Magician from Mars
{{Infobox comics character
| image = MagicianfromMarsfromAmazingManComics11.PNG
| caption = From Amazing-Man Comics #11 (April 1940), art by John Giunta and Michael Mirando.
| character_name = Magician from Mars
| publisher = Centaur Publications
| debut = Amazing-Man Comics #7 (November 1939)
| creators = John Giunta
Malcolm Kildale
| alter_ego = Jane 6ᴇᴍ35 / Jane Q-X3
| full_name =
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}}
The Magician from Mars was a Golden Age superheroine created by John Giunta and Malcolm Kildale for Centaur Publications' Amazing-Man Comics.[https://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2014/02/john-giunta-ca-1920-1970-part-3.html Hanley, Terence (2014). "Tellers of Weird Tales: John Giunta (ca. 1920-1970)-Part I" @Tellers of Weird Tales (February 6, 2014).] Retrieved September 4, 2019. who appeared in five issues of Amazing-Man Comics (#7-11, Nov 1939-Apr 1940), thereby predating most other early comics superheroines (such as Fantomah and Wonder Woman).{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/03/the-fury-and-the-fashion-comic-book-heroines-down-the-years |title=The fury and the fashion: comic-book heroines down the years |website=The Guardian|date=3 May 2017 |access-date=September 5, 2019|last1=Nicholson |first1=Hope}}
Fictional biography
The Magician's real name was given as "Jane 6ᴇᴍ35" in the first installment (though the second changes her surname to "Q-X3").{{cite book |last1=Mougin |first1=Lou |title=Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476638607|page=17}} She is born on Mars at some unspecified date in the future at which interplanetary travel is commonplace, to an Earth mother and Martian father. Her superpowers{{cite book |last1=Nicholson |first1=Hope |title=The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History |date=2017 |publisher=Quirk Books |isbn=978-1594749483 |pages=14–15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rLUDAAAQBAJ&q=magician+from+mars |access-date=9 April 2020}} are the result of accidental exposure to cathode rays as an infant, which have a unique effect on her due to her hybrid heritage. These powers are apparently based on the ability to utilize 100% of her brain; they are somewhat vaguely delimited, but include telekinesis, super-strength, gravity nullification, the ability to cast illusions and transform matter, and immortality. Jane / the Magician is also an accomplished pilot, and almost every installment sees her flying an airplane or rocketship.
The only person aware of Jane's unique talents is her mother, who raises her on Mars. After the deaths of both her parents by the age of sixteen, guardianship is assumed by Jane's aunt Kanza, who dislikes her and eventually confines her to a cell. Jane uses her powers to escape and board a spaceship heading to Earth; after the ship is struck by a meteor, she takes advantage of the confusion to steal three million dollars in gold before absconding in an escape pod. Landing on Earth, she donates half of the money to a doctor trying to cure childhood paralysis and keeps the other half to fund her new superhero career.{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=167}} The strip's final two installments saw the Magician fighting an anonymous villainous mastermind, the Hood, who first tried to conquer the Earth and then launched a war against the king of Mars.[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/magicianjane.htm Magician from Mars] at the International Catalogue of Superheroes. Retrieved September 4, 2019. The Magician traveled to Mars and saved the kingdom, but at the cost of the life of Martian prince Taal, her love interest; she also discovered the Hood was actually her aunt Kanza, who is without explanation shown to possess powers similar to her own.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{comicbookdb|character|92101|Magician from Mars}}
{{GoldenAge}}
{{Avengers characters}}
Category:Centaur Publications characters
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1939
Category:Female characters in comics
Category:Golden Age superheroes
Category:Comics characters with superhuman strength