COLONELCOLONEL
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: human, would-be conqueror
Occupation: Ruler of an army of mindless servants, caretaker of the spider; former military leader
AFFILIATIONS: uses a giant, unnamed
spider
Enemies: Frankenstein monster, Leftenant
BASE of OPERATIONS: Castle Frankenstein I, Ingolstadt, Bavaria, @ 1898
FIRST APPEARANCE: Frankenstein Monster#6 (October, 1973)
POWERS: None. The Colonel maintained some political power, in addition to controlling a small army of mind-sapped servants, and his giant spider. He was once a skilled military leader, and he retained much of his fighting and swordsmanship skills. He was apparently very fond of his heavy, no peripheral vision, steel helmet. He also likely had that "strength of a madman" thing going on.
HISTORY: The exact history of the man known only as the Colonel is unknown. He was apparently a colonel in the German military, based in Ingolstadt in the mid to late 1800s. At some point he left the military, and went into hiding in the original Castle Frankenstein (which had been abandoned for two decades by Jason von Frankenstein). He discovered a giant spider, and learned that the spider fed on the wills of humans. The Colonel began to capture men, have the spider siphon their spirits, and create a small army of mindless servants.
(FM#6)-At the
close of the 19th century, the Frankenstein monster returned to
Ingolstadt in search of the last surviving von Frankenstein. He
entered the depths of Castle Frankenstein, where he observed an
army of zombie-like men throwing a man into a pit for a man in a
royal costume (The Colonel). The Monster assumed the man to be a
von Frankenstein and attempted to kill him, but was subdued by
his mindless servants. When the Monster awakened, the Colonel
explained that he planned to use his giant spider to enslave the
Monster, and add him to his growing army of mindless servants.
A current member of the military, a man known as the Leftenant,
tracked the disappearances of the villagers to Castle
Frankenstein, where he found the Monster, the Colonel, and the
Spider. The Leftenant attempted to subdue the Colonel, but as
they battled, the Castle began to flood. The rising waters
allowed the giant spider to escape its pit, and the Leftenant
fled. The Colonel attempted to control the spider, which saw him
only as prey, and advanced on him. However, the waters suddenly
shattered the walls, freeing the Monster, but drowning the
mindless servants, as well as the Colonel (who was weighed down
by his heavy steel helmet).
COMMENTS: Created by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.
The spider could easily be a descendent of the Hyborian era spider-god, Omm.
Bavaria, I believe, became part of West Germany, which is now Germany, once again.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The original Castle Frankenstein, in
Ingolstadt (first seen in this story), should be differentiated
from:
The second Castle Frankenstein, in which the majority of the stories have taken place,
first seen in Frankenstein Monster#10
The spider was a creature of unknown
origins (see comments). Presumably, the Colonel found it within
the long-abandoned Castle Frankenstein, but how it got there, and
what is was living off of before the Colonel began feeding it is
unknown.
It fed not on flesh, but on the spirit. Its victims were left
mindless zombies, who were then controlled by the Colonel. When
it escaped its pit, it felt no loyalty to the Colonel, and
attempted to make him its next meal. The floodwaters separated
them, but the spider could swim, and so it targeted the last
"surviving" man present, the Frankenstein monster. The
Monster, however, swam underneath the spider, and bound it in
heavy chains. The spider sank to the bottom of the flooded
chamber, where it apparently drowned.
The Leftenant was a member of the Bavarian military in Ingolstadt. He followed the trail of missing villagers to Castle Frankenstein. He initially assumed the Frankenstein monster to be to blame, until discovering the Colonel and his Spider. After a brief struggle with the Colonel, who had him at a disadvantage, he fled the castel to escape the escaped Spider and the flooding chamber.
Last updated: 08/02/02.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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