Real Name: Dean (first name unrevealed, see comments)

Identity/Class: Human mutant (1950s era) (see comments)

Occupation: None

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Dr. Hinton

Known Relatives: Jim Dean (father), Martha Dean (mother)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His parents' home, somewhere in America

First Appearance: Marvel Tales I#128/5 (November, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: Apparently a freak of advanced human evolution, Baby was physically and mentally developed far beyond the usual standards of a newborn child. He could intuitively understand English, and he was able to read. Because of his superior intellectual capacity, Baby did not conduct himself in the manner of a normal infant, but he later consulted a book to learn to mimic the behavior of a newborn (e.g. crying, gurgling).

Baby apparently possessed great psychic abilities, because he was able to dominate the minds of his parents and wipe recent memories from their brains; he could also somehow kill an individual by using a prolonged stare--it was unrevealed if he possessed any other powers (see comments).

Although his true agenda and motivations remain a mystery (as no word- or thought-balloons where depicted for him), Baby seemed to be an inherently evil being.

Height: 28" (by approximation)
Weight: 29 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Reddish-brown

History:
(Marvel Tales I#128/5) - Ten days after Baby was born, his beaming parents brought him home from the hospital; Martha and Jim Dean noticed how strong and big their newborn son was, and how he always watched them with his young and wise eyes, as if he understood what they were saying.

   Three months later, Martha commented that Baby never cried ("He's the best baby...no trouble at all!"); Jim began to wonder if their child was normal, so he went to the hospital where Baby was born. A doctor read Baby's file aloud to let Jim know that his son was quite large at birth, with more strength and agility than ordinary, and that he reacted to outside stimulus without fear; but aside from those few minor points, the doctor considered Baby to be physically normal. Jim's concerns were (temporarily) alleviated.

   Two months later, while they were preparing for bed, Jim noticed that Martha seemed to be completely absorbed in the child, for she was always checking on him, and she wanted to spend every waking moment with Baby--she even seemed to act sort of simple, as if something were mentally wrong with her.

(Marvel Tales I#128/5 - BTS) - That night, while his parents were asleep, Baby got out of his crib and went to the shelves of his father's library, where he began to read some of the books on genetics (see comments).

(Marvel Tales I#128/5) - The next morning, Jim went into his library and noticed that some of the books on the shelf were out of order. He went to the kitchen, where Martha was feeding Baby, and asked her if she had been tampering with his books, but Martha denied doing so...then Baby turned his head and stared at Jim--as the infant's unblinking eyes bored into him, Jim found the experience to be quite unsettling.

   That night, as he lay next to the slumbering Martha, Jim was restless and unable to sleep, for he had troubling thoughts about how Baby had stared at him that morning. Then he heard a thumping noise coming from Baby's room--quietly, so as not to wake Martha, Jim got out of bed to investigate.

(Marvel Tales I#128/5 - BTS) - Baby had apparently gotten out of his crib and went to his father's library again.

(Marvel Tales I#128/5) - Jim tiptoed into the nursery, and in the moonlight, he saw that Baby's crib was empty; he frantically began searching around the house for his missing son.

(Marvel Tales I#128/5 - BTS) - Having glanced through a few of his father's books, Baby took one of them with him and returned to his crib.

(Marvel Tales I#128/5) - During his search, Jim passed by the nursery again, where he saw Baby--apparently fast asleep--in his crib. With his mind in a whirl--he was sure that the crib had been empty before--Jim went downstairs to his library, to smoke a cigarette and calm his nerves; but then he noticed some of his books scattered on the floor--two of them were by Dr. Hinton, concerning human evolution. With his suspicions of Baby growing, Jim called Hinton on the telephone and asked him for his immediate help, for he needed Hinton's authoritative opinion about the true nature of his son.

   An hour later, in the dead of night, Hinton arrived at the Deans' home. Jim told Hinton his suspicions and directed the doctor upstairs to Baby's room--Hinton asked Jim to remain downstairs, because he wanted to make some tests on Baby by himself, and Jim requested for the doctor to do so quietly, for he didn't want to awaken and worry Martha.

   Shortly afterward, Hinton came back downstairs and informed Jim about the results of his tests--the doctor had determined that Baby was different, and he gravely warned Jim that he shouldn't even think of the child as a baby, because he probably possessed powers which they couldn't even dream of!

   Hinton explained to Jim that he was going to round up the best brains in the country, then he'd return with them to figure out how to handle the situation with the child. But as Hinton walked out the door of the Deans' home, he suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground. Jim knelt down by the fallen doctor and checked for a pulse, but Hinton was dead; looking upward, Jim saw Baby staring down from his nursery window, his eyes like lamps...like knives--Jim surmised that Baby had killed the doctor because he didn't want his secret to by known.

   Like a madman, Jim ran up to the nursery and pointed an accusing finger at the deadly menace in the crib. Baby dropped the book he was reading and looked at his father with his big eyes; Jim suddenly stopped, as though he'd run into an invisible wall, and he felt a torrent rush through his mind that washed away his memory of the recent events. Jim relaxed, picked up the dropped book Baby had been reading, and a great puzzlement came to him...

   When morning came, Martha went into Baby's nursery, where she found Jim standing and holding a book; Martha asked him why he was there, and Jim only replied that he felt as though he'd been walking in his sleep--he thought he had come into Baby's room for some reason, but he couldn't remember why.

   Laying in his crib, Baby suddenly gurgled, wrinkled his face, and cried... then he sighed and (seemingly) went back to sleep; Martha exclaimed to Jim that it was the first time that Baby had ever gurgled and cried ("He's such a good baby!"). The bewildered Jim only glanced at the book in his hand--Normal Child Behavior--and wondered why he was holding it.

