ED EVANS

Real Name: Ed Evans

Identity/Class: Human technology user (1950s era)

Occupation: Con man, inventor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Police of 2055 AD, police of 1955 AD, Time Adjusters

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His suburban home, somewhere in America (1955 AD);
   temporarily in an unidentified city (2055 AD)

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#38/4 (September, 1955)

Powers/Abilities: Having no paranormal abilities, Evans was an inventive genius who built a time machine.

The criminally-inclined Evans used his invention to commit a "time crime" by traveling to the following day and breaking into a bank vault, during which he used an acetylene torch and a crowbar.

Height: 5'10" (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Strange Tales I#38/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of con man Ed Evans is largely unrevealed, but by 1955, he built a time machine in his garage workshop.

(Strange Tales I#38/4) - With a confident smile, Evans prepared to test his invention; he stepped into the completed machine and set the controls to take him a hundred years into the future. With a low hum, the machine began to vibrate and rock on its cradle, then suddenly came to a rest in a strange future world.

   Evans exited the machine to have a look around; but as he was admiring the futuristic structures, two policemen of that era noticed his time machine didn't have a license on it. Evans ran back into the machine and activated it; but even as he faded away, the policemen warned him that the "Time Adjusters" would track him down and correct whatever wrong he might do.

   Evans returned to his garage in 1955, and he wondered who those mysterious "Time Adjusters" were--to play it safe, he decided to limit his travels by just going to tomorrow. Having learned that the Second National Bank's vault contained a million dollars in cash, Evans loaded an acetylene torch and a crowbar into his time machine, then he set the controls to take him into the bank at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning, before the bank opened at 9:00 AM.

   Evans activated the machine and materialized the next morning in the bank's spacious interior. After using the torch and crowbar to pry the vault's door off its hinges, he went inside to make a "withdrawal," and he stuffed his loot sack full of cash. After loading his burglar tools back into the time machine, Evans activated the controls, and with a satisfied smirk, he began his journey back to "yesterday".

   Evans reappeared in his workshop, where he hid the stolen cash in a wall safe. Then, to completely cover his perfect crime, he took the torch and crowbar to a police station, so his burglar tools would be in police custody tomorrow, when he would be using them to break into the vault!

   The next morning at 8:30 AM, Evans went to the police station again to establish the perfect alibi for himself--he (falsely) reported that his wallet was missing. A half hour later, while Evans was still chatting with the desk-sergeant, a call came in from the Second National, reporting that their vault had been broken into within the last half hour. Evans left the police station, confidently thinking that since he was with the police when the robbery took place, there was no way he would ever be considered a suspect in the crime!

   As he walked home, Evans figured that in the future, when time machines become common, methods would have been worked out to prevent "time crimes" like the job he just pulled; but since his was the first that could have been done, he thought he had nothing to worry about!

   When he returned home, Evans couldn't resist having another peek at the stolen cash; but when he opened the wall safe, he only found a calling card from the Time Adjusters...and all the money was gone! He figured that the Time Adjusters had undone his wrong and returned the cash back to the bank vault, where it belonged!

Comments: Created by Paul S. Newman and Art Peddy.

This 5-page story--Time Crime--never revealed the fate of Evans' time machine--maybe the Time Adjusters confiscated it or rendered it inoperable, so Evans couldn't use it for any more crimes.

And perhaps those mysterious Time Adjusters had some connection to the Time Variance Authority.

The future depicted in this story is probably a divergent reality or the whole story took place in an alternate reality.
--Markus Raymond

Profile by Ron Fredricks.







CLARIFICATIONS:
Ed Evans has no known connections to:

Ed Evans' time machine has no known connections to:

Ed Evans' time machine

Built by Evans in 1955, it was a transparent cylindrical booth containing a control console; by setting the controls, Evans could transport himself through time and space.

Evans first tested it by transporting himself 100 years into the future, where the police of that era warned him of the Time Adjusters.

To avoid interference from the Time Adjusters, Evans decided to limit his voyages, so he next used the time machine to rob a bank before it opened the following morning, then returned to his normal time-period.

The eventual fate of Evans' time machine is unrevealed (see comments).

--Strange Tales I#38/4

city of 2055 AD

After Ed Evans completed his time machine in 1955, he tested it by traveling a century into the future, where he found himself in an unspecified city.

