The Comic Book Gazette

Monster Mash!

Welcome to Marvel Monster Madness, an entire week dedicated to celebrating the wild and wacky world of... Marvel Monster Comics!

Enjoy, folks!

Today, we’ll be wrapping up our Marvel Monster Madness event. A full week dedicated solely to celebrating Marvel monster comics (we even managed to tie it into one of our regular features, the Bargain Bin Buys Blog), and I can scarcely believe it’s come and gone this quickly.

Enough with the reminiscing -- let’s move on to today’s topic! We’ve looked at the past, in terms of monster comics. Now, let’s move on to the present and the future.

As we touched upon in yesterday’s article on reprints, the 90’s saw a small return of monster comics. However, these were mostly reprints, and didn’t last past 1994. The monster genre would then go largely unseen for the rest of the nineties.

That would all change, though, in 2004 and 2005. These two years saw a blitzkrieg of monster comics, both in the form of Fin Fang Foom appearing in Nextwave (see the Fin Fang Foom feature for more details), and Marvel’s attempt to revitalize their monster comics line, in the form of a few one-shots -- Monster on the Prowl, Hulk vs. Devil Dinosaur, Fin Fang Four, ect. These cost $3.99 and featured a new monster story, as well as a reprint of classic material. An OHOTMU (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe) about classic monsters was also released.

What’s in store for the future? Well, more Fin Fang Four is coming from the original writer, Robert Langridge. A one-shot is also coming in January, titled Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom, featuring -- what else? -- a slugfest between these two green giants. As if this wasn’t enough, a new independent company also promises original material featuring monsters. And we mean honest-to-goodness monsters. The writer responsible for the title professes to be a huge fan of the classic Marvel monster material, and claims that the title will be highly reminiscent of these older comics, and will bring traditional monster comics to a whole new generation. Details are still being ironed out, though, and a release date hasn’t been finalized, though you can look for the book sometime in 2008. The whole thing is very hush-hush, so I think I’ve said enough. Remember, you read it here first! (And you can bet a press release or article about the book will be seen on this very site when more details are made available)!

--Sergio Lopez

Marvel Monster Madness, Day Six (10.30)

Today we'll be focusing on the reprints of Marvel monster comics.

After the 50's and 60's, monster comics seemed to shrivel and die out, replaced with the wave of the future: super-heroes. However, during the late 60's and early 70's, Marvel made an attempt to bring BACK monster comics in the form of reprints. Super-heroes were still prevalent, but now we had REPRINTS. Strange Tales Annual #1 was the first to reprint monster tales. Fantasy Masterpieces was another early reprint mag. Later we had titles with names like Where Monsters Dwell, Monster On The Prowl, Fear, Creatures on the Loose, Where Creatures Roam, ect, ect. These comics simply reprinted older material. The covers were usually the same as in the 50's and 60's, but re-colored (occasionally a new cover would be done). These reprints were also often retouched, with artwork updated and names changed so as to fit into Marvel continuity.

However, super-heroes proved to be more than just a temporary fad, and these 70's reprints didn't last very long. By the end of the 70's they had been cancelled, and this was mostly the end of reprints, until...

The 90's! Yes, the 90's!

The early 90's (late '9 and early '94) saw a small colletion of reprints, with names like Monster Menace. These were 60's monster comics, and even some 50's and pre-Comics Code Authority stuff. They also had new letters pages from readers, and occasional pin-ups by Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko, and some text pieces from Stan Lee (all of them had done major work on classic monster comics). While the reprints were generally well-received, they were only around four-issue minis, and reprints were not really seen again... (Dan dan DAN)!

--Sergio Lopez

Marvel Monster Madness, Day Five (10.29)

Today's entry will be rather short, as we discuss the question: what IS a monster comic? This is a point I have made reference to several times before and I will be going into this much more in-depth now.

Basically a monster comic is any story that:

a) features a monster (the monster is often one or more of the following: furry, a robot, an alien, and/or misunderstood).

b) features a shock ending (obviously, having a shock ending alone does not qualify a story to be a monster tale. Rather, shock endings are common characteristics of monster stories).

c) does not feature a monster but rather features someone masquerading as a monster (ie, someone dressing up as a monster. A story called "The Tax Collector From Space" springs to mind. It's a story in which a human dresses up as a monster for monetary gain. This can be considered a monster comic).

d) was published during the 50's/60's by Marvel/Atlas Comics (again, not that every story published during this era was a monster story, nor that monster stories were not published and/or reprinted later on).

e) featured a mad scientist/someone with special abilities (that is to say, a person with special abilities that ISN'T a super-hero. These kinds of comics didn't feature comics per se, but were published alongside monster comics, reprinted alongside monster comcis, and often categorized under monster comics).

f) were ONLY about a monster (that is to say, Nextave #1, in which a monster appears (see "Marvel Monster Madness, Day Four" below), is necessarily not a monster comic. It is a super-hero comic).

Hopefully I have succeeded in explaining this topic and not in confusing you further. If you have any questions, you may e-mail the Gazette on the Contact Us page and I will try to answer your questions in a future collumn.

