Astonishing #6
Murder By Magic
On the planet Uranus, Matthew Grayson meets with his son Marvel Boy. He tells him of reports he has heard from Earth about a magician who has been making it big in the theater scene who has been baffling experts with his feats of magic. Seeking to learn more, Grayson sends Marvel Boy to Earth to investigate to see if the magicians abilities could be of assistance to universal science. Marvel Boy flies his rocket to Earth to meet with a New York scientist named Professor Simon Sigmund when he arrives.
Meeting with Sigmund, the two men go to see the latest show of the magician named Pasha Emit Erut-Uf. The two watch as Pasha and his assistant Eve Namada put on their magic show. Pasha amazes the audience when he makes Eve float into the air. Calling from an audience member, Marvel Boy goes up and waves a hoop around the girl to show that there are no ropes used to levitate the girl. The next trick, Pasha has Marvel Boy assist in tying Eve up and suspending her into the air. The girl suddenly vanishes and reappears free from her bonds. After the show the scientist is convinced that the pair use real magic, and Marvel Boy is convinced to speak with them the next day.
However the next morning when Marvel Boy pays a visit to the theatre he learns from Eve that Pasha has gone missing and that his hotel room was in shambles. Marvel Boy agrees to do what he can to help save Pasha. On his way out he buys a newspaper and reads a story about how the First National Bank was robbed when someone managed to pick the time lock on the vault. Meanwhile, at a criminal hideout, a gang of crooks have kidnapped Pasha and forced him to help them rob the bank.
Having suspected this, Marvel Boy meets with police and comes up with a plan to catch the crooks. Disguising himself as Pasha, Marvel Boy puts on the next performance of the magician. When some of the crooks who kidnapped sees the phony Pasha they assume that the real magician managed to break out of their hideout. They kidnap the phony unaware that the police are trying to find them. When they arrive at the hideout, the mobsters realize that the place is too quiet. They go inside alone leaving the phony Pasha in the car. Inside they find that their minions are dead.
Marvel Boy is shocked when suddenly the real Pasha appears in the car and explains that he is aware of Marvel Boy's plan and tells him that he has come up with one of his own. The two return to the theatre and another show is put on. The mobsters go to the show in order to eliminate Pasha for escaping from them. However, during the show Pasha uses his magic powers to blow apart all the mobsters limbs limbs, killing them bloodlessly. Shocked Marvel Boy tells Pasha that that he will be arrested for manslaughter, but Pasha insists that he acted in self-defence. Before the police can arrest Pasha, he and his assistant tell the authorities that they cannot hold him and that they will leave, saying they may be back in a few hundred years and suddenly vanish.
The police are baffled, but Marvel Boy explains that the secret behind Pasha and his assistant lie in their names, and suggest that perhaps the entire thing never happened at all.
Recurring Characters
Marvel Boy
Matthew Grayson
The Phantom Pen
At the home of wealthy millionaire Jasper J. Corpra, he is visited by a Russian agent who has come to thank him for the money that he has given their country by giving him a gift: a platinum plated pen. Corpra, takes the gift and thanks the Russian for it the gift.
However, Jasper suddenly finds himself to have the compulsion write large checks to the Stalinist government in Russia for millions of dollars. Unable to stop himself, Jasper then calls on Bob Grayson of the Amalgamated Insurance Company, knowing that he is really Marvel Boy and asks for his help to stop his urge to write these checks. When Marvel Boy sees the pen, he asks to see it but it suddenly jumps out of Corpra's hand. The pen then jumps back into Corpra's pocket.
Curious, Marvel Boy asks Corpra where he got it and learns about the Russian agent who gifted it to him. Marvel Boy pays a visit to the Russian's office and asks about the pen. The Russian maintains that there was nothing wrong with it when he gave it to Jasper and then refuses to show Marvel Boy the checks. When the hero overstays his welcome, the Russian tries to strike Marvel Boy. Grayson blocks the punch with his wrist and his light bands go off erasing the ink from the checks. He then blinds the Russian who surrenders but vows that the hero will not be able to stop Jasper from writing more checks.
Marvel Boy arrives and spots mobster Lippy Broadhurst and his men are forcing Jasper to write more checks. Before Marvel Boy can deal with them, the Russian arrives and orders the mobsters to remove Marvel Boy's light bands. However the hero activates them again, and in the blinding light Lippy accidentally shoots his Russian employer. The flight flash destroys the checks and the platinum pen. However, when the authorities arrive they are able to arrest Lippy Broadhurst for murdering the Russian. In the aftermath, Jasper decides to use his wealth to invest in the United States from now on.
Recurring Characters
Marvel Boy
Unseen Terror
On the streets one afternoon a man suddenly begins to be choked by his own clothing and dies on the street as people around him panic. All over the city similar strangulations happen. The strange deaths prompts Marvel Boy to go to the police and inquire about the case. He meets with the lead detective who is investigating the case and he explains that they suspect foul play as all the men were strangled by suits made by the same tailor. Before the police can bring in the tailor in be questioned they are informed that the tailor has apparently skipped town.
Marvel Boy agrees to try and track the man in question down. The hero first stops at his rocket ship and contacts Daka on Uranus for information. With this information Marvel Boy travels to Mammoth University and pays a visit to their observatory where he has succeeded in tracking down the tailor. Marvel Boy questions the surprised tailor who denies that he has fabric that contracts and strangles the victims. He tries to prove this by offering Marvel Boy to put on a coat. Marvel Boy complies, falling right into the tailors trap and the hero is apparently strangled to death. The man, who killed his victims as part of a gruesome experiment. He then wraps up Marvel Boy in a roll of fabric and drives out to dispose of the body.
Marvel Boy has survived however, and he manages to break free from the fabric. Climbing up on the roof of the truck he uses the tailor's own fabric to crash the vehicle, crushing it to pieces with the constricting fabric. Marvel Boy knocks out the tailor as he tries to escape and turns him over to the police. There he refveals that the tailor is really Professor Diminuito, a scientist from the planet Argos who had invented a contracting fabric. When the police ask Marvel Boy how he survived being strangled to death, he opens his jacket revealing that he was wearing a metal neck brace to protect himself.
Recurring Characters
Marvel Boy
