Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Sub-species of humanity; mutate
Occupation: Servant of the Deviant Empire
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Elsa Bloodstone, Kro (see comments), Legion of Monsters (Living Mummy/N'Kantu, Manphibian, Man-Thing/Ted Sallis, Dr. Michael Morbius, Werewolf by Night/Jack Russell), Punisher (Frank Castle)
Enemies: "Frank Harper" (Makkari; see comments), Robert Hellsgaard, Hunter of Monster Special Force
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Church of the Unified Spirits
of Life in Monster Metropolis, beneath the streets of Manhattan, New
York City, New York;
formerly a volcano at Napuka, Polynesia
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (January, 1960)
Powers/Abilities: The Molten Man-Thing's body was seemingly comprised of a lava-like substance (see comments), with which it could burn through almost any obstacle. It appeared to have had little control over its abilities, and spread its lava and fire wherever it strode. Its fiery nature made it invulnerable to most physical attacks, but extremely susceptible to cold-based assaults.
Height: Unrevealed (15' ; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None
History:
(Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (fb) - BTS) - The origin of the Molten
Man-Thing is unrevealed -- possibly it was the creation of Warlord Kro
of the Deviants.
(Tales of Suspense I#7/5) - The Molten Man-Thing was first observed as it arose from a volcano on the island of Napuka. It set forth to destroy the villages there, but was opposed by Makkari of the Eternals (who was using the identity of vacationing commercial pilot Frank Harper) -- he first hurled spears at the monster, but was unable to wound it because the creature's intense heat melted the weapons. Harper/Makkari had the monster follow him to a nearby air base and into a wind tunnel; he then activated the mechanism, and the intense cold of the generated winds weakened the creature until it finally retreated, returning to the volcano it came from, possibly to die.
(Marvel Universe#4) - At the Explorers Club in the late-1950s, Makkari (now using the identity of NSA Agent Jake Curtiss) met with Ulysses Bloodstone, Doctor Druid, and Zawadi. He told the trio about an epidemic of monster sightings in the world, and recounted his own battle with the Molten Man-Thing over a year earlier -- Doctor Druid expressed it was "convenient" that there just happened to be a wind tunnel readily available on the isolated island, which Curtiss/Makkari attributed to "dumb luck" on his part (see comments).
(Fantastic Four Unlimited#7 - BTS) - Many years later, artist Frank Johnson created a Molten Man-Thing duplicate using the enchanted paints he had obtained from Yucoya-Tzin. Believing the creature to be a threat to the city, the Fantastic Four attacked it -- they nearly had it beaten, when it suddenly disappeared, its few minutes of life having evaporated.
(Punisher VIII#13 (fb) - BTS) - The Molten Man-Thing discovered the Bloodstone in his volcano and handed it over to Dr. Michael Morbius.
(Punisher VIII#11) - Serving as the minister of the Church of the Unified Spirits, the Molten Man-Thing gave a sermon at the church in Monster Metropolis to its fellow monsters. Frank Castle, who had been saved and rebuilt as a Frankenstein Monster-like being by Dr. Michael Morbius, rampaged through the area due to not taking the pills yet that would help him stay calm, and found his way into the church. While most of the monsters ran away scared, the Molten Man-Thing tried to preach to him. Castle attacked the Molten Man-Thing in anger, but quickly learned that what he saw in front of him as the church's minister was just a small part of the larger Molten Man-Thing, which broke through the floor and captured Castle with ease while still sharing wise words with Castle, until Morbius explained to the Molten Man-Thing that Castle didn't even understand because his mind was still broken. Morbius asked his fellow Legion of Monster associates--Werewolf by Night, Manphibian, Living Mummy and Man-Thing--to take Castle back to the lab.
