, Marvel was almost certainly not
writing any new text stories; text stories (which were only included to meet
some arcane postal regulation for cheap shipping; some were fairly good, others
were near Shatterstar-level of incomprehensibility) got repeated several times
during the Atlas era (If they'd reprinted the handful of super-hero text stories
from the 1940s, they might have encouraged some revival interest, but so it
goes.), and toward the end of pre-FF #1 and the beginning of post-FF #1, I think
reprints were all they used. Alfred Pook's story, "Strange Mission," first appeared in Mystery Tales#45, 1956. Then it was reprinted in Strange Worlds#2, 1959. Then in Journey Into Mystery I#62, 1960. Then in Strange Tales I#91, 1961. Then in Tales to Astonish I#38, 1963. And finally in Strange Tales I#122-123 (one page in each issue), 1964.
--Ronald Byrd
PROFILE BY FUTURE
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Dr. Smith has no known connection to:
Harold
Alfred's co-worker who recommended a dentist for Alfred. He used to make fun of Alfred behind his back for being so timid.
--Mystery Tales#45/5
Dr. Smith
Mistook Alfred for a volunteer to test his space vessel. He directed Alfred to a newly discovered planet and had him set down a flag. He alerted the media, and Smith and Took were heralded as heroes of space travel..
--Mystery Tales#45/5
Appearances:
Mystery Tales#45 (September, 1956)
Reprints:
Strange Worlds#2 (February, 1959)
Journey Into Mystery I#62 (June, 1961)
Strange Tales I#91 (December, 1961)
Tales to Astonish I#38 (December, 1962)
Strange Tales I#122-123 (July-August, 1964)
Last updated: 04/14/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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