PROFESSOR MARTIN MASON

Real Name: Martin Mason

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Atomic scientist

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Echo Valley, Earth-S

First Appearance: Marvel Family (Fawcett) #53 (November, 1950)

Powers: Professor Mason was a scientific genius and the inventor of the expander ray, which could enlarge any inanimate object. When put in reverse the machine became a shrinking ray.

History: (Marvel Family (Fawcett) #53) - Professor Martin Mason was an atomic scientist greatly worried about the future of Earth. He was concerned with a future shortage of metals, and invented an expander ray that could enlarge inanimate matter to create more raw resources of metal. Before long he decided the greatest threat to the future of humanity was overpopulation, so he tinkered with his expander ray so it could enlarge the size of the Earth and every inanimate object tenfold and hopefully supply the needs of humanity until the end of time. His expander ray had unintended consequences, forcing the Marvel Family to go into action. Billy Batson finished his newscast when the ray hit, and Miss Baker, who provided music for his show fell from her now gigantic keyboard organ, and he had to change to his heroic identity of Captain Marvel to save her. Freddy Freeman shrunk while hawking newspaper, and had to change into Captain Marvel Jr. to save a driver when his car grew to large for him to control. Mary Batson saved her neighbor Mrs. Barstow from being crushed by her phone by turning into Mary Marvel. The Marvels met up, and stopped a jailbreak when the prisoners ran between the bars of their cell, and the Marvels locked the prisoners in the warden's desk for the time being. Mason's machine was too large for him to pull the lever that turned it off, so he sent out a radio broadcast asking for the Marvel Family's help. They used their superstrength to pull the lever, and Mason admitted he'd made a big mistake, and would reverse the ray to return Earth to its' normal size. He left the ray in reverse for too long, causing the Earth to rapidly shrink, and the Marvels had to evacuate Fawcett City before the residents crushed their newly tiny city by accident. Mason was again in a fix, because his underground lab where the ray was was now too small to reach. The Marvels carefully removed the roof of the underground cabin and flicked the lever again, restoring the world to normal. They destroyed the ray lest it cause more chaos, and took Mason to the authorities to see if the courts would choose to punish him for his grievous error. Captain Marvel chided Mason that he was wrong to tamper with the scheme of things.

Comments: Created by Otto Binder & Kurt Schaffenberger.