Martan the Marvel Man

Real Name: Martan

First Appearance: Popular Comics #46 (Dec 1939)

Original Publisher: Dell

Created by: G. Ellerbock & William Kent

Golden Age Origin:

Martan was a young scientist from planet Antaclea, a highly advanced world where technology rendered war, hunger and illness obsolete and gave its inhabitants extraordinary powers. One day, he decided to take his wife, Vana, to see the birth of the new planet. On their way, they passed through the Sol system, where they came under attack by the Martian raiders. While the two easily fought off the Martians, the fight slowed them down enough to give them a good look at Earth.

The Antacleans studied the planet from the distance, but none of them ever actually set foot on it. Vana persuaded Martan to stop by the planet and take a closer look. Before long, they found themselves involved in Earth conflicts. And when the Martian forces invaded Earth (well, the United States, mostly), Martan and Dana shared enough Antaclean technology with American forces to help them repel the invasion and capture the Martian leaders, the self-proclaimed Supreme Three of the Universe. Afterwords, they helped to bring down the spy network set up by the nation of Eurasia (yet another Soviet proxy) and defeated the White Spheres of Saturn. But the fight against the White Spheres took them back into space, forcing them to leave the Earth behind.

Powers and Abilities:

Like all Antacleans, Martan is much stronger than humans and possess limited flight. As he explained to his human ally during the Martian invasion, those abilities were due to a combination of technological enhancements and life-long mental training. The Antaclean technology in his clothing allows him to generate force fields, disable firearms and establish telepathic communications (among other things).

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Real Name: Jimmy Christopher First Appearance: Operator #5 vol. 1 #1 (April 1934) Original Publisher: Popular Publications Created by: Frederick C. Davis (as "Curtis Steele") Golden Age Origin: Operator 5 was really Jimmy Christopher, a maverick secret service agent who worked as main operative for an ambiguous government organization. For this organization, Jimmy Christopher fought against America's enemies' efforts to take over America. The enemies were often from countries with fictional names and veiled references to nations such as Germany and Japan. Examples of foes fought by Operator 5 included the Thirteenth Darkness, The Atlantis (a flying fortress), The Yellow Scourge, Zaava, and the Black Menace. In addition to being a secret agent, he was a master of disguise, radio operator, chemist, and weaponry expert. Operator 5 also had two trademarks: a skull ring and a rapier which was kept curled inside his belt.