Real Name: Inapplicable

Identity/Class: Terrestrial artificial life-form

Occupation: Toddler?;
    former Smasher-of-Everything-There-Is

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Arnold Krank (creator)

Enemies: Power Man (Luke Cage), Thing (Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: Arnold Krank (adoptive father)

Aliases: "The Mountain that Walks like a Man" (or is it the Soup that Eats like a Meal?); Runaway Salad (as called by the Thing) (see comments)

Base of Operations: Arnold Krank's apartment, New York City, USA
    formerly Krasner's Bio-Systems Inc., New York City, USA

First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One I#13 (January, 1976)

Powers/Abilities: In his protoplasmic form, Braggadoom could consume human bodies by engulfing and digesting/absorbing them, much like an amoeba (see comments). He apparently absorbed the intelligence of those he consumed, but lacked their discipline.

When the protoplasm originally took on the form of Braggadoom, he rapidly grew to a height of 40 feet, but progressively got larger and stronger; after reaching a peak of over 300 feet in height, he had vast strength (Class 100), and was extremely durable.

Initially, Braggadoom had a child-like intellect, but he soon developed a personality and intelligence similar to that of an adult human (...who likes to smash everything in sight -- at any stage of his development, he had a hankerin' for some smashin'!).

During his final battle at his largest size, it was mistakenly believed that Braggadoom's atomic structure was so unstable that the force of a powerful blow would cause the giant creature to reach critical mass and explode with the power of a nuclear bomb; however the conflict actually had the opposite effect, and the battle actually served as an "escape valve," allowing Braggadoom to expend his pent-up energy until he shrank to the size of a toy.

Once he was reduced to the size of a human toddler, presumably Braggadoom's mentality and physical abilities matched that level as well.

Height: (At smallest) 8" (by approximation); (at largest) 300'
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Green
Hair: None

History:
(Marvel Two-in-One I#13 (fb)) - Braggadoom was inadvertently created by Arnold Krank, who was involved in a special bio-genetics project at Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc. Krank was a little absent-minded, and he grew careless and inadvertently mixed an unidentified substance with a special cellular tissue he'd been using. The mixture in the beaker suddenly began to bubble and churn, then grew too hot to hold, and when Krank dropped it, the contents spewed outward and coalesced into a pulsing, throbbing, greenish mass with a life of its own.

Krank's boss, Mr. Krasner, was delighted at the discovery of the secret of life, and he called a press conference to make the announcement. But a reporter became too inquisitive and stuck his finger into the spongy mass, which suddenly sucked him in and absorbed him. The mass next consumed Krasner, then took on a humanoid shape. The newly-formed creature continued to grow, and it soon burst through the roof of the building, then went on a rampage in the city.

(Marvel Two-in-One I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Krank went to the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, and recruited the Thing (the only member of the team at home) to stop the creature, which was about 40' tall by that time.

(Marvel Two-In-One I#13 (fb)) - Krank went to the Harlem office of Power Man and hired him to assist the Thing; Power Man and Krank rushed to Central Park, where the Thing found himself outmatched by the immense creature.

   In the course of their struggle, the creature threw the Thing through a wall, which made the noise "BRAGGADOOM!" (no, really - see comments); having a child-like mind at the time, the creature chuckled at the sound. The Thing retaliated by throwing a section of the wall at the giant monster ("--so here's BRAGGADOOM right back at'cha, ya gigglin' gorilla!"). But the creature was unharmed, and he seized the Thing in his hand -- by that point, the monster's mental processes had evolved and caught up to his gargantuan proportions, for he now spoke as a mature adult. Power Man ran up and kicked the giant in his scaly shin, only to be grabbed by the creature's other hand. As he held the two, the nameless monster decided to adopt the sound BRAGGADOOM as his appellation, then he hurled the heroes across the city.

   But as they went sailing through the air, Power Man grabbed hold of the Thing's legs, while the Thing managed to stop their flight by scraping his fingers into a building. The two returned to Central Park, only to find Braggadoom gone, and the creature took Krank with him. The Thing and Power Man next went to the Baxter Building, where they used the Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane to search the city for the monster.

   When the two heroes caught up with him, Braggadoom was over 300' tall, and ripping apart one of the city's bridges. Braggadoom was too powerful for either Power Man or the Thing to hurt, but they did manage to swim to the bottom of the East River and topple him by pulling his feet out from underneath him. Just as the Thing was about to put the "permanent kibosh" to the giant creature, the absent-minded Krank suddenly remembered that Braggadoom had an unstable atomic structure, and any continued assault might cause him to reach critical mass and explode with the force of a nuclear bomb! Then Braggadoom stood up and started to glow, and it seemed as if New York was doomed! But instead, the giant suddenly shrank to the size of a hand-held doll -- Krank theorized that the conflict had the opposite effect of what he had expected, and it had actually served as an "escape valve" that allowed Braggadoom to expend his pent-up energy.

   As he picked up the tiny, docile form of Braggadoom (who again possessed an infantile mindset), Krank told Power Man and the Thing that he believed Braggadoom had been like a spoiled child, lashing out at his parent figure (Arnold Krank), and that if he were raised properly, the creature could develop like a normal human being. After thanking the two heroes, Krank returned to his lab, to make certain Braggadoom's rapid growth never happened again.

(Marvel Two-in-One I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Krank somehow altered Braggadoom's biochemistry so that he would grow and develop at a normal human rate, then took him back to his apartment to raise as his own.

(Marvel Two-in-One I#13) - An unspecified number of months later in his apartment, Krank was dictating the story of the previous events into a tape-recorder, while the toddler Braggadoom sat quietly in his crib with a ball. Krank promised to give Braggadoom the education and the love he so desperately lacked before -- he could do no less for a being he had inadvertently fathered... he could do no less for his son!

