What’s your first Marvel monster moment? Get ready for big scares as giants start stomping your favorite heroes.
A divided Marvel Universe of heroes must rally together when an army of huge monsters is on the attack in a massive new event by writer Cullen Bunn and all-star team of artists.
In honor of Monsters Unleashed kicking off this week, we took a look at the most horrific living nightmares that haunted us.
The N’Gari:
Like a combination of Ellen Ripley from Aliens and Laurie Strode from Halloween a rookie Kitty Pryde was left home alone when one of these demons invaded the Xavier School.
The fan-favorite X-woman battled her share of evil mutants and scary villains but way back in her first year at the school Kitty in Uncanny X-Men #143 by the legendary team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin.
This issue titled “Demon” was the first Marvel monster I ever saw in the pages of a comic book. It’s a literal nightmare before Christmas as the rookie is alone in the mansion being stalked by a N’Garai, a nasty hybrid of Alien and Michael Myers. The demon relentlessly learns the painful way that her mutant phasing power will not save her from the otherworldly predator. Just like the horror movies heroines, found a way to beat the odds and kill the monster. Reading this intense issue demonstrates why Kitty inspired Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.
The N’Gari were created by the Elder God Chthon. Small, stone towers on Earth are gateways from their dimension to Earth. These towers have turned up on the grounds of the Xavier estate.
The Brood
Parasitic, insectoids from outer space! These aliens operate in a hive under the direction of a queen. Brood inject eggs into their victims to produce more Brood while steal the knowledge of their living hosts which goes into their hive mind. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the Brood made an alliance with Deathbird to seize the Shi’ar Empire. Wolverine and Storm were infected during the X-Men’s war against the Brood. The aliens crashed on Earth and the X-Men rushed in to the small town to prevent a global outbreak.
Not all Brood are villains. A Brood warrior joined the Hulk and other alien Gladiators as the warbound who led a revolution on what became known as Planet Hulk.
A Brood mutant (a compassionate, brilliant orphan named “Broo”) became a student at the Jean Grey School in Wolverine and the X-Men. It’s scary enough to have be infected by one Brood. An army of Broo’s nasty siblings were impregnated into Kitty Pryde – good thing she has Dr. Hank McCoy aka Beast as her doctor! The Brood are now back in the pages of Old Man Logan.
Bi-Beast
The Green Goliath has smashed a lot of monstrous enemies like the Abomination but my first Hulk monster was the Bi-Beast during my first comic book subscription. This giant two-headed monster was created by Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe. The Bi-Beast is actually an android with two heads created by an alien birdlike race. The upper skull was filled with knowledge of war and combat, the lower skull held culture. When the alien race died out, the Bi-Beast was left alone in the floating city until it saw Harpy and Bruce Banner. The bird-like monster Harpy was actually a transformed Betty Ross and reminded it of it’s masters. The Bi-Beast would have rematches his Hulk, join the Masters of Evil, fight Iron Man and even Squirrel Girl but nothing beats that first clash between Green Giant and Double-Headed Orange, Clawed Freak.
Man-Thing
“Whatever knows fear burns at the touch of Man-Thing!”
Dr. Theodore Sallis was attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum (that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America) in the Everglades when we was transformed into a creature made of vegetable matter via swamp and mystical energy with red glowing eyes. Man-Thing is superstrong with empathic senses, produce corrosive chemicals and teleport himself and others via “the nexus of all realities”
The supernatural swamp monster was co-created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow in anthology books before getting his own series after co-starring with Howard the Duck. I first saw Man-Thing in a Cyclops centered X-Men issue when the monster was caught in a supernatural scheme with the demon D’Spayre.
Marvel recently announced acclaimed horror novelist R.L. Stine will launch a new ongoing Man-Thing book in March.
What’s your favorite Marvel monster?
Monsters Unleashed #1 arrives this new comic book day.
By Editor