Thing Called IT
Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Terrestrial artificially created being; pre-modern era
Occupation:
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Formerly Heinrich Munch
Enemies: Heinrich Munch
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Heinrich Munch
Base of Operations: A "lonely castle" in Europe
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#82/1 (March, 1961)
Powers/Abilities: A
giant creature made of plastic, It was incredibly strong and durable.
History: (Strange Tales I#82) -
When one of his rivals won a noted science award, Professor Heinrich
Munch became outraged. Seeking to prove his superiority over his
colleagues, he built a giant being out of plastic, hoping to bring it
to life. He infused the creature with several ingredients (including
electricity and sodium), but they had no effect. An infusion of several
dozen more caused the giant to move slightly, and after he used a
solution of titanium, the creature arose, only to fall back down.
Disgusted by his failure, Munch dumped the creature over his castle
wall, and it fell into the muddy quicksand below.
There, the chemicals within the quicksand interacted
with the being's elements. This finally brought the giant It to life.
Covered in mud, it returned to the castle. Delighted, Munch ordered the
creature to destroy his rival, but It refused, believing life to be
precious. Munch, disgusted with the creature's morals, ran into town
and told the villagers that it was an evil being that had come to
destroy them. When It arrived to warn them of Munch's evil, they
attacked it and chased it back to the castle. There, Munch tried to
destroy it, but he fell to his death instead. With sorrow, It lamented
Munch's death, wishing it itself was truly alive to appreciate life.
Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck It, and the creature fell to
the ground. However, it found its mind now in Munch's body, very much
alive.
The villagers, unaware of the true situation, helped him up. "Munch" promised to himself to be a better human than the real Munch ever was.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee or Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
Clarifications:
The Thing Called IT has no known connections to
A scientist, Munch was filled with envy and hatred
towards his fellow scientists. When one won an award Munch felt he
deserved, he created It to destroy the man. The creature refused to,
and Munch tried to persuade the local villagers to kill his creation.
When Munch confronted It, the human fell to his death, and a freak
lightning bolt caused Its mind to take over the form of Munch. Posing
as Munch, the creature promised to live the way Munch should have lived.
--Strange Tales I#82
images:
Strange Tales I#82, story 1, page 6, panel 4
(muddy form)
page 4, panel 5 (true form)
page 9, panel 2 (Munch)
Strange Tales I#82 (March, 1961) - Stan Lee or Larry
Lieber (writer), Jack Kirby (penciler), Dick Ayers (inker), Stan Lee
(editor)
11/04/07
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff,
you should check out the real thing!
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Heinrich Munch