HANS REUGER

Real Name: Hans Reuger

Identity/Class: Human mutant (see comments) (World War II era);
citizen of Germany

Occupation: Saboteur

Group Membership: Nazi Party

Affiliations: General Mahling

Enemies: Eddie White

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Pvt. Harry Judson

Base of Operations: Temporarily in an unidentified city on the east coast of the United States;
   originally from Germany

First Appearance: Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4 (April, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Reuger was a low-level psychic whose power seemed to be limited to sensing the surface thoughts of another, thereby giving him the ability to "read" an individual's mind; however, he was outwitted by Eddie White, a superior American psychic.

Reuger was skilled in espionage and infiltration--although a native-born German, he could fluently speak English without the trace of an accent, and was thus able to pass himself for an American.

During his mission to destroy an American munitions factory, Reuger was equipped with a small but powerful time-bomb.

Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: 190 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Hans Reuger is largely unrevealed, but at some point he discovered he could read minds; he left his homeland of Germany and lived in America for "many years".

   Reuger eventually returned to Germany and joined the Nazi military, where he attained the rank of sergeant, and he became renowned by his leaders for his psychic ability.

(Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4) - In late September of 1942, Sgt. Reuger reported to General Mahling at the Third Reich's bureau of intelligence; Mahling was impressed by Reuger's demonstration of his mind-reading talent. The Nazi general gave Reuger phony identification papers and a U.S. Army dog-tag that falsely identified him as "Pvt. Harry Judson" of Newark, New Jersey. Mahling then assigned Reuger with his mission of sabotage: While incognito, Reuger was to pass himself off as an American soldier and plant a small but powerful time-bomb in a United States munitions factory--Reuger was honored to take the assignment, and with his mind-reading ability, he was confident that he would know if any Americans suspected the truth about him.

   A few weeks later, in the dead of night, a German U-boat surfaced off the U.S. coast; "Pvt.Harry Judson," with one-thousand dollars of American money in the pockets of his American uniform, debarked from the submarine and paddled to shore in a rubber raft. After hiding the raft on the deserted beach, "Judson" walked to the city where the munitions plant was located.

   When he reached the city, "Judson" was hungry, so he stopped at a crowded cafe to have dinner; during his meal, he met the acquaintance of an American soldier--P.F.C. Eddie White. Concerned about arousing suspicions if he were seen alone too much, "Judson" thought it would be a good idea to get friendly with White, so he invited him to share his table.

   "Judson" and White became fast friends during their dinner conversation; however, Reuger privately thought to himself that their friendship would be over in a week, after he planted the time-bomb and returned to the submarine (...but unbeknownst to Reuger, White was also a mind-reader, and he had apparently been "listening" to Reuger's thoughts!).

   The two soldiers spent a lot of time together, but at the end of the week, "Judson" claimed he'd gotten orders that his outfit was shipping out overseas. Reuger "listened " to White thinking about how he was going to give "Judson" a parting gift, so he decided to also give his American "friend" an appropriate gift after he completed his mission. During their meal, the two men talked little, because "Harry Judson's" thoughts were centered on destroying the munitions plant (...but unbeknownst to Reuger, his thoughts were "overheard" by Eddie White).

   After dinner, the two men agreed to meet later that night at 10:45 PM, because "Judson" insisted he had some last minute things to attend to.

   At 9:45 PM, "Judson" wrapped the time-bomb in a package and carried it to the munitions plant--he had no trouble gaining admittance into the factory because he presented forged credentials and snatched the secret password from the security guard's mind. "Judson" planted the bomb and set the infernal device to detonate at 12:10 AM. With his mission completed, "Judson" left for his meeting with White.

(Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4 - BTS) - But using the information that he'd gleaned from reading Reuger's thoughts of sabotage, Eddie White secretly went to the munitions factory and retrieved the time-bomb for his own purposes.

(Strange Tales of the Unusual#94) - At 10:45 PM, "Judson" met White in the lobby of White's hotel, and the two exchanged gift packages--"Judson" requested that White not open his present until after midnight, assuring him that he'd understand why later.

   One minute after midnight, Eddie White opened the present from "Harry Judson"--it was a large lollipop with a tag reading "SUCKER".

   Meanwhile, Sgt. Hans Reuger (alias "Pvt. Harry Judson") had made his way to the deserted beach, recovered his raft, and paddled back to the waiting submarine; after he climbed aboard, the U-boat submerged and began its return voyage to Germany.

