WOMBATU-UH-OH: THE THING FROM THE NAMELESS SWAMP

Way back in October I was in the middle of the task of portraying a slew of monsters from the late '50s and early '60s mags for The Goods' part in the Countdown to Halloween when I posted about a monster by the name of BOMBU. He is a witch doctor-like being of normal human height who happens to be an invading alien from another planet. The thing is that the creature who appears on the cover of the issue featuring BOMBU and the creature who is referred to on that cover as BOMBU looks nothing like that, he looks like this:



The fine folks here at The Goods checked around and as far as we could tell the creature who appears above has never truly been named or heard from again. So, prompted by a legend told by local raconteur Jeff Wooten, we put on an expedition into the very heart of the Nameless Swamp of the Amazon. He had met an heretofore unknown tribe that settled there during the dry season by the name of The Wombatu People. The story he told was theirs.

The monster was said to be over forty feet tall with claws the size of an entire person. It roamed the swamp land eating both plant and animal alike--and it enjoyed eating full grown anaconda most of all. The Wombatu People used to make sacrifices to this creature whom they called a "demon" until they realized that no matter what they offered to it, it would do as it pleased regardless.

Our photo-journalist was there in the Nameless Swamp for the entire dry season in occasional contact with us via messenger and sat-com. The creature was a ghost. It made no appearance all season long. That is, until the photo below. It was found among our reporter's things scattered in a small camp-site in the jungle. Apparently it is the only chance he had to document the thing the Wombatu People called... WOMBATU-UH-OH!

Countdown to Halloween Day 29.5-- DIABLO the DEMON from the FIFTH DIMENSION

Diablo is today's Kirby Monster and he was a bit of a pushover as monsters go. Nonetheless, he is intimidating and the fact that he's a black smoke monster made me think "LOST". He's so vague he's kind of fun to draw. Above, I kind of reinterpret the cover of TALES OF SUSPENSE #9 as you'll see below. Started as a simple pencil sketch, but finished up in Photoshop.

TALES OF SUSPENSE #9--Diablo left his home Dimension promising his people that when he returned, he would hve a new world for them to conquer. For hundreds of years, he journeyed through space until he came to Earth and landed in Mexico. There he stayed for a very long period of time gathering strength from the elements and observing the human race. Aztecs became aware of Diablo and believed him to be a demon.

Stories of this “smoke demon” reached an adventurer who went on a search for the creature. After finding it and hearing it’s talk of world conquest, the adventurer was able to scare Diablo away from the Earth by simply blowing away the smoke from the flame of his cigarette lighter.

As revealled in the MONSTER HUNTER FILES, the unnamed adventurer was retconned to be none other than ULYSSES BLOODSTONE!

IF YOU'RE NOT WATCHING TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL TODAY, YOU ARE MISSING OUT:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29th
6AM--DR. X
7:30AM--MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM
9AM--THE VAMPIRE BAT
10:15AM--THE APE
11:30--ISLE OF THE DEAD
1PM--THE CORPSE VANISHES
2:15PM--DEVIL BAT
3:30PM--WHITE ZOMBIE
4:45PM--I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
6PM--CURSE OF THE DEMON
8PM--CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
9:30PM--REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN
11:15PM--FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
1AM--FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED

And now, a visit from our friendly Halloween Man:

Countdown to Halloween Day 27: GROGG OF THE BLACK PIT

Today, we greet Grogg, a Fin Fan Foom-type dude. He almost looks like Kirby came up with him the same day as he did FFF. This is merely a pencil sketch as I figured I could show you the behind the scenes of one of these things. Click him once and then again to get an extreme close-up. It's not completely accurate as I believe I gave him a more human face and torso than he originally had (which makes him look a lot like a later Kirby creation, the Demon).

STRANGE TALES #83--The Great Wall of China, it turns out, was built to repel invading dragon creatures such as the one above named Grogg! How’s that for a quick bit of history?

At some point in time, Grogg crawled beneath the Earth to hibernate and there he remained until he was awakend by secret nuclear bomb testing being done by the Soviet Union. When awoken, Grogg attacked a nearby village until one of the villagers told him he should be angry at the nuclear testers as they’re the ones who woke him up.

Grogg then raged against the testers and downed their airplane, picking them off searching for the one responsible. The remaining two hid in a cave, until the Colonel in charge released the lead scientist to Grogg, claiming that the scientist was the one in charge. The scientist narrowly escaped by using a smoke bomb to hide from Grogg. He then left the Colonel to Grogg’s attention.

STRANGE TALES #87--Grogg went on to menace more of the Soviet Union. Eventually, he was lured by the Scientist who escaped him earlier into boarding a Soviet rocket and launched into space destined for Mars. His hope was that should other Russians reach Mars before America, they would have Grogg to deal with. (And America wouldn’t have to deal with him?)

