ANDREAS BARZAK
Real Name: Andreas Barzak (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human mutate (World War II); former citizen of Germany (see comments)
Occupation: Chemist, Nazi spy (see comments)
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: "Rudolf"
Enemies: Randy Hayes, Jack Savage
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The Shrinking Spy" (in story title only); Herr Professor (as called by Randy Hayes), Herr Doktor (as called by Jack Savage)
Base of Operations: His laboratory, near a naval aircraft factory, somewhere in America
First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story The Shrinking Spy (April, 1940)
Powers/Abilities: Highly skilled in the field of chemistry, Barzak created two elixirs--the first, a blue-colored liquid, could shrink a man to the size of an insect; the second, a straw-colored potion, was an antidote that counteracted the effects of the first. He intended to use the solutions to commit espionage against America.
After being forced to drink the shrinking fluid, Barzak was permanently reduced to the size of a common beetle.
Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown (balding)
History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story (fb) - BTS) - The past of
Professor Andreas Barzak is unrevealed, but after developing a shrinking
serum and a counteracting antidote, he came to America. Barzak set up a
laboratory near a naval aircraft factory; he intended to use his serum
to reduce his size, and thereby sneak into the factory to steal American
military secrets.
At some point, Barzak hired the deaf and mute Rudolf as his henchman--unbeknownst to Barzak, "Rudolf" was actually undercover U.S. Department of Justice agent Jack Savage. After discovering Barzak's plot, Savage worked in conjunction with FBI agent Randy Hayes to stop the Nazi spy.
(Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story) - Barzak was startled when Hayes sneaked into his lab--the Professor motioned for "Rudolf" to capture the intruder (whom Barzak initially assumed to be a reporter), but Hayes pulled out his handgun and revealed that he knew all about Barzak's plot. Barzak made a quick gesture for his henchman to attack, but instead, "Rudolf" shoved the Professor down into a chair and revealed his true identity.
Barzak warned the two agents that if they destroyed the serum, its secret would die with him, because he was the only living man who knew the formula (see comments), and America would never have the use of it. But Jack Savage (alias "Rudolf") assured him that the U.S. didn't want it ("We prefer to do our spying in a nice, clean, healthy way.").
With Barzak in their custody, Savage mentioned that he hated the idea of soiling a perfectly good prison with the Nazi spy; Hayes--who considered Barzak to be less than human--agreed, so he picked up the bottle of shrinking tonic. While Savage held the frantically struggling Barzak rooted to the chair, Hayes forced the Professor's mouth open, then poured the blue potion down his throat. Before the American agents' fascinated eyes, the Nazi spy began to shrink.
In several seconds, Barzak was the size of a cat, and he continued to diminish so rapidly that Savage was forced to release his grip. Now no bigger than a common beetle, the Professor scuttled to the edge of the chair, dropped to the floor, and made for the door.
While Hayes poured the remaining shrinking serum down the sink, followed by the antidote, Savage darted forward after Barzak and raised his foot, but Hayes ordered him to let the shrunken scientist go, because Barzak was now powerless.
The final fate of Professor Andreas Barzak is unrevealed.
Comments: Created by Andrew McWhiney and Frank Thomas.
Professor Barzak's first name was never mentioned in the
story, but a side-note in the Jimmy Everett/Microman profile in Marvel
Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special mentioned that it was
"Andreas".
Also, since this story was published before the United States was
officially at war with Nazi Germany, Barzak's homeland was never
mentioned, but he was later verified as a Nazi spy in that same profile.
There were only three illustrations in this 2-page text-story, and what
you see in this profile are the only images of the characters--the other
two illustrations featured an aircraft hanger and a plane flying in the
sky.
Since the image of Barzak only shows him from behind, and he was already
shrunken, I didn't include his height, weight, or eye color.
Barzak's shrinking fluid probably contained the size-altering Pym Particles.
Although Barzak claimed he was the only one who knew his formula, there
were other instances when the Nazis used similar shrinking serums, such as
Dran Decker,
or the formula used to reduce Roger
Aubrey's size so he could become Dyna-Mite of the Crusaders.
Images provided by Loki.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Professor Andreas Barzak has no known connections to:
Randy Hayes has no known connections to:
>Jack Savage has no known connections to:
|
FBI agent Hayes was working in conjunction with U.S. Department
of Justice agent Jack Savage to stop Nazi spy Professor Andreas Barzak.
The agents discovered that Barzak was planning to use his shrinking serum
to steal American military secrets. |
|
An agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, Savage was a huge
and powerfully-muscled man. He was on an undercover assignment as
"Rudolf," the deaf and mute henchman of Professor Andreas Barzak. |
|
images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story The Shrinking Spy, p1, pan1 (Main Image - shrunken Professor Andreas Barzak (rear view))
Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story The Shrinking Spy, p1, pan1 (Randy Hayes, holding bottle of Barzak's shrinking serum)
Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story The Shrinking Spy, p1, pan1 (Jack Savage (aka "Rudolf") )
Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics#6/text-story The Shrinking Spy (April, 1940) - Andrew
McWhiney (writer), Frank Thomas (pencils and inks), Martin Goodman (editor)
First Posted: 07/26/2020
Last updated: 07/29/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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