Monday, September 12, 2011

When Sphinxes Go Bad!


Murphy Anderson

The great Sphinx is the utter and complete symbol of ancient mystery. But while the real Sphinx might be merely inscrutable, the Sphinxes of the comics can be downright disagreeable.


Gil Kane

There's the Sphinx of the Moon which made life quite difficult for some Earth astronauts. Both in this lovely cover by Gil Kane and the gorgeous wash by Murphy Anderson up top, the Sphinx is utter destruction for these brave men.


Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

On Earth, the mighty robotic Sphinx named "Shagg" rose up and created no end of havoc thanks to the magic of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.


Jack Kirby

For more on his escapades see this monstrous link.


Ross Andru & Romeo Tanghal

And Sphinxes took part in the weirdest of wars too it seems.


Jack Abel & Al Milgrom

The Incredible Hulk battled a Sphinx animated by alien Horusians and its partner named Colossus to boot. Of course the Hulk defeated these "Godspawn".


Herb Trimpe & John Severin

Here's a link with the "Hulkerific" details.


Jack Kirby & Paul Reinman

The Sphinx became a symbol of evil from across time when Rama-Tut used it.


Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino

Soon to become Kang the Conqueror, he used the Sphinx as a disguise for his time-traveling machinery. One wacky but intriguing theory suggests Shagg is this very time machine run amok.


Rich Buckler & Frank Giacoia

And out of ancient Egypt, the name of the Sphinx was used by an evil sorcerer Anath-Na Mut who lived down through the ages thanks to the mysterious Ka Stone, and eventually came to battle Nova and the Fantastic Four.


Dave Cockrum, Keith Pollard & Joe Sinnott

Later a woman named Meryet Karim saps some of the Ka Stone energy and becomes another version of the Sphinx to battle the New Warriors.


Mark Bagley & Larry Mahlstedt

So as you can see, the Sphinx in comics is a problematic beast at best.



Update: Here are another couple of Sphinxes-gone-wild I found. Sheesh!

Rip Off

2 comments:

  1. I will never again be able to look at the Sphinx without the word "Shagg" leaping into my head.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is truly one of the more unfortunate syllable combinations that Stan the Man stumbled on. It's exceedingly un-Sphinx-like I think.

    It was a haircut, a dance, and now a Sphinx. Oh, and whatever Austin Powers was trying to say.

    Rip Off

    ReplyDelete