Prophet of doom

Context

Tales of Suspense volume 1 #40 was published in 1963. Iron Man (Tony Stark) had made his debut in the previous issue.

Back then the book had a main feature plus two featurettes. The short stories usually were a sci-fi or horror-but-not-too-much tale with a twiiiiist at the end.

These weren’t integrated in the nascent Marvel Universe. It was more of a legacy of how anthology comic books had worked in the 1950s.

But I find such characters useful. Especially if they have some cachet from having been created by major Marvel authors (in this case, Steve Ditko  ).

And this specific one is a time traveller, so he could pop up in just any story.

History

The “prophet” was a renegade time traveller from thousands of years in the future. Though his culture is highly civilised, he was different and wanted to lord over others.

He thus travelled to the XX^th century. Though he found it drab and primitive, he had a plan.

He *could* approach world leaders, share detailed historical predictions with them, and thus trick them into launching nuclear missiles. His knowledge of the future would prove that he was a time traveller, making his lies credible.

The plan was that he would approach the United Nations in secret. Then demand hundreds of millions of dollars in order *not* to contact Cold War powers. This would spare the Earth and let him live like a king.

And it would have worked too…

But the UN man then revealed that he too was from the future.

There was a secret network of watchers through the century, to prevent such antisocial tampering with the past.

He arrested the would-be prophet of doom.

Powers & Abilities

The “prophet” has a time machine built into his belt.

It can also be used to shift him slightly out of phase, making him invisible.

His “muscles are so rigid that no weapon can harm [him]”, though this was only tested with handgun rounds. One imagines that it also means superhuman strength.

He could easily pick door locks open, since they were so primitive compared to those of the future.

Our game stats assume that, in a similar manner, he could speak any language, drive any vehicle, understand any science, etc. as they were so simple by his standards. It’s a recurrent motif in sci-fi comics of this era.

He also had detailed historical knowledge, plus charisma stemming from an immense sense of superiority.

Description

See illustrations. Wearing a hat is still common practice in the US of 1963, so hiding his funky little antennae is easy while outdoors.

Personality

Power-hungry, smug as fudge, and dismissive of those stupid primitives.

Quotes

“So this is the primitive twentieth century ! How drab and uncivilised ! No wonder none of my own century would ever bother to visit it ! This is why I’ll be safe here ! I can play with their puny lives like a god ! I can command — I can rule them all !”

Marvel Universe Adaptation

(This section proposes ways of using this character in Marvel Universe stories).

It can be interesting to ponder how very-early-Marvel and proto-Marvel time travellers (such as this guy or the Future Man) interact with Kang the Conqueror.

DC Universe Adaptation

(This section proposes ways of using this character in DC Universe stories).

It might simply have been an early ploy by Abra Kadabra.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: ToS Vol. 1 #40.

Helper(s): Darci.

Writeup completed on the 15^th of January, 2020.