   At 12.09 AM, Reuger was in the the cabin of the U-boat's captain--when he saw the wrapped present that White had given to Reuger, the captain mockingly commented that Americans were sentimental fools, and Reuger laughingly retorted that he'd never met a more sentimental or foolish American than Eddie White! But when the psychic saboteur unwrapped the gift, he stared at it for a few seconds in disbelief, then uttered a startled cry--it was the time-bomb Reuger had left in the munitions factory, and it was set to detonate in seconds!

   Reuger's final fate is unrevealed (see comments).

   The next morning in his hotel room, Eddie White read an official notification from the military--he was assigned to report for duty with the U.S.O., where he would help to boost the morale of the troops by entertaining them with his mind-reading act... (see comments)

Comments: Created by Carl Wessler (writer) and Bernie Krigstein (artist).

Although this tale--Mind Reader!--was only 4-pages, it was crammed with 46 story-panels, which is why there were so many details in this profile. Also, this story was done with a surprise-ending, and Eddie White wasn't revealed to also be a "mind reader" until the final story-panel.

Neither Hans Reuger nor Eddie White were actually identified as mutants, but since that easily explains their psychic abilities, I'm just assuming they were.

General Mahling wasn't too bright--instead of wasting Reuger's psychic talents to commit an act of sabotage, he could have better utilized him to learn American military secrets (e.g. Operation Overlord, Manhattan Project, etc.).

Reuger's fate was unresolved because the final story-panels aboard the submerged U-boat depicted Reuger and the captain panicking as they indecisively tried to figure out what to do about the bomb--I guess General Mahling never showed Reuger how to disarm it. But assuming he wasn't killed, maybe Reuger was later one of the psychics used by General Brinkhaus.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Hans Reuger has no known connections to:

General Mahling has no known connections to:

Eddie White has no known connections to:

General Mahling

A loyal Nazi commander, General Mahling (first name unrevealed) worked at the Third Reich's bureau of intelligence--a portrait of Hitler was prominently displayed in his office.

In late September of 1942, Mahling wanted to destroy an American munitions factory, so he summoned the psychic Sgt. Hans Reuger to his office. Mahling was impressed when Reuger revealed that he already knew about the general's intentions, and he told Reuger that his reputation for being a mind-reader was well-earned.

Mahling gave Reuger false identification papers so that he could pass himself for an American soldier; then the general supplied Reuger with a time-bomb to destroy the munitions plant.

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4

Time-bomb

Created by the Nazi military in late September of 1942, this small cylindrical device was a powerful explosive.

General Mahling gave the bomb to Sgt. Hans Reuger so that Reuger could use it to destroy an American munitions plant.

Reuger planted the bomb in the factory, but he was later outwitted by P.F.C. Eddie White, who gave the bomb to Reuger as a parting gift.

Reuger was aboard a submerged U-boat when he opened the "gift" from White, and he was horrified to discover that it contained the time-bomb, with only seconds left before it detonated...

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4

Eddie White

Possibly a mutant (see comments), Eddie White was a native of Brooklyn, New York. At some point, he discovered that he had the ability to sense people's thoughts, so he used his talent to become an entertainer with a mind-reading act.

When World War II began, White was drafted into the Army, but he requested an assignment with a U.S.O. unit so he could entertain the troops with his act.

One night, P.F.C. White stopped at a crowded cafe and met the acquaintance of "Pvt. Harry Judson"--White apparently sensed that "Judson" was actually the mind-reading Sgt. Hans Reuger, a Nazi saboteur who was on a mission to destroy an American munitions factory.

But White used his own psychic skills to outwit "Judson"/Reuger and foiled the saboteur's scheme.

Afterwards, White received a notification in the mail, stating that his transfer to the U.S.O. had been approved.

--Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4

images: (without ads)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p1, pan2 (Main Image - Sgt. Hans Reuger, standing before General Mahling)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p2, pan9 (Headshot - Sgt. Hans Reuger (as "Pvt. Harry Judson") dining in cafe)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p3, pan7 (Sgt. Hans Reuger (as "Pvt. Harry Judson", (rear view)) "reads" PFC Eddie White's thoughts)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p4, pan3 (aboard U-boat, Sgt. Hans Reuger (left) holds present from Eddie White; U-boat captain (right))
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p1, pan3 (General Mahling, amazed after Reuger "reads" his mind)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p1, pan4 (General Mahling compliments Reuger's psychic talent)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p2, pan4 (General Mahling explains time-bomb to Reuger)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p4, pan6 (aboard U-boat, Rueger unwraps White's "gift")
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p2, pan10 (Eddie White)
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4, p4, pan18 (Eddie White reads his orders to report to the U.S.O. with his mind-reading act)

Appearances:
Strange Tales of the Unusual#9/4 (April, 1957) - Carl Wessler (writer), Bernie Krigstein (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 05/21/2020
Last updated: 05/21/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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