HARRY GRUBB

Real Name: Harry Grubb

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Extraterrestrial zoo specimen; former unemployed actor, would-be swindler

Group Membership: Unidentified actors' union

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Unidentified extraterrestrial race

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Orgg

Base of Operations: A cage in an extraterrestrial zoo;
   formerly New York City

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#33/2 (September, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Grubb was an aspiring actor and a card-carrying member of an actors' union. He possessed a stage make-up kit, and was skilled at using it to alter his appearance.

After discovering (what he thought to be) a deceased extraterrestrial in a spaceship, Grubb used his make-up kit to disguise himself as the alien; he also formulated an elaborate scheme to swindle a billion dollars worth of gold from the nations of Earth, but unfortunately for him, his plan didn't work out as he'd hoped.

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

History:
(Tales of Suspense I#33/2 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Harry Grubb is largely unrevealed, but at some point he became an actor--he joined an actors' union and carried a membership card; but Grubb was often unemployed because he had a difficult time finding acting jobs.

(Tales of Suspense I#33/2) - While in New York City, Grubb was (quite literally) kicked out of a bar because he didn't have any money--as he picked himself up from the sidewalk, he angrily vowed that someday he'd be a star of stage and screen, then he'd be a rich man that people would respect! While Grubb walked back to his rented room, wallowing in his own bitterness, he was completely oblivious when his fellow pedestrians glimpsed a bright flash of light streaking through the sky--unbeknownst to Grubb, this strange occurrence was destined to change his life.

   The next morning, Grubb checked out of his room and walked along the highway leading out of town--he hoped to have better luck finding an acting job when he reached Carson City. But then Grubb noticed something gleaming in a clearing beyond the trees, so he went to investigate and discovered a spaceship! As he approached the alien craft, a beam of energy pulled him inside the vessel, where he found the spaceship's dead pilot slumped over in a seat. Realizing that nobody else on Earth knew about the spacecraft or the dead alien yet, Grubb thought of a scheme to make himself rich; he first used his make-up kit and made himself resemble the dead alien, then he dressed himself in the alien's spacesuit.

   The disguised Grubb returned to the city and introduced himself as "Orgg, the tax collector for the Intergalactic Space Order"; since mankind was on the verge of space travel, "Orgg" claimed that Earth owed him the sum of a billion dollars in gold, to pay for the use of interplanetary space corridors. To add validity to his hoax, "Orgg" led some scientists to the spaceship, so they could examine the craft and confirm it was of alien origin.

   Eventually, "Orgg" was called before delegates of the United Nations, for a decision had been reached--Earth would pay the tax, but it would take some time to collect the gold from the various nations. "Orgg" was quite pleased, and he told the delegates that he would be waiting in "his" spaceship for the payment of the gold. But as the disguised Grubb left the U.N. Building, a woman and her son witnessed "Orgg" accidentally dropping his actors' union card, which they promptly turned over to the authorities. The police and military were suspicious, for they wondered why an alien from another planet would have such a card; suspecting a hoax, they mobilized their forces and headed out to the spaceship, to have a little talk with the alleged tax collector from outer space.

   Meanwhile, "Orgg" was in the spaceship, prematurely celebrating the success of his scheme, and he figured that he'd soon be rich beyond his wildest dreams. But then a much larger spaceship descended atop "his" vessel and enveloped it within a trapping mechanism. With its quarry secured, the larger vessel flew off into space with the captured Harry Grubb.

   Minutes later, the police and military arrived at the landing site of "Orgg's" spaceship, but found the vessel gone; they supposed that Grubb had fled because he suspected they were on to his scheme, but they thought it a shame that he got away, because they figured Grubb deserved to be punished in some way.

   But the actor-turned-swindler did not get away unpunished--on a distant planet, some of the inhabitants of the world excitedly gathered at their zoo to admire the latest exhibit in his cage: Harry Grubb! 

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

...And the final caption mentioned that Grubb would accept his fate, and even start to enjoy it--after all, he always wanted to appear before a large audience!

The splash-page (see third image) of this 6-page story--The Mystery of the Tax Collector From Space!--mistakenly depicted "Orgg" as accepting cash; however, Grubb made it clear that he wanted to be paid in gold ingots only, because there would be no way to trace them.

