Kelly Knox - Marvel Monsters: Creatures of the Marvel Universe Explored

CREA TU RES OF T HE MARVEL UNIVERSE EXPLORED WRITTEN BY KELL Y KNOX

Aquatic Monstro 1 Man-T hing Titano Gigantus Glob Tor g, t he Abominable Snow-King Amphibians and Reptiles Old Lace The Lizard Fin Fa ng Fo om Droom Devil Dinosaur Manphibian Tim Boo Ba Mammals Yet i Gorg illa Man-Wolf Dracul a Lilith, Dr acu las Daughter Were wolf by Night Morbius, the Living V amp ire Skaar Aerial Swarm Sauron Dragon Man Grogg Lockheed Introduction

Articially Created Spore 8 It, the Living Colossus Zzutak Elektro The Gre en Thing Ulvar Frank en-Castle Molten Man-T hing Krakoa Two -Headed Thing Golem Frank enstein s Monster Vando oms Monster Grott u Space and Other Dimensions Xemnu the Titan Hypno-Cr eatur e Goom Googam, Son of Goom Groot Mangog Orrgo Rorgg Chitauri Space Beast Apocalypse Beast Gomdulla Rommbu Spra gg, the Living Hill Kaa Monstero so Blip Leviathon Moth er Monstrom Mindless Ones Monster Te ams Monster Isle Leviathons Kid Kaiju Marvel Zombies Legion of Monster s Undead Avengers Howling Commandos Hulk Index Acknowledgments 1

My monsters w ere lova ble monsters. I gave them namessome were evil and some were good. JACK KIRB Y What makes a monster? Before masters of the medium Stan Le e and Jack Kirby cre ated some of the worlds gr eat est Super Her oes, they made monster s. Their cr eati ons rampa ged and bellowed acro ss the colorful pages of 10 cent comics found in new sstands acr oss the country . Lee and Kirbys stra nge and astonishing tales t ended to r ee ct the fe ars and hopes of t he 1960s. Monsters were born fro m ra dioactive accidents against the back drop of the Cold Wa r , and conquero rs fr om t he stars declare d the Earth f or their own as the Space R ace marc hed on. In later years , more Marv el cre ators would shape their cr eat ure s as signs of the times. Duri ng the 1970s and 1980s, legends like were wolves and vampire s were tra nsformed into modern monste rs such as t he Were wolf By Night and Morbius th e Living Va mpire . Monsters also became contemplative and complicated anti-her oes, including the Hulk. As the 20th century came to a close, the end of t he world took hold in the collective consciousness, and, in the ne xt millen nium, monsters that could bring about Ar mageddon were born. Apocalypse Beast, Marvel Zombies, and the Leviat hon Mother wer e al most the end of it all until bra ve and brilliant her oes banded together t o stop them . No matter the er a, Marve ls monsters highlight the cour age of chara cters, both avera ge and ex trao rdi nary, who stood in their w ay. This collection is a peek back thr oug h time where voices of every day people often told lar ger -than-life stories o f extr a-s ized ex trat erres trials, glowering giants , and myster ious mists . In a world lled with beings th at defy belief, monster s stand out fro m the cro wd, and not just because of th eir size. A monster is a cr eat ure we dont unders tand yet. Wh y is it her e? W hat does it want? Answer ing those questions are just the rs t steps in turning mons ters fr om it to them. Lets meet some monster s.

The pitch-black ocean oor , froze n regi ons, murky marshlands, the fro thing waves on a coast line: The wate r is home to some of planet Earths most f earsome monsters. Add ra dioactivity that has gone awry , mystical magic, bizarre chemicals, or ancient science into the mix, and t here is a re cipe for some of the most thre atening and str ange terror s to ris e up fro m the watery depths. Giant sea cre ature s such as Monstro and Titano, plants and humans merg ed into org anic ogre s like Man- Thi ng and Glob, and other denizens of secre t sea kingdoms emerg e from their watery abodes. Perhaps equipped with webbed nger s and toes, or internal or gans specially adapted to br eathi ng in water , these monsters h ave physiologies well suit ed to aquatic env ironm ents. Lets dive into a sw ell of monsters from th e sea and swamp.

Aquatic Rising up out of the sea, a giant octo pus of unfathomable size draw s up its tenta cles and smashes them down on th e building below. A Soviet coasta l town becomes the rst target f or this marine mons terMonstro , the Menace from th e Murky Depths. This garg antuan, ora nge cephalopod has two massive, unblinking eyes. At his rs t known sighting he r emai ned in the ocean water w here he surfaced, near an East ern Euro pean coastal city . The monster appear ed unwilling to leave th e are a and soon pro ved himself to be a menace: upturning boats, destr oyi ng buildings, and smashing the pier with his tentacles. The shak en citizens dubbed him Monstr o, a nd ed. Declaring the situation to be a national emer gen cy, t he despera te authori ties contacted a to p American scientist f or help. The mar ine biologist tr ave led to their country to see the eight -leg ged thre at for himself. Donning scuba-diving gear , the scientist r owed a boat out to the crea ture as it languished in the citys harbor . Despite the obvious danger , he dived in to ex amine Monstr o. After r unning a tes t on the mighty octopus, he advised the aut horities t o simply leave Monstr o a lone for the nex t 24 hours . When pre ssed by the mistru stful ocials, the scientist refu sed to elabor ate. Later , spotting a lynch mob outside his hotel window, the man secr etly ed back to the US. Twe nty-four hour s late r , true to t he scientists word , Monstro re verted to his re gular size. The sea monster was originally an or din ary octopus, the scientist late r explaine d to a colleague. Undisclosed atomic testing and r adi oactivity had mutated the ceph alopod; the scientist hadnt wanted t o re veal that he had learned th is secre t, fearing the authori ties would destro y Monstro in an attempt to hide the evidence of their meddling. That was not the last of Monst ro, however . He was later spotte d in his giant form in the US We st Coast city of San Diego. First Appeara nce: Ta les of Suspense #8 (1960) by Stan Lee, L arry Lieber , and Jack Kirby Height: 328ft (100m) Weight: 30,000 tons Origin: Unknown Powers: Massive size, stre ngth, and dura bility Eye contact Like a r egula r octopus, Monstr o pos sesses two eyes, but they ar e ir regul arly the size of small boats.