Notice how they altered Grogg's color from the cover of his first appearance to his second on the cover of STRANGE TALES and in the MONSTERS ON THE PROWL reprint cover? They seem to get loose with the colors quite a bit. Color was rarely of high quality in the old days, but you'd think they'd try to go for some consistency--or maybe not...

Now enjoy this fine card that celebrates the season:

Countdown to Halloween Day 26: THE GREEN THING

I decided to go back to my roots, so to speak, and do a speedy sharpie on cardboard drawing as was the case with my first posting of a Kirby Monster this countdown (Googam). These always go fast and I needed to be fast today. And so after a bit of photoshop color, the old boy makes his appearance here on our countdown. The Green Thing is the name of the creature and he made his first appearance in TALES OF SUSPENSE #19 in 1961.

The story begins in Australia as a scientist goes to a remote island to test a serum he's developed that should increase the intelligence of plants. He can't seem to find the particular plant he's looking for--the rare Ignatius Rex--so he instead gives his serum to a weed. The weed grows giant-size, becomes highly intelligent and reveals to the botanist that he plans to give the serum to other weeds so that it can take over the world.

After a chase and confrontation, the man finally stumbles across the Ignatius Rex plant and gives it the serum. The more highly developed plant then defeats the "green thing" and tells the scientist not to meddle with the way of things. Ignatius Rex decided to stay put on the island for the good of mankind. The Botanist is now afraid of plants.

The Green Thing appears a bit differently inside the comic than he does on the cover (his head is colored yellow and he has leaves for hands as opposed to the cover). The hero of our story, Ignatius Rex, is hard to find a depiction of here online.

And now for something you'll really like:

Countdown to Halloween Day 25: Nothing can stop... GOOM!

Father of Googam, Goom, is the choice for our latest visit to the world of Marvel Monsters Kirby style. Went with a straight to pencils version of Goom and tried to stick to the Kirby formula for his look and how he would move. Goom made his first appearance in TALES OF SUSPENSE #15...

Before we share with you the story of Goom, a brief reminder of Stephen Hawking's warning against humanity contacting an otherworldly intelligence as it could turn out badly for us. And now on to the tale...

Goom, a criminal on his home planet--Planet X, a planet in our solar system, but hidden from our knowledge by way of time and space warps--, is contacted by an Earth scientist using radio waves. Seeing our world as easy pickings, the helmet headed monster steered his space ship in our direction. Once he arrived, he caused all kinds of mayhem, finding himself to be much more powerful on our planet than his own. He then held the scientist's wife hostage while the Earth's leaders were led to him to surrender.

As a show of might, he took one of the men and placed him in his "time machine" and de-aged the man to his infancy. Secondly, Goom used his telekinesis to lift an entire city. Just as the Earth men were about to give up hope and surrender, the scientist who had originally summoned the beast contacted Goom's home planet again, begging them for help. They soon arrive and take Goom back with them to their home planet to be punished. Little do they know that Goom has left a son behind on Earth to continue his ways...

Here we have the card of the day:

Countdown to Halloween Day 24: TABOO OF THE MURKY SWAMP

Now we come to the muck monster of this bunch of the Lee/Kirby Marvel Monsters and there are a few things you should know. Of course, all monsters without skeletons owe a debt to The Blob, because that guy was huge (literally). Anyway, I began drawing another muddy monster who originally went by the name "The Glob" whose name was changed in the '70s reprints to "Glop" so as not to be confused with another character who'd taken on the name in the years since the original Glob had been created. I personally don't remember anything using that name, but that was probably a wee bit before my time. So I thought: since I'm going to be drawing Taboo anyway and he and this Glob/Glop guy look the same, why not go with him instead.


Taboo's tale was told originally in STRANGE TALES #75 & 77 and it goes a little something like this...

Taboo's spacecraft crash landed in the Amazon rain forrest many, many years ago. He remained in the swamp for someone who could help him. In the centuries since he crashed, his existence caused the natives to come to call him "swamp demon".

Finally, novelist Lewis Conrad comes across the stranded alien mud monster and, upon hearing his story of being a peace loving alien in need, decides to help him out. Taboo asks for a device containing all of Earth's knowledge. However, when he gets this device, he boldly announces his intent to use this knowledge to return and conquer the planet. As Taboo took off for space, a hydrogen bomb hidden in the device exploded, blasting the mud giant into a million pieces, because humanity had not been as trusting as Taboo expected.

Later, Taboo's body reformed from across the globe and reassembled in New York City, where the monster began a rampage. It was at this point that a new space ship containing more of his people arrived and stopped the mayhem. They condemned his behavior, called him "sick" and took him away after repairing all of the damage.

And now, Glob/Glop for your amusement.



Hey look a card-again:

Countdown to Halloween Day 23: GROOT - MONSTER FROM PLANET X!

Tonight, we feature the Monarch of Planet X, Groot! I thought I'd give my Pitt brush pens a go with this bark-covered Kirby Monster. I think I made him a little more pissed off than he was in his original appearance, but you get the idea.