And don't ask me why those aliens just didn't do the logical thing and capture Grubb right after he originally went inside that decoy ship...

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Harry Grubb/"Orgg" has no known connections to:

decoy spaceship

Constructed from a metal unknown on Earth, it was a remote-controlled drone ship built by an unidentified extraterrestrial race; it was actually used as bait for a trap by the aliens, who wanted to capture a "specimen of low-intelligence life" from Earth that they could display in their zoo. The aliens also included a plastic dummy as the ship's "dead" pilot.

The ship was sent to Earth, where it landed in a clearing in the woods near New York City--when it passed over the city, it was briefly glimpsed by some pedestrians, who saw it as a bright flash of light streaking overhead.

The decoy spaceship was discovered by Harry Grubb, who was pulled aboard by an energy beam from the craft; once inside, Grubb found the "dead" pilot, then disguised himself as the alien for his scheme to swindle gold from the nations of Earth.

But the decoy spaceship was eventually trapped by a larger spaceship while Grubb was inside--Grubb was taken to the aliens' homeworld and put on display in their zoo.

(Comment: Although the scientist in the second image attributed "teleportation" as the means to enter the ship, Grubb appeared to be solid when he was originally pulled in through the ship's opened airlock, so it was probably some form of tractor beam.)

--Tales of Suspense I#33/2

extraterrestrial dummy

Appearing to be the deceased pilot of a spaceship, it was actually a plastic mannikin built by an alien race. It was used as part of a trap to capture an Earthling--the spaceship was actually a remote-controlled drone, and the aliens even included a note supposedly written by the pilot (EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE FATAL...CANNOT SURVIVE...) as proof of his "death".

The spaceship was eventually discovered by aspiring actor Harry Grubb, who made himself resemble the "dead" pilot with his make-up kit; then Grubb dressed himself in the pilot's spacesuit, all for his scheme to swindle gold from the nations of the Earth.

--Tales of Suspense I#33/2

trapper spaceship

A large extraterrestrial space vessel, it had a giant apparatus on its side to entrap a smaller remote-controlled decoy spaceship.

It was used by an unidentified extraterrestrial race that wanted to capture an Earthling to display in their zoo.

The trapper spaceship descended upon the decoy spaceship while Harry Grubb was aboard, then it transported Grubb to the aliens' homeworld.

--Tales of Suspense I#33/2

unidentified extraterrestrial race

They were advanced semi-humanoid beings who inhabited an unidentified world that was apparently in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Wanting to capture a "specimen of low-intelligence life" from Earth to display in their zoo, they sent a remote-controlled decoy spaceship. They eventually captured aspiring actor Harry Grubb, who had used the decoy ship as part of his elaborate hoax to convince the people of Earth that he was an alien tax collector.

(Comment: They were only seen in one story-panel, where only six were depicted, so it's impossible to determine the population of their planet; but the fact that they had an entire city of buildings implies that there had to be more of them.)

--Tales of Suspense I#33/2

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p2, pan1 (Main Image - Harry Grubb getting kicked out of a bar)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p6, pan7 (Headshot - Harry Grubb, locked in cage at extraterrestrial zoo)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p1, pan1 (Harry Grubb as Orgg)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p4, pan2 (Harry Grubb as Orgg, demanding a billion dollars worth of gold)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p2, pan6 (Harry Grubb discovers decoy spaceship)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p4, pan4 (scientists examine decoy spaceship; Harry Grubb as Orgg (background))
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p3, pan4 (inside spaceship, Harry Grubb finds "dead" pilot)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p3, pan7 (Harry Grubb applies make-up to resemble "dead" pilot)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p5, pan4 (larger trapper spaceship descends by decoy spaceship)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p5, pan5 (trapper spaceship captures decoy spaceship)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p5, pan6 (trapper spaceship leaves Earth)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p6, pan5 (extraterrestrial city; trapper spaceship carrying Harry Grubb flying overhead)
Tales of Suspense I#33/2, p6, pan6 (members of unidentified extraterrestrial race at their zoo; Harry Grubb in cage (foreground))

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#33/2 (September, 1962) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)

First Posted: 08/28/2021
Last updated: 08/28/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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