   As his happy parents turned off the lights and left his nursery, Baby opened his huge burning eyes, and an evil grin came to his face...

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and John Forte (artist).

By my reckoning, this story spanned nearly six months of time, yet his parents always referred to him only as "Baby"--maybe they couldn't agree on a first name for the kid?

Although this 5-page story--Oh, Baby!--never specifically mentioned the child was a mutant, the phrases "the next stage in man's evolution" and "the super-human of the future" were used, so I think it's safe to make the assumption that he was.

Perhaps Baby also had telekinesis--that would explain how he was able to reach the books on the upper shelves of his father's library.

That scene from the splash-panel depicted in the Main Image--with Baby towering over his miniature parents--never actually occurred in the story; it was probably just a symbolic image to illustrate how he dominated his parents (...unless it was yet another of the powers which Dr. Hinton cryptically alluded Baby might have).

When Baby dominated Jim's mind, presumably he had him dispose of Dr. Hinton's body.

I wonder what ever happened to this kid--it's conceivable that he could still be alive. How about a multi-generational mini-series following his life as he grew from the 1950s to present times--he could encounter such characters as Jimmy Woo's "G-Men," the Monster Hunters, Tobias Messenger, the First Line, the pre-costumed Fantastic Four, the original X-Men...

This character reminds me a bit of Spider-Man villain Mindworm (William Turner).
--Markus Raymond

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Baby has no known connections to:

Jim and Martha Dean have no known connections to:

Dr. Hinton has no known connections to:

Jim Dean

Apparently a teacher, Jim was the husband of Martha, and the father of Baby--he was suspicious that his newborn son wasn't normal, because the child didn't act like a typical infant.

One day, Jim went into his library to check some scientific data for an exam he was giving his students--he noticed some of his books on genetics were out of order. As Martha was feeding Baby, Jim asked her if she had been tampering with his books, and Martha denied doing so...but then Baby stared at Jim with his unblinking eyes, and Jim found the experience to be quite unsettling.

That night, the restless Jim tossed in his bed, unable to sleep, for he was troubled by his suspicions about Baby; then he heard a thumping noise coming from Baby's room, so he got up to investigate. In the moonlight, Jim saw that Baby's crib was empty, so he began to frantically search the house for his missing son. But shortly afterward, he passed by the nursery again and saw Baby laying in the crib--Jim began to doubt his own sanity, because he was certain that the crib was empty before.

Jim went downstairs to his library to smoke a cigarette and calm his nerves, but when he got there, he noticed some of his books laying on the floor--two of them were by Dr. Hinton, concerning human evolution. With his suspicions of the true nature of his infant son growing, Jim telephoned Dr. Hinton and requested his immediate help with Baby.

When Dr. Hinton arrived an hour later, Jim sent him upstairs to the nursery so the doctor could make his tests on Baby. Shortly afterward, Hinton came back downstairs and told Jim that Baby was different and probably possessed powers they couldn't even dream of; Hinton explained that he was going to gather other experts to figure how to handle the situation with Baby.

But as Dr. Hinton left the Dean home, he dropped dead, and Jim saw Baby staring down from an upstairs window--Jim knew at once that Baby had killed the doctor because he didn't want his secret to be known.

Jim raced upstairs to the nursery and pointed an accusing finger at the infant, but Baby wiped the memory of the recent event from Jim's mind.

When morning came, Jim felt as though he'd been sleepwalking, and he was left completely oblivious to the deadly menace that was his infant son.

--Marvel Tales I#128/5

Martha Dean

Martha was the wife of Jim, and the mother of Baby. She insisted to Jim that although they had waited until late in life to have their first-born, that didn't mean that she couldn't take care of him as well as any younger woman.

Martha was completely devoted to her newborn son, and she spent every waking moment with Baby; she thought that the child might be a budding genius.

But Baby was apparently a freak of advanced evolution, and he was mentally dominating Martha's mind.

--Marvel Tales I#128/5

Dr. Hinton

An associate of Jim Dean, Dr. Hinton (first name unrevealed) had written and published two treatises--The Next Stage in Man's Evolution and The Coming of the Super-Human of the Future (copies of which Jim Dean kept in his personal library).

Late one night, Hinton received a telephone call from Dean, who requested Hinton's help because his infant son was demonstrating unusual behavior.

Hinton arrived at the Dean home and conducted some unspecified tests on Baby; he later reported to Jim Dean that his son was different, and he warned him that the child probably had powers that they couldn't even dream of. Hinton told Dean that he was going to gather the best experts in the country to figure out how to handle the situation with the child; but as he left the Deans' home, Dr. Hinton suddenly dropped dead, apparently a victim of Baby's superior powers.

--Marvel Tales I#128/5

images: (without ads)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Baby)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p3, pan5 (Headshot - Baby, staring at his father)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan5 (Jim Dean trying to accuse Baby (in crib) of killing Dr. Hinton)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan8 (Baby's evil grin)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p4, pan6 (Jim Dean, speaking to Dr. Hinton on telephone)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p4, pan5 (Jim Dean, reading book of Dr. Hinton's treatises on human evolution)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan4 (Jim Dean (kneeling by Dr. Hinton's body) sees Baby staring down from window)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p2, pan3 (Martha Dean, changing Baby's diaper)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p2, pan5 (Martha Dean, holding Baby)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan1 (Dr. Hinton (right) telling Jim Dean about his tests on Baby)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan2 (Dr. Hinton (right) warns Jim Dean about Baby)
Marvel Tales I#128/5, p5, pan3 (Jim Dean (left) sees Dr. Hinton suddenly collapse)

Appearances:
Marvel Tales I#128/5 (November, 1954) - unidentified writer, John Forte (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 07/21/2019
Last updated: 07/21/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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