MANPHIBIANMANPHIBIAN
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (unidentified)
Occupation: (current) Wanderer;
Vengeance-seeker;
(former) Space Explorer; Scientist
Group membership: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s
Howling
Commandos unit (Abominable Snowman, Bradley Beemer, Brother Voodoo,
Clone of Frankenstein, Glob
(Timms), Gorilla
Man, Groot,
Hellstorm,
It the Living Colossus, Lilith, Living Mummy,
Clay Quartermain, Sasquatch, Vampire by Night; Warwolf, Zombie (John
Doe), many others)
Affiliations: unnamed mate (deceased); the "Elders" of his race
Enemies: Aaron Fox; Another
unnamed male of his race; Merlin
Known Relatives: mate (deceased)
Aliases: Manphibian
Base of Operations: Area 13, Pine Barrens, New
Jersey;
(formerly) mobile throughout an
unknown region of the U.S. (possibly Texas)
First Appearance: Legion Of Monsters#1 (September, 1975)
Powers/Abilities: Manphibian is superhumanly strong, to an unknown extent. He and another male of his species both exhibited the following abilities: to tear a 15+ foot tree up from its roots; a mere swipe from Manphibian sent several men sprawling (and he notes that he didn’t use his full strength). All members of his race depicted also possess razor sharp claws, able to slice open the body of a car. His skin is also able to withstand a missile strike, though even he realized it probably would not withstand a second hit. Manphibian, and presumably his entire race, have unusually long life spans, at least upwards of a thousand years. His race is also noteworthy for developing crafts capable of interstellar travel.
Height: 7' 2"
Weight: 425 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None
History: (Legion of Monsters#1 (fb)) – Manphibian recalls how his mate was murdered by another male from their race over a thousand years ago.
(Legion of Monsters#1) – Oil-drilling releases an unnamed creature from a long imprisonment under the Earth. The creature, an explorer and scientist in his own race, notes how the humans have changed in the last thousand years, but brushes them off in search of something else. Meanwhile, another creature of the same type attacks a car belonging to Beth Fox (wife of oil tycoon Aaron Fox, whose well "Manphibian" escaped from). Manphibian arrives in time to stop the other creature, the same one that killed his mate centuries before, from killing Mrs. Fox.
Mr. Fox, upon learning that a creature has crawled out of Shaft#27, mobilizes his high-tech helicopter.
Manphibian rescues Beth from the other creature while battling underwater, and after bringing her back to the surface for air, is attacked by Fox’s workers, then Fox himself, who tries to blast the creature with missiles (ending up killing two employees instead). Fox explains that Shaft#27 is too important for the monster to get near. However, another missile attack accidentally destroys the shaft and Manphibian escapes in the chaos.
With his wife traumatized beyond help, Aaron
Fox vows revenge on the Manphibian, who in turn is last seen
searching for the other alien to gain revenge.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#1 (Director's Cut)
(fb)-BTS) - At some point, Manphibian was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s
Howling Commandos unit.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#2) - Manphibian was
seen in Area 13's commissary along with John Jameson and the Golem.
(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6) - Manphibian was
among the Commandos that launched an assault on the forces of Merlin.
Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella and Dave Cockrum.
It should be noted that nowhere in the story do any of the alien creatures have names. At the end, a doctor treating Mrs. Fox refers to the main one as "Manphibian," and Aaron picks up on it.
This story, obviously intended to be a continuing series, leaves a lot to be desired. What exactly is Fox hiding in Shaft#27? He seems intent on keeping Manphibian from getting to it again, so there must be something else there, something important enough for him to kill his own workers (and almost his wife too). And for that matter, what’s he doing with a state-of-the-art missile-equipped helicopter?
Also, Manphibian’s been buried for a
thousand years…where has the "evil" alien been all
this time? Just walking around? And why after all this time, is
he such a short distance away from Manphibian? And the first person
he attacks just happens to be the wife of the guy whose oil
well Manphibian just escaped from? And, conveniently enough, the
only surviving person who ever saw the evil alien was the
now-comatose Beth.
An interesting piece of trivia regarding Manphibian's
creation, found here:
Dave Cockrum originally conceived the idea and pitched it to both
Marvel and DC. Marvel bought the concept, and while Cockrum and
Wolfman worked on the story, Dave learned that DC had included the
character in an upcoming book as well. After Dave alerted them to the
situation, the DC Manphibian was reworked as Devil-Fish, who first
appeared in Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes#202.
An interesting, but cliched, tale. Sure
wouldn’t mind seeing Manphibian pop up briefly somewhere
again. (And he did! Thanks Giffen and
Norton! - Madison)
Without further evidence one way or the other, I'd say that this tale quite possibly occurs on Earth-616. I'd also tend to place it at the date of publication, @ 1975, rather than trying to link it to Marvel's sliding modern era--just like the Frankenstein monster's 1970s adventures.
Manphibian has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook.
Profile by Madison Carter
CLARIFICATIONS:
Manphibian has no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
(Manphibian main image)
Legion of Monsters#1, Cover (Manphibian)
Last updated: 09/27/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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