--Sergio Lopez

Today, I think I'll let that one guy who writes that one blog -- yeah, see, you know the one! -- take over. I need a break anyways and my fingers are cramping up.

--Sergio Lopez

 

"That one guy who writes that one blog?!"

I'm insulted. Anyways, Brandon here, writer of Bargain Bin Buys Blog By Brandon, a blog hosted on this very site (to read previous entries click here). Also home to the world's longest alliterative phrase. (Well, probably not, but still).

Anyway, I'll be guest-writing this "event" type-thing with one of my blog entries, which will allow me to go more in-depth with my review. I'll post a link in my blog.

OK, and now for the main event! As luck would have it, I conveniently stumbled upon a coverless copy of Monsters on the Prowl in the quarter bin, so I'll review that!

Monsters On The Prowl #14 (1971)

Cover Price: 25¢

What I Paid: 25¢

"Wow-you-got-that-for-a-quarter-?!"-ness: 0% (Coverless copies of obscure, late silver age Marvel and DC titles have traditionally been fair game for quarter bins, so this one comes as no surprise). 

Overall Issue Rating: 90%

Creators: NOTE: Monster stories, from the fifties and the very early sixties, weren't fully credited. Real credits didn't come until Stan Lee and the Marvel Age, and even then they weren't complete. So, I'll list partial credits. Note that in a couple of cases I had to make an educated guess. The Steve Ditko ones are credited in the story, and the Jack Kirby one is instantly recognizable. I feel pretty confident about the rest, though).

The Return Of The Titan: Stan Lee (Writer), Jack Kirby (Artist)

The Gypsy's Revenge: Stan Lee (Writer), Dick Ayers (Artist)

The Speed Demon: Stan Lee (Writer), Steve Ditko (Artist)

I Was Trapped By The Mole Men: Stan Lee (Writer), Don Heck (Artist)

The Voice From Nowhere: Stan Lee (Writer), Dick Ayers (Artist)

The Man Who Played Dead: Stan Lee (Writer), Steve Ditko (Artist)

Synopsis: The Return Of The Titan: This story features the return of the Titan (what else!). The Titan is a creature from outer space who almost succeeded in destroying the world in a previous issue. This issue, he takes control of a town though use of his hypnotic powers, but is stopped by the man who stopped him last time. He almost kills our hero by "hypnotizing his very atoms into dismantiling themselves!" Through use of a mirror, the hero manages to destroy Titan instead.

The Gypsy's Revenge: A thief robs a gypsy's jewels, only to encounter the gypsy again later. Mysteriously enough, the man is never heard from again!

The Speed Demon: A "speed demon" is always speeding and threatning a town with his dangerous driving. One day, a kid whose neighborhood id routinely terrorized by him makes a wish for him to be on an endless track, one where he will keep driving for all eternity, FAR away from his town. His wish comes true, as we find out the speed demon has been dropped on the rings of Saturn!

I Was Trapped By The Mole Men: A rich man, owner of a mine, cares only about money, and cares nothing about the miners themselves. One day, though, he is taken hostage by mole men with really big noses, and one of his miners rescues him. From that day on, he treats miners with respect.

The Voice From Nowhere: In the future, a man traveling through space in a space ship lands on an asteroid to make repairs. He keeps hearing a mysterious voice asking him from help. As he leaves though, he realizes what he thought was an asteroid was actually alive!

The Man Who Played Dead: A short criminal disguises as a dummy to get into a house and then rob it. However, he proves that he really IS a dummy when a policeman unknowingly locks him in a toy box. If he yells out for help, he will be arrested for murder. If he doesn't, he suffocates and dies. The issue ends on a clifhanger.

My Thoughts: The Return Of The Titan: A typical Jack Kirby monster story. While this story is good in terms of a monster story, I've seen better, to be honest.

The Gypsy's Revenge: An interesting little story, which ends on a cliffhanger, as was typical for early monster stories. [Sergio's Note: While not strictly a monster story, stories like these are often grouped under the monster category. I'll expand on this in a future article).

The Speed Demon: Steve Ditko's art really shines here, and the layout of the last two pages is decades ahead of its time. The shock ending, combined with the layout of the panels, make this my favorite out of the bunch.

I Was Trapped By The Mole Men: Pretty good. I've seen better art and better stories, but not a bad read.

The Voice From Nowhere: Not one of my favorite Ditko stories, but no slouch, either. The twist at the end couaght me by surprise.

The Man Who Played Dead: This was also an interesting story. I like how the issue ends on a cliffhanger, which could have gone either way.

-- Brandon

Marvel Monster Madness, Day Three (10.27)

Join us as we continue our two-part epic, chronicling the life of--

FIN FANG FOOM!

After his fateful first appearance in Strange Tales #89, Lord Foom would have a handful more appearances, scattered throughout a couple titles (that is, before his "revival" in the 21st century -- but we'll get to that later on). Some of these appearances were:

• Astonishing Tales #'s 23-24
• Legion of Night #'s 1-2
• Iron Man #275
• Iron Man (Volume 2) #'s 15-18
• Mighty Thor #379
• Fin Fang Foom was also merged with Brimstone, forming Fin Fang Flame during the Marvel/DC Analgam event.

among a couple others. However, what this article will focus on is his recent revival in comics.

