Known Relatives: Possibly every single tree on the planet

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Outer space, formerly Africa

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#23/1 (September, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: Moomba is made out of super-hard wood that not even bullets can penetrate.  Moomba can generate "ultra-frequency" energy around the world that brings to life tiny wooden statues and can also erase people's memories.  Moomba is capable of interstellar flight and is strong enough to rip iron apart.

History: (Tales to Astonish I#23 (fb) - BTS) - Moomba was the ruler of a world where the inhabitants were made of wood, and he came to Earth many months earlier to prepare an invasion against the unsuspecting planet, placing his soldiers, in the guise of tiny collectible wooden statues, into people's home all the while.

(Tales to Astonish I#23) - Big game hunter Frank was searching for tiny wooden statues in Africa because many people in the civilized world started to fanatically collect them.  

While searching for the statues, Frank came upon Moomba in the jungles of Africa, attacked it, but could not stop Moomba from signaling all the wooden statues to begin the invasion of the world.  

Within minutes, the whole world was taken over by Moomba and the wooden statues, but as Moomba was bathing in glory, Katu (a shaman from a tribe Frank had encountered) said he was mightier than Moomba.  Maddened by this statement, Moomba prepared to attack, but Katu created a potion that emitted fumes, forcing Moomba and its wooden statues to flee Earth.  

When Moomba left, it erased what had happened from the minds of everyone on Earth, but Frank remembered because he recorded the encounter in his diary.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (presumably) and Jack Kirby.

I think it would really cool if some cosmic space character like the Silver Surfer ran into Moomba and its statues while exploring space.

Moomba's tale is reprinted in Creatures on the Loose#11 (May, 1971).

Doctor Worm says: "In the 1999 JLA Annual #3, there are some very familiar names being screamed. Here's the breakdown: the 1999 annuals from DC were a very nice homage to the Silver Age, utilizing two mainstays of that olden time: gorillas and weird transformations. There is a scene in the U.N. where the delegates are all turned into gorillas and start tearing the place up. What got me was the things they were yelling. They were all yelling the names of classic Kirby monsters! The monsters references include Groot, Mombu, Zzutak, Klaggu, Moomba, Goom and Krobaa."

Maybe Moomba and the statues were all of the same race as Groot -- here on Earth, we've got people who "modify" their bodies (plastic surgery, tattoos, body piercings, etc.)...maybe some members of Groot's race did the same thing as well...
--John Kaminski

Profile by Sammy7D.