Astonishing #6 (1951)

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 theater 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 theater 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-defense. 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.