Monsters Of The King - Fin Fang Foom!

We wrap up this month of Jack "King" Kirby monsters with his greatest Atlas creation -- the totally awesome FIN FANG FOOM! I've said it all before (see previous post for example) but Fin Fang Foom, the amazing Chinese dragon of myth rouses from his centuries-long slumber to run roughshod over the Red Menace of  China butting a clawed foot down on the minions of Mao in a most amazing way. Of course Fin Fang Foom was the tool of a mere human who tricked him into his rampage, but it's all good.

First seen in the pages of Strange Tales #89, I first ran across the mighty Fin Fang Foom in the reprint comic Fantasy Masterpieces. It's perhaps the most effective giant monster comic book story I've ever read and when I dig it out for another go, it never disappoints.

Long live Fin Fang Foom! While the great Jack Kirby is no longer with us, his immortal monsters are here to stay!

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Dojo Classics - Fin Fang Foom!

He is without doubt Marvel's greatest monster. A product of the Cold War, Fin Fang Foom was a weapon, a sleeping mythical behemoth roused to defeat the Communist Chinese by the hero but then put down again when the deed was accomplished. Stan, Jack and Dick created a legend intentionally, and they created a monster that has stood the test of time, both in the story proper and in the greater memory of fandom.

It's hard to pin down why Fin Fang Foom is better than all the rest. But maybe it's the voice. The fact that he can talk and somewhat eloquently is maybe one reason. In the original story as he's surging forward at the hero, he constantly bellows threats as he advances assaulting the confidence on all levels. He is unstoppable and completely lethal. Talking was something none of the movie monsters could do. It gave a leering evil to Fin Fang Foom that they are missing. He almost becomes a blend of the classic giant monster and the more insidious yellow peril like Fu Manchu.

Whatever the reason for his success, Fin Fang Foom was first published in Strange Tales #89 and then reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (that's where I first encountered him). Later the story was reprinted again in Where Monsters Dwell and even years later in Monster Masterworks, an early Marvel trade.

Fin Fang Foom was folded into the Marvel Universe properly when he met up with and battled IT The Living Colossus in Astonishing Tales. Later his story was blended with the origin of Iron Man's arch nemesis the Mandarin. He also was linked in Thor to the Midgard Serpent.

I learned putting together this post that he's even mixed it up with Iron Man in the movie-universe though in a comics story. These days too he's been shrunk to human size and works in a Chinese resturant -- Arrrgggh. (And you have to ask why fewer folks read comics these days.)


Whatever becomes of him though, whatever indignity he's forced to endure, I know that ultimately the unstoppable force that is Fin Fang Foom will prevail.

UPDATE: Fin Fang Foom remains my all-time favorite monster. Though modern interpretations insist on finding ironic twists, his original awesomeness seems able to penetrate the snark and still come across as menacing despite all attempts to make him a mere joke, a snide old-fashioned reference to a time when comics were considered only child's play. Fin Fang Foom remains greater than the disparate sum of his many parts.

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Monsters Of The King - Taboo!

Taboo was yet another alien monster from the depths of space who ended up stranded in the hidden jungle of the Amazon. In a story by Kirby and Ayers for Strange Tales #75 we learn that Taboo has been waiting for the right folks to find him to help him repair his ship. He finds that assistance when explorers at long last reach the hidden lair and then off he goes back into space. But a bomb aboard his ship blows him up good. You can read it all here.

He gets it back together in Strange Tales #77 and menaces mankind again in the heart of New York City. This time though his fellow creatures descend from the stars and declare him a mentally ill criminal and undo his carnage, taking the demented Taboo with them.

Tomorrow we confront the greatest of the Atlas monsters. Be here, because there's no escape!

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The Heap - Uncollected!

The Heap ended in the 50's, but as one might expect from a moss-encrusted creature who rose out of the swamp from the bones of a long-dead World War I airman, it did not stay ended.

The Heap was revived by Skywald Comics, first in the black and white pages of Psycho magazine and later in pages of a self-titled off-beat full color one-shot. To see some delicious artwork by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito drawing the Heap Psycho check out this link and this one too. To get a look at Tom Sutton and Jack Abel in the color comic go here.

Many years later Eclipse comics revived Airboy and the Heap along with him. The mossy monster appeared in several issues of the comic, getting more than a few intriguing cover appearances.

Most recently Moonstone Publishing brought out a Heap comic, this one a modern revision of the classic character with a few more violent aspects to the storytelling. It didn't catch on and only lasted a single issue.

The Heap is dead of course, but as we see long live the Heap.

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Monsters Of The King - Xemnu!

Xemnu the Titan in a story by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers was originally called "The Hulk", but then Marvel had better plans for the "nom de monstre" and slapped on the Gamma-ray character we know today. Xemnu was forgotten for a time.

Originally the criminal alien landed in Journey into Mystery #62 and using his hypnotic powers enslaved the people and used them to repair his space craft. But one wily human tricked him into soaring into the sun freeing everyone. But Xemnu was able to not burn up in the depths of the sun and returned in Journey into Mystery #66 (still called "The Hulk") and tried again to enslave the folk. But once again the same hero, a guy named Joe was able to make Xemnu hypnotize himself with the use of simple mirror and Xemnu supposedly disappear into thin air.

But Xemnu returned in of all places Marvel Feature #3 starring the newly-formed Defenders and this time he was officially redubbed "The Titan" and attempted to take over the minds of the children of Earth. Doc Strange, the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk (in a bit of Thomasian irony) defeated him yet again. Xemnu then went on to become a regular villain of sorts showing up in all kinds of places, usually battling the Hulk in some way or other.

More monsters descend onto the planet next time.

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Monster Masteworks!

In those bygone days before we entered into the "Golden Age of Comic Book Reprints", monster tales from the depths of the Atlas days were a little complicated to come by. Certainly scores of them had found their way onto the stands in issues of Monsters on the Prowl, Creatures on the Loose, Where Monsters Dwell, Where Creatures Roam, and other reprint gems, but it took some vigorous looking to snag them up. These days they are readily available but not so much back then. That made Monster Mastworks, a dandy trade paper reprint volume a wonderful source for some monster goodness. Sporting a lush Walt Simonson wraparound cover (see below for the whole shebang) we got a glimpse at some of Marvel's oldest and strangest monsters. They came from space, labs, and dank swamps but they shambled forth to entertain and entice.  Here are the covers for the monsters contained in this gem.

Here as promised is that wraparound cover by Simonson. Featured prominently are the monsters Fin Fang Foom, Glob, Sporr, Groot, The Two-Headed Thing, and X the Unknown.

Given the reprints available in the modern day this no longer a must have, but it remains a treasured item nonetheless.

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