A notable appearance was Fin Fang Four (see thumbnail image at top of article and image at right), in which Fin Fang Foom, shrunk down but released from Monster Aisle, bands together along with Googam, Elektro, and Gorgilla to defeat Tim Boo Ba by Robert Langridge (writer) and Scott Gray (artist), with Eric Powell doing the cover. This was part of Marvel's mostly failed attempt to revive their monster comics line (more on that in a future article). However, the one-shot proved to be relatively successful, and writer Robert Langridge has stated that more Fin Fang Four is coming, in the form of four stories starring an individual character, and another story starring the entire team.

A minor but noteworthy appearance came in Nextwave #1, in which the Beyond Corporation® digs Lord Foom out of the ground as part of their plan (the last image is a splash page with Fin Fang Foom from Nextwave #1). This Foom was ultimately revealed to be a clone.

Foom made a very minor appearance in Marvel Monsters: Monsters On The Prowl #1. He was seen on a splash page very briefly, and in his orginal yellow coloring (Fin Fang Foom was green on the cover to Strange Tales #89, but yellow on the interior pages. The green look has since stuck. This, by the way, was a common occurence with older monster comics. More on this in a future article).

Foom also appears in the 2006 Marvel Holiday Special, and in Howard the Duck #1 (the 2007 mini-series) in a dream sequence playing poker.

And in other media, Finny appears in the Invincible Iron Man direct-to-DVD film, and as a boss in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

--Sergio Lopez

Marvel Monster Madness, Day Two (10.26)

We'll get back to talking about monster comics in general on Sunday, but we wanted to take today and tommorow to begin a special series about a particular monster who has managed to beat the odds and emerge victorious from a sixties monster mag, and managed to appear in quite a large number of other comics, complete with his own loyal following. We're talking, of course, about --

FIN FANG FOOM!

(That's right, I used the big font)!

What is it that people find so darn endearing about a big green lizard in purple underpants? We intend to find out!

Ol' Finny made his very first appearance in Strange Tales #89 (Volume One), with an October, 1961 cover date. Stan Lee scripted, Jack Kirby penciled, and Dick Ayers inked. This classic tale was a typical monster comic: a Chinese scholar, who is shunned by his father and brother because he is too "cowardly" to enlist in the army against the Reds, manages to reawaken and subsequently put to sleep again a sleeping Fin Fang Foom. He also cleverly manages to use ol' Finny to defeat the Reds, thereby gaining the respect of his father.

Typical monster tale, right? A one-shot, self-contained story, about a monster never to be seen again?

WRONG!

For Fin Fang Foom was destined to make many more appearances, as you will soon see.

But we should back-track a bit here, and dwelve even further back into Triple F's history. Lord Foom (Foom, to his friends) was found sleeping in the Valley of the (apporpiately enough) Sleeping Dragon, but he was actually a native of Maklu IV (aka Kakaranathara). An interesting tidbit is that Stan Lee named Fin Fang Foom after Chu Chin Chow. Anyways, for those who keep track of such things, Maklu IV is located in the Maklu system, which is in turn located in the Greater Magellanic Cloud.

Tune in tommorow, kids, as we wrap up our two-day feature on --

FIN FANG FOOM!

(BIG font)!!!

--Sergio Lopez

Before Thor...

Before the X-Men...

Before the Hulk...

Before Spider-Man...

Even before the Fantastic Four...

MONSTERS roamed the land (or at least the pages of Marvel comics)!

---

"The Creature From Planet X!"

"The Luna Lizards!"

"Fin Fang Foom!"

"Monstrollo!"

"Zarkorr!"

These were the monsters.

---

"I Created Mechano!"

"The Bully Boy!"

"The Man Who Shrunk The World!"

"We Were Trapped In The Twilight World!"

"I Am The Menace From The Purple Planet!"

These were the titles.

---

Journey Into Mystery!

Tales To Astonish!

Strange Tales!

Tales of Suspense!

Amazing Adventures!

These were the series'.

---

An alien lands on Earth. A scared populace bombs it and its spaceship and manages to make it leave. We then learn that the alien was actually from an advanced race, and they consider us primitve for still using weapons.

Communists try to take over a "primitive" African tribe through use of propaganda, but find out what appears to be mere decorative poles or idols are actually living monsters which defeat them.

A scholar awakens a sleeping monstrosity, and, through use of his brains, manages to use it to defeat the Red Army.

It is the future. Computers now pilot planes and human pilots are becoming obsolete. When a veteran pilot gets laid off, he manages to earn his job back through use of his brain and a clever plan.

A planet is doomed as they find out they will crash into a mysterious object soon. They manage to escape, but we later learn that the entire population was actually microscopic, living on a baseball, and the object they would be crashing into was a baseball mitt.

These were the plots.

---

These were the covers.

---

Together, they make up that which the world knows as --

MARVEL MONSTER COMICS!!!

In this series, we will be taking an in-depth look at these comics of yesteryear.

Beginning tommorow, with -- "The Past Is Prologue!"

'Til tommorow, true believer!

--Sergio Lopez