Origin
Zamu was a R’Zahnian spy who came to Earth disguised as a human. Using his planet’s advanced technology to perform seemingly impossible feat such as lifting an audience into the air, he became a famous stage magician. Zamu sought to parlay this fame into a political career, and ran for governor, using his fame as a stage magician to capture votes.
Zamu’s activities attracted the attention of Dr. Druid, who quickly determined that Zamu was no magician. Dr. Druid spied on Zamu as he reported to the leader of the R’Zahnians and then used ventriloquism to startle the alien. Zamu took out his pistol to use against Dr. Druid, but Dr. Druid suddenly appeared before him and used hypnosis to take control of Zamu’s mind. While under hypnosis, Zamu confessed his plot to the police. He had planned to use his influence as governor to pave the way for an alien invasion. The police then took Zamu into custody.
Creation
Zamu was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko for a story in the August 1961 issue of Amazing Adventures. In this first appearance Zamu was named Zemu and he hailed from Saturn. He was ultimately foiled by Dr. Droom. The story was reprinted in a 1977 issue of Weird Wonder Tales where he became Zamu, Dr. Droom became Dr. Druid, and Saturn became the more alien sounding R’Zahn.
Powers and Abilities
Zamu possessed advanced R’Zahnian technology, including giant magnets used in his magic act to fool an audience into thinking they had been levitated, and a pistol which featured an infra-ray detector to locate enemies and fired delta rays to disintegrate his foes.