TIM BLAKE
Real Name: Tim Blake
Identity/Class: Human mutate (1950s era)
Occupation: Advertising model
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Millie (last name unrevealed)
Enemies: Millie's boyfriend, unidentified shopkeeper
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Scarecrow
Base of Operations: His apartment in an unidentified American city
First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#2/1 (August, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: Tim Blake was a puny milquetoast who was transformed into a rugged and muscle-bound he-man after drinking a magical "potion of power," and he was then endowed with peak human-level strength. Formerly meek and timid, Blake's personality changed with his new body and he became domineering, cruel, and brutal.
Although initially pleased with his transformation, Blake was horrified when shortly afterward he discovered the potion had the side-effect of somehow increasing his weight to such an extent that nothing could support his bulk, and he found himself plunging into the bowels of the earth.
Height: 5' 7" (before potion, by approximation); 6' 3" (after potion, by
approximation)
Weight: 120 lbs. (before potion, by approximation); 220 lbs.
(after potion, by approximation)
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Blond
History:
(Journey into Mystery I#2/1) - The past of Tim Blake is largely
unknown, but he was a self-described "undersized runt" who was always
bullied and shoved around by larger men, and he was derisively called
"Scarecrow" because of his skinny physique. He
eventually found employment working as the BEFORE model for Vigomin, a
nutritional supplement. Blake led a joyless, frustrated life,
and he was shunned by women because of his puny body. Although he wanted to build up his thin
frame, nothing he tried helped his physical condition.
Blake was smitten by Millie, a waitress at a diner he frequented, and one day he worked up the courage to ask her for a date, but she turned him down because she already had a boyfriend. Millie's boyfriend overheard Blake talking to Millie, and the bigger and stronger man threatened him, so Blake had no choice but to leave the diner.
Despondently wandering the streets, Blake came upon an odd curio shop, the signs of which claimed that magical items were sold within. He entered, and the strange shopkeeper (who reminded Blake of a wizard of legendary days) seemed to be able to read his mind, for he knew immediately what Blake wanted and offered to sell him the "potion of power," claiming that it would build up his muscles overnight--at a cost of only 50 cents, Blake decided it was worth taking a chance. But when the shopkeeper also offered to sell him the antidote for $100, Blake thought the shopkeeper was trying to swindle him and turned him down, because he figured he wouldn't need it. That night, as Blake prepared for bed, he drank the vial of the potion, though he had his doubts that it would really work. But when he awoke the next morning, he found his pajamas shredded from his newly-formed bulging muscles.
After admiring his muscular physique in the mirror, Blake bought a new suit, and as he swaggered down the street, he caught the eye of many an admiring woman for the first time in his life. Then he decided it was time for a little payback from some of the people who had mistreated him. First he gave his abusive boss a good swift kick on the posterior; then Blake went to the beach and challenged a lifeguard to a muscle comparison and humbled him. But Blake's crowning triumph came when he returned to the diner and kissed Millie right on the lips, which enraged her boyfriend; but Blake just punched the big goon and knocked him unconscious--Blake even kicked him when he was down, figuring a few broken ribs were what he deserved. Before the evening was over, Blake had bullied Millie into going on a date with him, and he even demanded that she marry him--Millie reluctantly agreed, just to get away from him.
But later that night in his apartment, Blake awoke in gibbering terror when his bed suddenly collapsed under his weight. He staggered to a chair, but it also broke when he sat on it. Fearfully, Blake realized what was happening to him--his weight was somehow increasing, and he knew it must be because of the potion he drank. In desperation, Blake screeched helplessly for the antidote, willing to pay any price for it. But suddenly the floor under him creaked and gave way and he fell through, and he continued to plummet through the floors of all the apartments below his. He discovered that even the ground itself couldn't support his tremendous weight, for Tim Blake's plunge continued into the stygian depths of the earth...
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Russ Heath (artist)
Blake's final fate is unknown--assuming he survived, maybe he later ran into Victor Avery (who found himself in a similar predicament).
This story reminds me of those old Charles Atlas body-building ads--The Insult that Made a Man Out of Mac--that used to appear in comic-books.
The "potion of power"--Doctor Erskine's "Super Soldier Serum" did something similar to another scrawny, blond-haired guy (...although without the same seemingly fatal results).
The unidentified shopkeeper--I wonder if Dr. Strange was ever one of his customers.
In Incredible Hulk II#254 (December, 1988) Ironclad lost control over his ability to increase his own weight and began to sink toward the center of the Earth, so could Tim Blake also (unknowingly) have the ability to increase his own weight?
--Gammatotem
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tim Blake has no known connections to:
Millie the waitress has no known connections to:
He was an old gnome-like proprietor of a strange curio shop that sold magical items. One evening, the dejected Tim Blake came into his store, looking for a way to improve his puny body; the shopkeeper knew exactly what he wanted, and sold Blake the "potion of power" for 50 cents, which he said would build up Blake's muscles overnight. But when he also offered to sell Blake the antidote for the potion for $100, Blake refused to buy it because he figured he wouldn't need it.
--Journey into Mystery I#2/1
A waitress at a diner that Tim Blake frequented, she was the object of Blake's affection. But when the skinny Blake asked her for a date, she turned him down because she already had a boyfriend.
Later, after Blake drank the "potion of power" and became a muscular man, he beat up Millie's boyfriend and bullied her into going on a date with him. Blake even insisted that Millie marry him, which she reluctantly agreed to just to get away from him.
--Journey into Mystery I#2/1
He hung around the diner where Millie worked, and he overheard Tim Blake asking Millie out for a date. Angered because the skinny little "scarecrow" was trying to make time with his girl, he intimidated Blake and made him leave.
Later, after Blake drank the "potion of power" and gave himself a muscular body, he was beaten up by Blake.
--Journey into Mystery I#2/1
images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p2, pan3 (main image, Tim Blake
(before "potion of power") looking in mirror)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p4, pan1 (Tim Blake (after
"potion of power") looking in mirror)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p4, pan4 (Tim Blake at beach,
challenging lifeguard to a muscle comparison)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p5, pan5 (Tim Blake falling
through floor)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p3, pan1 (unidentified
shopkeeper holding vial of "potion of power")
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p2, pan6 (Tim Blake at
storefront of shopkeeper's shop)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p2, pan4 (Millie)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p2, pan5 (Millie's boyfriend
(left) threatening scrawny Tim Blake)
Journey into Mystery I#2/1, p4, pan6 (Millie's boyfriend
(left) getting kayoed by muscular Tim Blake)
Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#2/1 (August, 1952) - unidentified writer, Russ Heath (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First Posted: 06/12/2016
Last updated: 06/03/2017
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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