But while he got out of the machine to admire the futuristic structures, a pair of the policemen of that era noticed he had no license for his "antique" time machine. Evans dashed back to the time machine and returned to his own era.

--Strange Tales I#38/4

police of 2055 AD

In 2055, they were the unidentified law-enforcers of a futuristic city.

When Ed Evans used his time machine in 1955 to travel to their era, the two policemen noticed his "antiquated" device ("Haven't seen an old model like that one outside of a museum in years!"). The officers asked to see Evans' time-traveler's license; but having no such documentation, Evans quickly dashed back to his machine and activated it to return back to 1955.

But even as Evans escaped, the policemen warned him that it was useless for him to run, because the Time Adjusters would track him down and correct any wrong that he did.

--Strange Tales I#38/4

Second National Bank

In 1955, it was a financial institution located in an unidentified American city. The bank had one million dollars in cash secured in its vault.

Ed Evans used his time machine to travel to "tomorrow" at 8:00 AM, before the bank opened. After using an acetylene torch and crowbar to break into the vault, Evans loaded his loot sack full of cash, then returned to his home "yesterday".

When the bank opened at 9:00 AM, they found their vault had been recently broken into, for the metal on the door was still hot, so they contacted the police--because of the intricacies of time-travel, they were unaware that the robber--Ed Evans--had been at the police station while he was robbing the bank!

But later, the stolen cash was apparently returned to the bank by the Time Adjusters, who undid Evans' crime.

--Strange Tales I#38/4

police of 1955 AD

In 1955, they were the unidentified law-enforcers stationed at a precinct in an unidentified American city.

One day, Ed Evans brought in some burglar tools that he claimed he found. Although the desk-sergeant found no record of any crimes that may have been committed with the tools, he complimented Evans for turning them in before they could be used in some future crime.

The next morning at 8:30 AM, the same desk-sergeant filled out a report when Evans came in and (falsely) claimed that his wallet was missing. While Evans was still there at 9:00 AM, the police were contacted by the Second National Bank, which was reporting that their vault had been robbed within the last half hour.

The police were unaware that Evans was only using his appearances at their precinct to establish a perfect alibi for himself--Evans had already used his time machine and the burglar tools the previous day to rob the bank "tomorrow"!

--Strange Tales I#38/4

Time Adjuster Service

A mysterious organization founded in 2022 AD, their task was to undo any wrongs committed by time-travelers (see comments).

Ed Evans used his time machine to steal money from the Second National Bank by traveling to the next morning, before the bank opened; Evans returned to his own time-period and hid the loot in his wall safe.

But the Time Adjusters somehow tracked Evans down and removed the money from his safe, and apparently returned the cash to the bank; they left their calling card in the empty safe for Evans to find.

(Comment: The Time Adjusters were never actually seen in this story, and their presence was only implied by this calling card.)

--Strange Tales I#38/4

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Ed Evans)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p4, pan6 (Headshot - Ed Evans, in front of his wall safe)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p4, pan4 (Ed Evans returns to his garage with money he stole from "tomorrow")
Strange Tales I#38/4, p5, pan7 (Ed Evans finds money gone from his wall safe)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p1, pan1 (Ed Evans' time machine)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p3, pan2 (Ed Evans sets controls of his time machine, as he prepares to travel to "tomorrow")
Strange Tales I#38/4, p1, pan3 (Ed Evans' time machine materializes in a city of 2055 AD)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p2, pan1 (Ed Evans steps out of time machine to explore city of 2055 AD)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p2, pan3 (police of 2055 AD speak to Ed Evans)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p2, pan5 (Ed Evans activates time machine and escapes from police of 2055 AD)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p3, pan4 (Ed Evans' time machine materialize in Second National Bank)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p3, pan6 (Ed Evans uses acetylene torch to break into bank vault)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p4, pan1 (Ed Evans steals money from bank vault)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p4, pan7 (at police station, Ed Evans turns his burglar tools over to police officer)
Strange Tales I#38/4, p5, pan2 (police officers discuss bank robbery at Second National Bank; Ed Evans (background) )
Strange Tales I#38/4, p5, pan6 (Ed Evans' hand holds Time Adjusters calling card)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#38/4 (September, 1955) - Paul S. Newman (writer), Art Peddy (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 01/31/2021
Last updated: 02/01/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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