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History

Preface[]

The life of Matthew Grayson was adapted into a comic book published by Timely Comics. In most cases they were works of fiction based on true events, and details were changed to make the stories sell better to Timely's audience in the 1950s. Whenever possible this article will differentiate between the two.

Fictional Origins[]

In the fictional account of Matthew Grayson's origins, he was an atomic expert who was horrified by the atrocities carried out by the Nazis who were then rising to power. In 1934, the Nazis shot down a passenger plane carrying Matthew's wife and daughter, killing them both. The widowed Grayson then built a rocket to take him and his infant son Robert away from the Earth. The rocket was suddenly drawn to the planet Uranus where they found it inhabited by people. The Uranians welcomed Matthew and his son with open arms. Matthew then continued his scientific studies and Robert was raised as a Uranian.

Matthew monitored his home planet, and in 1950, when an island rose out of the Pacific ocean causing the powers of the world to enter a race to claim the island, Matthew believed it was the most opportune time to send his son to Earth to be its champion. Arming Robert with light bands, uranium pills, and a rocket ship, he sent his son to Earth, dubbing him Marvel Boy.[1]

Actual Origins[]

Matthew Horace Grayson was a German rocket scientist who worked for the government in the 1930s. When the Nazis rose to power, Grayson refused to support them but was forced to continue working. Soon after the Nazi's rise to power, his wife Marna was outed as a Jew and was murdered. Matthew was forced to continue his work while nurses looked after his infant son Robert. Matthew constructed a radio transmitter that beamed messages out into space, hoping to contact intelligent life and find a way to free himself from the Nazis. His efforts proved fruitful when he was contacted by the Uranians who instructed him on how to build a ship that could carry Matthew and his son to Uranus.

They then fled the Earth and were welcomed into Uranian society. The Uranians trained Robert to be their ambassador to Earth, the Uranian, and sent him on a mission to earn the trust of the Earth people in the hopes that the Uranians -- exiles from Earth themselves -- could return to Earth when the planet was finally brought to peace. Matthew continued to live among the Uranians while Robert travelled to Earth where he operated as Marvel Boy.[2]

Professor Horace Grabsheid was an excellent rocket scientist with a personal project to create an interplanetary spacecraft - unfortunately he had not the money to finance that. Herbert Wyndham approached Grabsheid to design a citadel of science in Wyndham's partner's terrain in Transia - Wyndham wanted a space worthy laboratory, and insisted to his partner Jonathan Drew that Grabsheid was the man to do this. In exchange for that, Grabsheid wanted Wyndham and Drew to finance his interplanetary spacecraft, which they agreed to do because they were rich due to the uranium mines in the Transian terrain.[citation needed]

In just a few weeks, Grabsheid finished the design and showed it to Wyndham, who accepted it. Drew still was dubious because he did not understand why they needed a space worthy laboratory. They meeting was interrupted when Drew's daughter Jessica saw a werewolf through the window: Drew and Wyndham went to investigate while Mrs. Miriam Drew stayed with Professor Grabsheid.[citation needed]

Wyndham and Drew accepted Grabsheid's design and eventually they built the HQ in Wundagore Mountain.[citation needed]

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References

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