JAN QUILL

Real Name: Jan Quill

Identity/Class: Human (deceased) (1950s era)

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Robed One (Ellen; last name unrevealed) (see comments))

Enemies: Robed One (Ellen)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Part-Time Corpse" (in story title only); "Jan darling" (as called by Ellen)

Base of Operations: A rented room in an unidentified American city

First Appearance: Mystic#33/3 (September, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: Prior to his death, Jan Quill had been a normal human with no paranormal abilities.

Quill was somehow returned to life by supernatural means (see comments), but his time on Earth was limited to only Tuesdays (from dawn to midnight), after which he had to return to his grave until the following week.

Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Blond

History:
(Mystic#33/3) - The past of Jan Quill before his death is largely unrevealed, but he died under unspecified circumstances at the age of twenty-eight. No one claimed his corpse as it lay at Newgate Mortuary, and when he was buried two days later, there was no one to mourn his passing.

   Three days later, on a Tuesday morning, Quill found himself standing in front of his tombstone--although he knew he was dead, he had inexplicably been returned to solid flesh (see comments). Then Quill heard a voice address him from behind; he turned and saw a figure wearing a dark hooded robe. The "Robed One" explained to Quill that he would be able to return to life on Tuesdays only; although Quill had many questions, the Robed One promised him that someday, when he was ready, he would know the answers. Quill was grateful for his return (...he thought living one day a week was better than not living at all), and he was told that if he ever wanted to see the Robed One again, he merely had to think hard and the Robed One would appear. The Robed One then told Quill that he must always return to his grave by midnight for the rest of the week.

   As the Robed One walked off into the shadows of the graveyard, Quill decided to make up for all the fun he'd missed in life. He began carousing at the night-clubs he had never gone to before his death, and on each Tuesday he would return to the land of the living to enjoy the excitement of the crowds. On one of those Tuesdays, Quill met a beautiful girl--Ellen--and fell in love for the first time. Jan and Ellen began dating every Tuesday, and their relationship went on for some time; but Quill was forced to lie to Ellen when he told her that he was a traveling salesman (...to explain his absence on the other days of the week).

   Every Tuesday, Quill would go to Ellen's home and spend the entire day with her. But Quill grew bitter when the time came for him to leave her and return to his final resting place in the cold ground, for he wanted to marry Ellen. As he returned to the cemetery, Quill called upon the Robed One and explained that he needed more time among the living because he was in love; but the Robed One told Quill that what he desired was impossible. As he begrudgingly returned to his grave, Quill was determined to somehow find a way to extend his time on Earth.

   The next Tuesday when he returned to life, Quill went to the public library, and in the Supernatural Phenomena section, he located a book--Control of Demons and Other Spirits--with which he sought a way to force the Robed One to grant his request. As he pored through the arcane tome, Quill found the mystic formula for a curse-potion for use against supernatural entities. Quill gathered all the ingredients the formula required and took them back to his rented room, where he mixed an unbearably intoxicating brew from the animal parts and secret herbs. When he was finished, Quill planned to use the flask of the potion to make the Robed One give him more time among the living, or he would destroy him.

   As Quill waited in his room for the midnight hour to approach, he thought of how he was doing it all for the love of Ellen--he'd never be able to marry her the way things were, and he was willing to risk everything for her sake.

   At the stroke of twelve, Quill nervously called out for the Robed One; the Robed One appeared and asked Quill why he had not returned to his coffin. Quill once again begged to be given more time on Earth, but the Robed One merely apologized and told Quill he had to be satisfied with what little happiness he had, then insisted that Quill return to his grave at once.

   Realizing it was futile trying to convince the spectral being otherwise, Quill stabbed the Robed One with a steel stake and doused him with the the curse-potion.

   The slain Robed One collapsed to the floor, and Jan Quill screamed twice--the first time, when he saw the now-revealed face of the Robed One and realized it was actually Ellen...the second time, when he saw his own body was dissipating into nothingness.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Al Eadeh (artist).

Exactly how Jan Quill returned to life was unspecified--his grave was undisturbed, so it's not as if he crawled from it like a zombie; nor was it explained exactly how he returned back to his grave. My guess is that Quill's spirit inhabited a duplicate of his body (created by Ellen) that was composed of ectoplasm which would materialize every Tuesday morning and dematerialize at midnight; when Ellen was killed, her spell was broken, which resulted in Quill's duplicate body disintegrating.

It was never explained where Quill got the money to pay for the rented room and the ingredients for the curse-potion (...not to mention for all that bar-hopping he did).

This was only a 5-page story, and it was never revealed how Ellen knew of Quill's death or why she chose him. And the exact details of Ellen's true nature were never explained, but considering the title of that book Quill consulted in the library, I assume she was some some kind of spirit or demon (...in which case, since her last name was never mentioned, I'll suggest that it be "Beck"--"Ellen Beck" as sort of a pun on the expression "hell and back").

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Jan Quill has no known connections to:

Ellen has no known connections to:

Robed One/Ellen

Apparently some type of supernaturally-empowered being (see comments), she seemed to possess the power of teleportation and the ability to resurrect the dead; she also seemed to have a telepathic link with Jan Quill and would appear whenever Quill called upon the Robed One.

For unspecified reasons, she resurrected the deceased Jan Quill--Ellen first appeared to him disguised as the Robed One at the cemetery where Quill had been buried (Since Quill assumed the Robed One was a "he," Ellen must have somehow disguised her voice while incognito). The Robed One told Quill that he could only return to life on Tuesdays, and warned Quill that he had to return to his grave by midnight until the following week.

Ellen later met Quill while he was at a night-club, and he fell in love with her; the two began dating regularly every Tuesday, and Quill eventually wanted to marry Ellen. When Quill asked the Robed One for more time among the living, the Robed One denied Quill's request and told him it was impossible.

Jan Quill became determined to force the Robed One to give him more time so he could marry Ellen, so he brewed a curse-potion to use against his mysterious benefactor. After stabbing the Robed One with a steel stake and dousing "him" with the potion, Quill was horrified when he saw the concealed face of the Robed One and learned that "he" was really Ellen.

--Mystic#33/3

images: (without ads)
Mystic#33/3, p1, pan4 (Main Image - Jan Quill standing before his grave)
Mystic#33/3, p2, pan1 (Headshot - Jan Quill first encounters Robed One)
Mystic#33/3, p4, pan3 (Jan Quill reading book in public library)
Mystic#33/3, p5, pan7 (Jan Quill fades away as he sees slain Robed One was really Ellen)
Mystic#33/3, p2, pan1 (Robed One (Headshot, side view) informs Jan Quill of his limited time on Earth)
Mystic#33/3, p5, pan3 (Robed One appears in Jan Quill's rented room at midnight)
Mystic#33/3, p3, pan3 (Ellen greets Jan Quill)
Mystic#33/3, p3, pan1 (Ellen walking with Jan Quill)

Appearances:
Mystic#33/3 (September, 1954) - unidentified writer, Al Eadeh (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

Last updated: 11/22/17

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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