MATT RONSON
Real Name: Matt Ronson
Identity/Class: Normal human (1950s era)
Occupation: Lighthouse keeper
Group Membership: None (see comments)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Sirens
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Remote offshore lighthouse
in unrevealed location, presumably USA
First Appearance: Uncanny Tales I#42/5 (April,
1956)
Powers/Abilities: Matt Ronson is an able
lighthouse keeper but had grown tired of the lonely life of tending an
isolated lighthouse.
Height: 5'9"
(by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by
approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Uncanny Tales I#42/5 (fb) - BTS) - Matt Ronson had
been faithfully tending a lighthouse on a remote rocky island
for six months without sight or sound of another human being. He grew
lonely and longed for his relief to arrive. However, sirens had
targeted the lighthouse to lure ships to the jagged rocks if they could
eliminate the warning light.
(Uncanny Tales I#42/5) - One more lonely day turned
to dusk and tired Ronson lit his own oil lamp, but began falling asleep
before tending the lighthouse beacon. A storm approached and Ronson was
woken by a siren appearing as a human woman knocking loudly on the
lighthouse door. Her alluring voice calmed him, but a foghorn of a
nearing ship caught in the dark searching to steer clear of danger woke
him from the trance. The siren offered to share the ship's plunder if
he kept the lighthouse dark and more sirens entered. Refusing their
seductions, he accidentally knocked over his oil lamp that set off a fire,
burning the lighthouse (presumably just the residential section). The
fire provided sufficient light to warn the nearby ship away and the
sirens scattered. At daybreak, an investigative team from the mainland
arrived but didn't believe his story until he showed them the sirens'
footprints in the sand.
Comments: Created by uncredited writer, Bernie Krigstein.
The US Lighthouse Service was absorbed into the Coast Guard in 1939, so I'm not sure where his official membership would lie, if any.
In the USA, lighthouses tended solely by one man were
known colloquially as "stag lights" if they did not accommodate other
keepers and/or family.
This was reprinted in Haunt of Horror I#3, which is where the 2nd image is from.
Is this where they could have gotten the G-Men/Agents of Atlas' Venus?
---John Holstein
The siren Venus was
granted a soul by the Ancient One in the late 19th century and in her
despair went into the convent. The clothes, ship design, lighthouse
design indicate that the story takes place not in the late 19th
century, so the siren in this tale seems very unlikely tot be the
Agents of Atlas' Venus.
--Mike
I've placed this
story in the 1950s as per the time it was originally published.
Electrification began to appear in the 1960s, phasing out the need for
lighthouse keepers who lit the beacon.
Maybe this story helped in retconning the Agents' Venus as a siren.
--Grendel Prime
This profile was completed 03/13/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Matt Ronson has no known connections to:
images:
(without ads)
Uncanny Tales I#42/5, p1, pan2 (main image)
p2, pan5 (headshot)
Appearances:
Uncanny Tales I#42/5 (April, 1956) - uncredited writer, Bernie
Krigstein (pencils & inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/02/2021
Last updated:
08/29/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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