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In one universe, Tom Rubio was an unscrupulous suitor to the elderly, widowed New York City-based millionaire Matilda Marshall.
After Matilda became enamoured of the idea of marrying Kaza, “the Congo King”, Tom covertly followed her to Africa, where he tried to assassinate Kaza. He instead wounded one of the natives under Kaza's protection; Kaza chased him down and easily overpowered him, but, when he learned that they had interests in common, let him go in exchange for Tom agreeing to Kaza's plan. This plan involved Tom challenging Kaza to a fistfight in front of Matilda and then appearing to win as Kaza threw the fight. This made Matilda lose her interest in Kaza and return to America with Tom, whom she had a renewed admiration for, while Kaza and Matilda's much-abused paid companion Dorothy Gray were free to act on their feelings for one another. (COMIC: Fear in the Jungle)
Behind the scenes
This original version of Tom Rubio appeared in a 1949, now-public-domain comic story featuring Jo-Jo the Congo King, The Dauntless Dowager, as Tom Payne. The story was reprinted in 1954 in Fantastic Fears #8 as Fear in the Jungle, with the names of Tom Payne and Jo-Jo changed to Tom Rubio and Kaza respectively (whereas Matilda Marshall and Dorothy Gray's names remained unchanged).