JOE TULLY

Real Name: Joe Tully

Identity/Class: Human (1950s era)

Occupation: Chemist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Homer Dudley, police

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unidentified American city

First Appearance: Astonishing#52/2 (August, 1956)

Powers/Abilities: Joe Tully was skilled in the field of chemical-engineering.

While working on a new insecticide, Tully accidentally created a chemical spray which (from his perspective) made anyone or anything it contacted seemingly vanish--in actuality, it was Tully himself who was slowly vanishing each time he sprayed it.

Tully was eventually left in a state where he could apparently perceive nothing of the world but total darkness, while the only thing visible of him was his shoes--it is unrevealed if this condition was permanent (see comments).

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

History:
(Astonishing#52/2 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Joe Tully is largely unrevealed, but he worked as a chemist at the Dudley Chemical Company; Tully was a disgruntled employee because he felt all the chemical compounds he formulated made a fortune for his boss, Homer Dudley, while Tully himself never saw any of the profits and had to struggle along on a meager salary.

(Astonishing#52/2) - One day at work, Tully was mixing a formula for a new insecticide, and he poured the fluid into a spray bottle. But when he was startled by a mouse that went scurrying across the lab table, he reflexively sprayed it with the chemical--to his surprise, the little rodent vanished! Tully's amazement quickly gave way as he slyly thought of another use for the spray--he could use it on his boss, and with Mr. Dudley out of the way, he figured he could take over the company.

   Tully called Dudley out of his office and shot a short spritz of the chemical in his face--he was shocked when only Dudley's head vanished, while his headless and still living body remained! In a panic, Dudley feared he'd be sent to prison for what he had done, so he put on his hat and coat and fled from his workplace with the spray bottle.

   Figuring he couldn't go home because the police might be waiting for him, Tully wandered for hours through alleys and narrow streets, and it wasn't until nightfall that he dared to mingle amongst the crowds along the city's sidewalks. But his belief that he was a wanted man was soon confirmed when two policemen spotted him and ordered him to stop. Determined not to be apprehended, Tully ran into an alleyway and hid behind a building--from an open window, he heard a radio news report about himself, and he figured the whole city knew about him, so he was determined to get out of town.

   But Tully wasn't able to evade the police for long, because they finally caught up with him. In desperation, Tully aimed the bottle at the lawmen and sprayed--the policemen vanished, and Tully laughed softly to himself, because he figured he had nothing to worry about as long as he had the chemical spray.

   Growing angry at the lack of respect for his power shown by the police, Tully was emboldened by his rage--he sprayed some police cars, and even the 10th Precinct police station, and made them disappear.

But then Tully noticed he was walking in complete darkness--he was unaware of what time it was until he heard a steeple clock strike the hour of midnight. He thought it strange that he no longer saw any lights on around the town, and he wondered if his spray had spread throughout the city and made everything and everyone vanish; but Tully was selfishly unconcerned, for there were plenty of other cities he could go to, and plenty of other jobs he could get.

As he wandered in the darkness, Tully eventually heard the roar of traffic, and the sounds of people walking and talking again--he was apparently unaware that he was standing on a lighted and crowded street corner. Then, from a nearby radio, Tully heard another news report about himself and learned the horrifying truth--it was actually he who had been vanishing bit by bit every time he sprayed the chemical, and all that remained visible of him were his shoes.

Comments: Created by Carl Wessler (writer) and Gray Morrow (artist).

This 4-page story--Those Who Vanish!--was done with a surprise ending, so the reader didn't learn that it was Tully who was actually vanishing until the last story-panel.

Tully's final fate is unrevealed--if he didn't unintentionally step into traffic and get hit by a car, it's possible the chemical eventually wore off and he returned to normal.

That spray seemed to leave Tully in a similar condition as Karlos Konak (although in Konak's case, he perceived the world as a blank nothingness, rather than complete darkness).

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Joe Tully has no known connections to:

Homer Dudley has no known connections to:

Joe Tully's chemical spray has no known connections to:

Joe Tully's chemical spray

It was a chemical mixture accidentally created by Joe Tully while he was working at the Dudley Chemical Company and attempting to develop a new insecticide.

Tully poured the fluid into a spray bottle, and he reflexively sprayed a mouse with it when the rodent scurried across the lab table--to his surprise, Tully saw the mouse vanish. Tully subsequently used the spray on Homer Dudley, at least three policemen, some police cars, and an entire police station building, causing them all to seemingly disappear.

But the spray merely caused those targeted with it to become momentarily blinded, otherwise they seemed to be unaffected--it was actually Tully himself who was disappearing bit by bit every time he sprayed the chemical, and he had only perceived the targets as having vanished.

The chemical eventually left Tully in a state where he was completely invisible (with the exception of his shoes), and apparently he could see nothing of the world but total darkness.

--Astonishing#52/2

Homer Dudley

The owner of the Dudley Chemical Company, he employed Joe Tully as a chemist. He apparently became very wealthy from Tully's knowledge of chemistry, but shared none of the profits with him, and only paid Dudley a meager salary (as per Tully).

After Tully accidentally created a chemical spray that seemingly made anything it came into contact with appear to vanish, he used it in an attempt to take over the company--Tully sprayed Dudley in the face and caused Dudley's head to vanish, while his headless and still living body remained.

But the chemical had actually affected Tully, for it only caused Dudley's head to disappear from Tully's point of view--other than being momentarily blinded by the spray, Dudley was presumably otherwise unaffected by it.

--Astonishing#52/2

images: (without ads)
Astonishing#52/2, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Joe Tully working in lab at Dudley Chemical Company)
Astonishing#52/2, p1, pan3 (Headshot - Joe Tully shocked by vanishing mouse after he accidentally sprayed it with chemical)
Astonishing#52/2, p3, pan5 (Joe Tully holding spray bottle)
Astonishing#52/2, p4, pan7 (Joe Tully (...or at least his shoes and thought-balloon) as he hears radio report and learns truth about himself)
Astonishing#52/2, p1, pan2 (Joe Tully accidentally sprays chemical at mouse, causing it to (seemingly) vanish)
Astonishing#52/2, p3, pan4 (Joe Tully sprays chemical at two policemen)
Astonishing#52/2, p4, pan3 (Joe Tully sprays chemical at police station)
Astonishing#52/2, p2, pan1 (Homer Dudley, sitting at his desk)
Astonishing#52/2, p2, pan3 (Joe Tully (right) sprays chemical in Homer Dudley's face)
Astonishing#52/2, p2, pan4 (Joe Tully (right) sees Homer Dudley's head (seemingly) disappear)

Appearances:
Astonishing#52/2 (August, 1956) - Carl Wessler (writer), Gray Morrow (pencils and inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 05/04/2019
Last updated: 05/04/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters