JASON GRUBB

Real Name: Jason Grubb

Identity/Class: Transtemporal human technology user (1950s era to 6th century)

Occupation: Janitor

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: King Arthur, Merlin (see comments), various knights of Camelot (including Sir Hal and Sir James), Professor Harvey Wilkes

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Odd and ugly one, knave, scoundrel, vile wretch, miserable jester, varlet (as called by knights of Camelot)

Base of Operations: Camelot in the 6th century;
   originally an unidentified American city in the 20th century

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#2/2 (March, 1959)

Powers/Abilities: Having no paranormal abilities, Grubb was a menial laborer who had very few skills (other than mopping floors); however, he did know how to build a time-bomb.

A bitter and envious man, Grubb felt that everyone looked down on him because of his lowly status.

Seeking to improve his lot in life, Grubb used a time machine to journey to the age of Camelot; he took along a small cargo of modern technological conveniences to convince the people of that era that he was a great sorcerer, but his plan didn't work out as he'd hoped.

Height: 5'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 160 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

History:
(Tales of Suspense I#2/2 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Jason Grubb is largely unrevealed, but all his adult life, he'd been a janitor. He worked in the laboratory of an American college, where he mopped the floors at night. Although he meekly went about his daily drudgery without complaint, Grubb regarded his job as an indignity which an unconcerned world forced him to suffer, and he was determined to somehow obtain wealth, fame, and success.

(Tales of Suspense I#2/2) - Late one night, Grubb overheard Professor Wilkes, who had just completed work on his time machine. After Wilkes left for the evening, Grubb looked over the device, which appeared simple enough to operate, and he got an idea...

   Grubb left the building and climbed into his beaten-up old car, then drove to his shabby one-room apartment; he gathered some of his meager belongings--a TV set, a portable radio, and a camera--then built a time-bomb. After loading the cargo essential to his scheme into his jalopy, Grubb thought over his scheme as he drove back to the college laboratory: He planned to use the machine to go back to the time of King Arthur, and when the people of that era saw the workings of all the gadgets he had with him, the fools would think that he was a great wizard, and he'd finally get all the rewards that were due him! They might even make him a king!

   When he reached Wilkes' laboratory, Grubb loaded everything into the time machine and set the controls to transport him to Camelot in the 6th century; then he set the bomb to detonate ten minutes after he was transported to the past--Grubb intended to destroy the time machine and delay Wilkes from following him, but he couldn't resist leaving a taunting note for the professor, informing Wilkes about what he had done.

   Grubb climbed back in the time machine and activated it--he began to feel queasy as it made a dull mechanical hum, then awareness left him. But when consciousness slowly returned, Grubb found himself sitting outside the kingdom of Camelot!

   When some knights rode up to him and questioned who he was, Grubb claimed he was a sorcerer even greater than Merlin, and he tried to impress them with his "magic" by demonstrating the modern gadgets he'd brought with him. But Grubb's attempts failed because he neglected to think his plan through thoroughly--in that era, there was no electricity to power the television, no broadcasting stations to receive on the portable radio, and no way to develop the photographs he'd taken with the camera. Totally unimpressed by Grubb's display of "magic," the angry knights hurled insults at him as they beat him and took him into custody.

   Later, Grubb found himself in King Arthur's court (see comments), where he was ordered to mop the floor--once again he was a janitor, only now they called him a "vassal," and he did his laborious, menial tasks in the 6th century instead of the 20th. Jason Grubb could only hope that Professor Wilkes would rebuild his machine and return him to his own time...

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Carl Burgos.

Although the names of King Arthur and Merlin were both mentioned, I'm only assuming that's them (see red circle) in the last story-panel--those two were never actually identified...

...or, it's always possible that "Merlin" was the imposter...

...or--since time-travel was involved--it's also possible that Grubb went back to the Camelot of an alternate reality's timeline, rather than the Camelot of Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe)--maybe "Merlin" was actually Professor Dolan.

The basic plot of this 5-page story--Trapped in Yesterday!--would be reworked a couple years later for the story of Walter Phelps.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Jason Grubb has no known connections to:

Professor Harvey Wilkes has no known connections to:

Professor Wilkes' time machine has no known connections to:

Professor Harvey Wilkes

An eccentric genius, Wilkes had the habit of talking to himself; he worked in the laboratory of an unidentified American college.

For months, he labored at building a time machine, despite being ridiculed by his colleagues.

On the night he finished the device, Wilkes ranted to himself that after the world heard about his creation, he would be a wealthy, powerful man, and no longer just an obscure physics professor.

With his work completed, Wilkes left the lab to go home and get some sleep--he was unaware that he had been overheard by janitor Jason Grubb, who later used the time machine for his own voyage to the past.

(Comment: You can't see much detail of Wilkes' features, but these two images were the clearest of the four panels in which he actually appeared.)

--Tales of Suspense I#2/2

Professor Wilkes' time machine

The creation of Professor Harvey Wilkes, it was a large saucer-shaped device which could transport people and objects through time and space--it apparently only transported whatever was within its interior, while the time machine itself remained in the present.

Its interior had a single seat for the operator, and the controls were clearly labeled--an individual required no special knowledge to operate the device.

Janitor Jason Grubb used the time machine to transport himself and a small cargo of gadgets to 6th century Camelot.

The time machine was apparently destroyed by a bomb that Grubb placed within it--Grubb set the bomb to detonate ten minutes after he was transported to the past, to prevent Wilkes from interfering with his scheme; it is unrevealed if Wilkes ever rebuilt the time machine.

(Comment: Judging by Wilkes' dialogue in the first image of his sub-profile, the machine could only transport an individual to the past (and presumably return him to the present)--possibly it was limited in that it couldn't send anything to the future (...because the future doesn't "exist" yet.))

--Tales of Suspense I#2/2

Jason Grubb's time-bomb and cargo

Before Grubb used Professor Wilkes' time machine to travel to 6th century Camelot, he had built a bomb and set it to detonate ten minutes after he was transported to the past--Grubb wanted to destroy the time machine and prevent Wilkes from interfering with his scheme.

For his time excursion, Grubb took along some commonplace 20th century gadgets--a TV set, a portable radio, and a camera--to impress the people of the 6th century and make them believe that he was a great sorcerer.

But Grubb's plan ultimately failed because the gadgets didn't function in that more primitive era--there was no electricity to power the television, no broadcasting stations to receive on the radio, and no way to develop the photographs that he took with the camera.

--Tales of Suspense I#2/2

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Jason Grubb, mopping floor at laboratory)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p2, pan3 (Headshot - Jason Grubb; Professor Wilkes (background))
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p3, pan1 (Jason Grubb sets controls of time machine)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p3, pan6 (Jason Grubb, transported back in time to 6th century Camelot)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p5, pan6 (Jason Grubb, mopping floor at King Arthur's court)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p1, pan1 (Professor Wilkes, working on time machine)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p2, pan2 (Professor Wilkes leaves laboratory; Jason Grubb (foreground))
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p1, pan2 (time machine (top view); Jason Grubb (background left), Professor Wilkes (foreground right))
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p2, pan4 (Jason Grubb looks at time machine's interior)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p3, pan2 (Jason Grubb holding time-bomb)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p4, pan1 (Jason Grubb tries to demonstrate his television set to knights of Camelot)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p4, pan4 (Jason Grubb tries to demonstrate his portable radio to knights of Camelot)
Tales of Suspense I#2/2, p5, pan1 (Jason Grubb tries to demonstrate his camera to knights of Camelot)

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#2/2 (March, 1959) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Carl Burgos (pencils and inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)

First Posted: 06/27/2021
Last updated: 06/27/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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