The alien tree creature known as Groot first came to Earth to abduct a human village. He was to return with it to his home planet for his scientists to experiment on the people living there.

Leslie Evans, a biologist, discovers this and tries to warn the small town of the intentions of this creature, but they don't believe him. When Groot attacks, Leslie unleashes a colony of mutated termites on him. The termites seemingly destroy him before he can accomplish his mission.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Groot is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy after having served a brief stint with Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.

Learn more about the MIGHTY MARVEL MONSTERS OF JACK KIRBY at...
Monsters of Jack Kirby
Monsterblog
ComicCoverage
ComicMonsters

Consider yourself carded:

Halloween Countdown Day 22: ROMMBU!

Next up in our Monster Parade, we have he who's name made mankind tremble...ROMMBU! Used Photoshop to throw some colors on this dude in a little more detailed way than I did Googam a few nights ago for our inaugural Kirby Monster. Came out fairly well, I think. Click on him for an expanded view, don't be afraid now!

Above we have the original pencils and below is his story...

Sent to Earth as an advance warrior-scout, Rommbu threatened the conquest of the planet and the destruction of mankind after having landed his space ship in the path of a train. From that train a convicted criminal escaped and hid in Rommbu's ship. The alien invader soon discovered the man onboard and captured him, subjecting him to his mind scanning devices. Rommbu learned of this man's criminal background and assumed that he would be a turncoat. When Rommbu needed to land his ship to recharge the batteries, he was tricked by his human captive into landing in an active volcano. The volcano erupted, presumably destroying Rommbu and his ship.

Later, of course, it was revealed that Rommbu had somehow survived the volcano.

Trivia: Anyone who is brave enough to Google (wouldn't that have been a great name for a Marvel Monster?) Rommbu will be attacked by Google again and again with the pestering question "Did you mean: ROOMBA?" Yes, the robotic vacuum cleaner (a little known Ditko monster)! If you dare, enjoy the consequences! I be I get Roomba crap in the mail for that...

And finally.... is this your card?

GOMDULLA THE LIVING PHAROAH

The above depiction of Gomdulla, the living Pharoah was drawn on sketchbook paper with pencil, pen and brush pens.

(Notice that Kirby or his inker left off one of the fingers on Gomdulla's right hand or did they put an extra on his left?)
In JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #61, we first meet the gaze of Gomdulla, a monstrous mummy that is on display in an Egyptian Museum. Two children are playing and accidentally trip a hidden stud on his foot. The gigantic mummy is then brought back to life, smashing his way out of the museum.

An agent of Interpol is sent to investigate the worshippers of Gomdulla where he discovers the cult’s hide-out and attempts to arrest their leader. That is when Gomdulla, who has been sitting motionless among his group, springs to life attempting to kill the agent. Just before the agent is killed, the cult leader leaps and hits the secret stud that puts the monster back into his sleep. The leader then explains to the agent that the group was forced into service by Gomdulla, who was, in fact, an alien invader that the Egyptians had beaten many centuries ago.

There were two other mummy characters who appeared at Atlas/Marvel in that general time period. One was simply referred to as The Mummy and the other is known as Mummex. It is unclear if they were related in anyway or if they are some form of the same mummy.



A listing of helpful sites here abouts that knows a thing or two about Kirby Monsters:
Monsters of Jack Kirby
Monsterblog
ComicCoverage
ComicMonsters

And now another treat from our bag of tricks here at The Goods:

Countdown to Halloween Day 20: GORGILLA THE MISSING LINK

Gorgilla is the second of the Kirby Monsters to be featured here at The Goods and he came out a little different than I'd hoped. Oh, he has all of the basic features of the classic Kirby design, but the flair is not there. That there are no other figures in the drawing to show off his 20 foot tall size probably is a cause for some of the "eh" factor.

Gorgilla, the missing link, first appears in TALES TO ASTONISH #12 (below).


Gorgilla, a giant man-ape, is discovered by an expedition seeking the "missing link". Gorgilla then saves the explorers from a tyrannosaur and so, in appreciation, the group then decides to leave the island and never mention Gorgilla. Gorgilla, however, becomes curious about mankind and stows away on a ship bound for New York. Gorgilla stops an assassination attempt while in New York, but dies from a fall from the Statue of Liberty.


Later, it is revealed that the adventurer Doctor Druid had talked Gorgilla down from the Statue of Liberty and that he is later deposited on Monster Isle by the Fantastic Four and eventually undergoes a rehabilitation program, which involves him being shrunken down to human size and hypnotically stripped of his powers so as to allow him to enter human society. Gorgilla then becomes a window washer at the Baxter Building and a founding member of the Fin Fang 4.

Some sites that have been invaluable to my search for the perfect Marvel Monsters to portray...
Monsters of Jack Kirby

Monsterblog

ComicCoverage

For a nifty sampler of the Monsters Marvel made, check out...
MonsterMasterworks

And now, a word from our sponsor, Halloween: