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Marvel Boy (Robert Grayson)
Encyclopedia
Marvel Boy also known as The Uranian, is a fictional character
, a superhero
in the , one of several to use the name Marvel Boy
. He was created by writer-editor Stan Lee
and artist Russ Heath
, and first appeared in Marvel Boy #1 (Dec. 1950).
, created by Stan Lee and Russ Heath in Marvel Boy #1 (Dec. 1950), from Marvel 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
. Writer-artist Bill Everett
took over with issue #2. Marvel Boy continued to star when the series title changed to Astonishing with issue #3. The character's final Atlas story was in Astonishing #7 (Dec. 1951).
Grayson would not appear again until issue #9 (June 1978) of Marvel Comics' alternate-reality
series What If
. This version of Marvel Boy was revived within mainstream Marvel continuity in the 1950s-set, 12-issue miniseries
Marvel: The Lost Generation
(2001–2002) and the Agents of Atlas
(2006).
, the son of Dr. Horace Grabshield (later Anglicized as Grayson). Robert's father was a Jewish scientist who fled Earth with his infant son during the rise of Nazi Germany
. The Graysons landed on Uranus
, where they were greeted by the native Uranian
Eternals
. Robert was given a costume and a pair of powerful energy-band bracelets, and returned to Earth in the 1950s to battle crime. He battled such foes as the Great Video.
and vigilante, having been revived from suspended animation. He was apparently driven insane by grief over the death of the Uranian colony and called himself The Crusader (no relation to the medieval character from the Atlas Comics title The Black Knight
). He attempted to murder banker Calvin McClary and battled the Fantastic Four
. When the Crusader lost control of the energies channeled through his power wrist-bracelets, referred to as "Quantum Bands," they overloaded and he was vaporized. His ghost later appeared in the pages of Quasar
as the Blue Marvel.
Agents of Atlas
explained the Crusader's existence by claiming that he had actually not been Robert Grayson, but instead was a confused and surgically altered Uranian
Eternal
who had been given the Quantum Bands as an equivalent to Marvel Boy's power bracelets. This individual was intended as an unquestioningly loyal servant of the Uranian Eternals, conditioned to obey them and to believe he was actually the original Marvel Boy. However, the plan went awry when a disaster destroyed his creators midway through the project, leaving the Crusader in a deranged and delusional state.
During his career, Marvel Boy utilized two different pairs of wrist-bands. Both manipulated gravity and light; the second pair was stronger than the first. He wore polarized contact lenses which protected him when he manipulated light, creating blinding bursts to incapacitate his opponents. By manipulating gravity, he was able to fly. The bands provided these abilities by absorbing and transforming solar radiation. Through them, Marvel Boy gained superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. He also used a rocket-ship designed by his father Horace Grayson, based on designs by Uranian technicians.
Marvel Boy's primary weapon is now the headband he received from the Uranians. This headband consists of highly sophisticated technologies that not only allow him to control his spaceship remotely, but affords him a high degree of telepathic ability. He can read minds, project highly convincing images and commands into the brains of others, and can scan the physiological state of those around him.
Marvel Boy has been reborn to share, on some level, a Uranian
physiology. The full extent of this remains unrevealed, although it is known that he must breathe an atmosphere akin to the planet Uranus' and that, in order to eat, he must distend his esophagus. It should be noted however, that these are not characteristics of an actual Uranian Eternal (see Eternals
) and were not seen before the Agents of Atlas series.
Grayson is an accomplished athlete and completed advanced studies of science and technology at the Uranian Academy, giving him knowledge well beyond what has been discovered on Earth. He is also an expert pilot of air and spacecraft.
created a duplicate of Marvel Boy via the Infinity Gauntlet
; this double was later renamed the Blue Marvel and attempted to become the Punisher
's sidekick but was rejected and was later exiled to a limbo dimension.
The parallel universe
anthology
What If
#9 (June 1978) showed a world where Marvel Boy was a member of a team of 1950s "Avengers
." This team battled the Yellow Claw
and his superhuman minions, though the team was asked to disband by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This alternate timeline was destroyed in the 1998-2000 limited series
Avengers Forever
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
in the , one of several to use the name Marvel Boy
Marvel Boy
Marvel Boy is the name of several fictional comic book characters in the Marvel Comics universe, including predecessor companies Timely Comics and Atlas Comics.-Martin Burns:...
. He was created by writer-editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and artist Russ Heath
Russ Heath
Russell Heath, Jr. is an American artist best known for his comic book work — particularly his DC Comics war stories for several decades and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's Little Annie Fanny featurettes — and for his commercial art, two pieces of which, depicting Roman and...
, and first appeared in Marvel Boy #1 (Dec. 1950).
Publication history
Robert Grayson is the 1950s Marvel BoyMarvel Boy
Marvel Boy is the name of several fictional comic book characters in the Marvel Comics universe, including predecessor companies Timely Comics and Atlas Comics.-Martin Burns:...
, created by Stan Lee and Russ Heath in Marvel Boy #1 (Dec. 1950), from Marvel 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
. Writer-artist Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
took over with issue #2. Marvel Boy continued to star when the series title changed to Astonishing with issue #3. The character's final Atlas story was in Astonishing #7 (Dec. 1951).
Grayson would not appear again until issue #9 (June 1978) of Marvel Comics' alternate-reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
series What If
What If (comics)
What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
. This version of Marvel Boy was revived within mainstream Marvel continuity in the 1950s-set, 12-issue miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Marvel: The Lost Generation
Marvel: The Lost Generation
Marvel: The Lost Generation is a twelve-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 2000 and 2001. The series was written by Roger Stern and drawn by John Byrne. Numbered in reverse order, it began with issue #12 and finished with issue #1 Marvel: The Lost Generation is a...
(2001–2002) and the Agents of Atlas
Agents of Atlas
Agents of Atlas is a fictional superhero team in comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is composed of characters originally appearing in unrelated stories published in the 1950s by Marvel's predecessor company, Atlas Comics....
(2006).
Fictional character biography
Robert Grayson was born in Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, the son of Dr. Horace Grabshield (later Anglicized as Grayson). Robert's father was a Jewish scientist who fled Earth with his infant son during the rise of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The Graysons landed on Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
, where they were greeted by the native Uranian
Uranian (comics)
The Uranians are a fictional race in the Marvel Universe. They first appeared in Marvel Boy # 1 , written by Stan Lee, as the human-like inhabitants of the planet Uranus, who became the hosts and mentors of Marvel Boy , as well as providing him with the technology which he used on Earth to become a...
Eternals
Eternals (comics)
The Eternals are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth which...
. Robert was given a costume and a pair of powerful energy-band bracelets, and returned to Earth in the 1950s to battle crime. He battled such foes as the Great Video.
The Crusader
Robert Grayson purportedly returned much later as an antagonistAntagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
and vigilante, having been revived from suspended animation. He was apparently driven insane by grief over the death of the Uranian colony and called himself The Crusader (no relation to the medieval character from the Atlas Comics title The Black Knight
Black Knight (comics)
The Black Knight is the alias of several fictional comic-book characters that appear in the Marvel Comics universe.The first is a medieval knight created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely. The second is a supervillain descendant of the original, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and...
). He attempted to murder banker Calvin McClary and battled the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
. When the Crusader lost control of the energies channeled through his power wrist-bracelets, referred to as "Quantum Bands," they overloaded and he was vaporized. His ghost later appeared in the pages of Quasar
Quasar (comics)
Quasar is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the . He is one of Marvel's cosmic heroes, a character whose adventures frequently take him into outer space or other dimensions...
as the Blue Marvel.
Agents of Atlas
The 2006 Marvel miniseriesMiniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Agents of Atlas
Agents of Atlas
Agents of Atlas is a fictional superhero team in comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is composed of characters originally appearing in unrelated stories published in the 1950s by Marvel's predecessor company, Atlas Comics....
explained the Crusader's existence by claiming that he had actually not been Robert Grayson, but instead was a confused and surgically altered Uranian
Uranian (comics)
The Uranians are a fictional race in the Marvel Universe. They first appeared in Marvel Boy # 1 , written by Stan Lee, as the human-like inhabitants of the planet Uranus, who became the hosts and mentors of Marvel Boy , as well as providing him with the technology which he used on Earth to become a...
Eternal
Eternals (comics)
The Eternals are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth which...
who had been given the Quantum Bands as an equivalent to Marvel Boy's power bracelets. This individual was intended as an unquestioningly loyal servant of the Uranian Eternals, conditioned to obey them and to believe he was actually the original Marvel Boy. However, the plan went awry when a disaster destroyed his creators midway through the project, leaving the Crusader in a deranged and delusional state.
Powers and abilities
Marvel Boy's primary weapon is now the headband he received from the Uranians. This headband consists of highly sophisticated technologies that not only allow him to control his spaceship remotely, but affords him a high degree of telepathic ability. He can read minds, project highly convincing images and commands into the brains of others, and can scan the physiological state of those around him.
Marvel Boy has been reborn to share, on some level, a Uranian
Uranian (comics)
The Uranians are a fictional race in the Marvel Universe. They first appeared in Marvel Boy # 1 , written by Stan Lee, as the human-like inhabitants of the planet Uranus, who became the hosts and mentors of Marvel Boy , as well as providing him with the technology which he used on Earth to become a...
physiology. The full extent of this remains unrevealed, although it is known that he must breathe an atmosphere akin to the planet Uranus' and that, in order to eat, he must distend his esophagus. It should be noted however, that these are not characteristics of an actual Uranian Eternal (see Eternals
Eternals (comics)
The Eternals are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth which...
) and were not seen before the Agents of Atlas series.
Grayson is an accomplished athlete and completed advanced studies of science and technology at the Uranian Academy, giving him knowledge well beyond what has been discovered on Earth. He is also an expert pilot of air and spacecraft.
Other versions
The manipulative mastermind ThanosThanos
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in comic books and other media published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin....
created a duplicate of Marvel Boy via the Infinity Gauntlet
Infinity Gems
Infinity Gems, sometimes referred to as the Soul Gems, are six immensely powerful gems featured in the fictional Marvel Universe. Whoever holds all six gems in the Infinity Gauntlet gains omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and God-like power, and has absolute dominion over the universe...
; this double was later renamed the Blue Marvel and attempted to become the Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
's sidekick but was rejected and was later exiled to a limbo dimension.
The parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
What If
What If (comics)
What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
#9 (June 1978) showed a world where Marvel Boy was a member of a team of 1950s "Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
." This team battled the Yellow Claw
Yellow Claw
The Yellow Claw is a fictional comic book supervillain in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Maneely, the character first appeared in Yellow Claw #1 , published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor of Marvel.-Publication history:While the...
and his superhuman minions, though the team was asked to disband by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This alternate timeline was destroyed in the 1998-2000 limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Avengers Forever
Avengers Forever
Avengers Forever is a twelve-issue comic book limited series published from December 1998 to November 1999 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern and drawn by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino.-Publication history:...
.