Comments: Created by Roger Slifer, Len Wein, and Ron Wilson.

I guess if Braggadoom aged at the same rate as Franklin Richards, after 25 years of real time he'd be...exactly the same age as he was then. Hmm...maybe he could be taken to the future, where he could grow up, and then return as an adult. Oh, that's been done, too? Several times? Ah, Braggadoom's an artificial life-form and could age however rapidly anyone wanted him to. C'mon, how can you leave a cute little monster like him in Marvel Limbo. I think he's a good candidate to be recruited for the inevitable return/team-up of Xemnu the Titan and Spragg the Living Hill.

...or how about Braggadoom vs Fin Fang Foom (...winner takes on Goom)?

Here's the infamous panel with the silly sound-effect, where he got the idea for his name -- I guess Braggadoom had a liking for onomatopoeia.

In regards to Aliases: During their battle with him, both the Thing and Power Man constantly referred to Braggadoom by numerous disparaging nicknames (including Gruesome, Scaly Shins, Cabbage-Head, etc.), but there were just too many to fit them all in.
...And speaking of which, maybe another alias could be "Arnold Krank, Jr." -- Krank did consider him to be his son, so maybe he wanted to put Braggadoom's past behind him and started him fresh with a new name? Or maybe the personality of the consumed Mr. Krasner and/or that reporter eventually emerged in the monstrous body? (Yeah, I guess I 'm just putting a little too much thought into this goofy story).

Visually speaking, Braggadoom kind of reminds me of the human/amoeba hybrid Half-Man -- since that original amoeba-like mass consumed two men (the reporter and Krasner), maybe Braggy and Half-Man are similar creatures? --Ron Fredricks

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Braggadoom has no known connection to:

Arnold Krank has no known connections to:

Mr. Krasner has no known connections to:

Arnold Krank

Employed as a biological researcher at Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc., Krank was working with a team of scientists on a special bio-genetics project. He inadvertently created Braggadoom while not paying attention to what he was doing. After his boss, Mr. Krasner, was consumed by his creation, Krank fled for help. After notifying the Thing about his monstrous creation, Krank related the whole story of Braggadoom's creation to Power Man while trying to hire him, but he neglected to mention that the Thing was out there fighting the giant creature by himself at the time.

Krank attempted to reason with the giant creature, but to no avail.

Once Braggadoom was reduced to a handheld size, Krank reclaimed him and devised a means to slow his growth, then decided to raise Braggadoom as his own.

Krank was a little absent-minded, and spoke with a constant stutter. He was apparently an expert in the field of genetics, as well as infant psychology, or whatever...

--Marvel Two-in-One I#13

Krasner's Bio-Systems Inc.

Located somewhere in the vicinity of New York City, it was a privately-owned biological research company where scientist Arnold Krank was employed.

After Krank inadvertently created the monstrous Braggadoom, the rapidly-growing creature burst through the roof of the building, then went on a rampage in the city.

--Marvel Two-in-One I#13

Mr. Krasner

The owner of Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc., he employed several research scientists, including Arnold Krank.

He was quite pleased when Krank accidentally created a protoplasmic life-form; believing that Krank had found the secret of life, Krasner called a press conference to present the discovery.

But Krasner was horrified when an inquisitive reporter poked his finger in the spongy mass and was consumed by it; before he could move, Krasner became the second victim of the rapidly growing blob.

Afterward, the protoplasmic mass took on a humanoid shape and rapidly grew into Braggadoom.

--Marvel Two-in-One I#13

unidentified reporter

An employee of the news media, he went to cover a story at Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc. after scientist Arnold Krank inadvertently created a living protoplasmic mass.

But the reporter's curiosity got the better of him when he raised the container and poked his finger into the spongy green glob -- the protoplasm responded to his touch, sucked him inward, and consumed him.

The glob immediately began to grow, then it also consumed Mr. Krasner; afterward the protoplasmic mass took on a humanoid shape and rapidly grew into Braggadoom.

--Marvel Two-in-One I#13

images: (without ads)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, cover (Main Image -Braggadoom, holding Power Man and Thing)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p6, pan3 (Headshot - Braggadoom)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p13, pan1 (giant Braggadoom (holding Arnold Krank in left hand) tears apart bridge; Power Man and Thing in Pogo Plane)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p18, pan1 (shrunken Braggadoom in the palm of Arnold Krank's hand; Power Man (background))
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p6, pan5 (Thing gets thrown into wall, creating BRAGGADOOM! sound-effect)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p2, pan1 (Arnold Krank, in Power Man's office)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p2, pan4 (in flashback, Arnold Krank holds beaker of chemicals that would create Braggadoom)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p18, pan5 (Arnold Krank, speaking into tape-recorder; Braggadoom in crib)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p2, pan2 (Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc. building)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p4, pan2 (Braggadoom bursts through roof of Krasner's Bio-Systems, Inc. building; Arnold Krank (foreground))
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p2, pan8 (Mr. Kransner, looking upon container holding green protoplasmic mass)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p3, pan7 (as reporter is consumed, Mr. Krasner gets engulfed by protoplasmic mass; Arnold Krank (background))
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p3, pan5 (unidentified reporter lifts container and touches protoplasmic mass)
Marvel Two-in-One I#13, p3, pan6 (unidentified reporter gets consumed by protoplasmic mass)

Appearances:
Marvel Two-in-One I#13 (January, 1976) - Roger Slifer/Len Wein (writers), Ron Wilson (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Petra Goldberg (colors), Joe Rosen (letters), Marv Wolfman (editor)

First Posted: 11/11/2001
Last updated: 05/16/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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