(Punisher VIII#12) - The Molten Man-Thing had a talk with Morbius at the church--he was concerned because he had not seen Morbius eat in weeks, but Morbius claimed that he was using a new formula. The Molten Man-Thing then asked Morbius if he had told the others yet that they were hunted because of the Bloodstone in Morbius' possession, but Morbius had neither told anyone nor did he know what to do with the Bloodstone because nobody could be trusted with its power. The Molten Man-Thing suggested to hand it over to the Fantastic Four because Reed Richards could accomplish much with it, but Morbius wasn't sure even Richards could withstand the Bloodstone's influence. The Molten Man-Thing pointed out that Morbius was already influenced by the Bloodstone, and that he was himself a mortal man, but Morbius was sure that he himself could not be corrupted by its power because he was a monster with few desires. The Molten Man-Thing wasn't so sure because Morbius was obviously already corrupted by the Bloodstone, which quenched Morbius' thirst for blood. The Molten Man-Thing told Morbius that they were all in danger as long as the Bloodstone was in Monster Metropolis. Moments later, the Hunter of Monster Special Force attacked the city in full force.
(Punisher VIII#13) - After Morbius was abducted and the Bloodstone taken by the Hunter of Monster Special Force and their leader Hellsgaard, the Molten Man-Thing finally shared with Punisher, Man-Thing, Living Mummy and Werewolf the fact that Morbius had been in possession of the Bloodstone. He implored them to save Morbius and retrieve the Bloodstone from Hellsgaard.
(Legion of Monsters II#2) - In Monster Metropolis, the Molten Man-Thing was later among the monsters infected by a deadly virus that turned the monsters aggressive. The Legion of Monsters (Living Mummy, Manphibian, Werewolf) and Elsa Bloodstone chained it up.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko.
Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 contains a theory that the Molten Man-Thing was actually one of the Lava Men.
Frank Harper was not revealed to have actually been Jake Curtiss/Makkari until the retelling in Marvel Universe#4.
Thanks to MD Carter for originally allowing me to borrow images from his website, The Monsters of Jack Kirby
Although its origin was unrevealed, Marvel Universe#6 revealed Kro to be the instigator behind the rash of monster sightings, and it was only assumed that he was also behind the creation of the Molten Man-Thing.
After defeating the Molten Man-Thing, "Frank Harper" theorized that since the lava itself couldn't be alive, then there had to be a living creature inside the lava...a creature that had come from the depths of the earth, and therefore needed great heat to stay alive, which explained why it had surrounded itself with a boiling, molten mass.
And in regards to that wind tunnel just happening to be
on the island: Since Makkari was still concealing his true identity
and paranormal powers from the other three at the time, maybe the
whole sequence involving the wind tunnel was just embellishment on his
part, and he actually used his super-speed to create the cooling gusts
of wind.
-- Ron Fredricks
At the end of Legion of Monster II, the surviving monsters of Monster Metropolis were healed of the infection, but it is unclear if the Molten Man-Thing was among the survivors.
New images, etc. by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Prime Eternal. Update by Markus Raymond (2010-2012).
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Molten Man-Thing has no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
Marvel Universe#4, p17, pan4 (Main Image - Molten Man-Thing attacks
native village)
Tales of Suspense I#7/5, p3, pan5 (Molten Man-Thing attacks native
village)
Marvel Universe#4, p18, pan6 (Molten Man-Thing hit with blast from
activated wind tunnel)
Tales of Suspense I#7/5, p5, pan3 (Molten Man-Thing retreats from wind
tunnel)
Punisher VIII#12, p18, pan2 (appearance as priest in Monster Metropolis)
Punisher VIII#11, p20, pan2 (full form in Monster Metropolis)
Legion of Monsters II#2, p2, pan1 (infected)
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (January, 1960) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack
Kirby (pencils), Steve Ditko (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek
(letters)
Marvel Universe#4 (September, 1998) - Roger Stern (writer), Bret Blevins
(pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Gloria Vasquez (colors), Jim Novak
(letters), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four Unlimited#7 (September, 1994) - Roy Thomas (writer), Herb
Trimpe (pencils), Carmen Imperato (inks), Nel Yomtov (colors), Mike
Rockwitz (editor)
Punisher VIII#11-12 (January-February, 2010) - Rick Remender (writer),
Tony Moore (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Punisher VIII#13 (March, 2010) - Rick Remender (writer), Tony Moore
(pencils), Mike Hawthorne (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Legion of Monsters II#2 (January, 2012) - Dennis Hallum (writer), Juan
Doe (artist), Alejandro Arbona (editor)
First posted: 02/23/2003
Last updated: 05/07/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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