CYCLOPS
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Unrevealed, possibly Sub-species of humanity
Occupation: Smashing things, throwing big rocks, eating people who wash up on his island
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie)
Enemies: Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Hidden Isle, somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#9 (December, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: The gigantic Cyclops had superhuman strength (Class 10 or higher); he could lift huge boulders and hurl them across great distances with ease.
Height: Unrevealed (30'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eye: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald
History:
(Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Cyclops was mutated to
resemble the one-eyed cyclops from the days of Greek mythology
(see comments); for centuries, he dwelt on Hidden Isle in the
Mediterranean Sea.
(Fantastic Four I#9 (fb) - BTS) - During his travels, the Sub-Mariner discovered the isle and formed an alliance with the Cyclops, to use him in his plot against his (at-the-time) foes, the Fantastic Four.
(Fantastic Four I#9) - Waaaaaayyyy back when, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four invested the group's money into the stock market, only to lose it all when the stocks plummeted. For a while, it looked as through the Fantastic Four were washed up, forced to such lengths as selling off their numerous vehicles and equipment. But then they received a letter from "S.M Studios" (see comments) in Hollywood, which offered them a cool million dollars if they were to star in a movie. Naturally, the Fantastic Four headed to California to check out the offer, and to their great surprise, found that none other than Prince Namor owned S.M Studios. Namor explained that he bought the studio using various treasures he had discovered in sunken pirate ships, and out of boredom had decided to make a movie about the quartet. In a fix for the money, the FF accepted the offer.
The first day of filming the movie was to begin with a scene in which Mr. Fantastic did battle with a giant Cyclops on Hidden Isle, a small and seemingly lifeless island in the Mediterranean. Namor told Reed that the Cyclops he was to "rassle" with was only a mechanical figure, and he was to just do what came naturally--little did Reed suspect that the Cyclops was real, and that Namor planned to destroy the Fantastic Four member-by-member (Namor also sent the Human Torch to an African jungle to battle a tribe of fireproof natives).
When Reed went to the island, Cyclops immediately discovered him. In between trying to smash Reed with rocks, the Cyclops explained his alliance with Namor. The two battled for a few minutes, and the Cyclops heaved another boulder at Reed, but he stretched his body between two slender spikes of rock and snapped the boulder back at him. As the one-eyed giant rushed toward him, Reed elongated his legs and tripped the big lug into a deep pit.
Reed later returned to the movie studio with the others in time to defeat the Sub-Mariner. Namor, being the honorable but misguided sort, gave the FF the million dollars as promised and promptly returned to the ocean. The FF returned to New York, not only rich again, but also as movie stars.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers.
It seems like a lot of bald, super-strong immortal monsters fall into giant pits.
I think the Cyclops was
meant to be the cyclops Odysseus/Ulysses
ran into, who also appeared in another
Lee/Kirby comic-- Tales of Suspense
I#10, and in Journey Into Unknown
Worlds#50. This could mean two things
-- that Cyclops here was actually
Polythemus (also seen in Sub-Mariner
I#29), the mythical one-eyed giant who
was the son of the Greek sea god
Poseidon. In the myths, he was
supposed to have been blinded by
Odysseus, but let's assume that Homer
goofed. If he was Polyphemus, he had
lots of other cyclopean brothers
running around, like the ones working
for Hephaestus
as blacksmiths. Also this would
explain his alliance with Namor,
because as the Atlanteans still
worship Poseidon
(as Neptune), Polyphemus would be seen
as somewhat holy to them.
The Cyclops that Reed encountered
could well be one of the brothers of
Polyphemus, who were sons of
Poseidon. Traditionally, they were
never named, but one children's book
I discovered on the Odyssey has
Polyphemus screaming, "Pallas,
Argus, Nobody has blinded me. Atlas,
Actaeus, please help!" or something
to that effect. They're four names
which appear on several characters
in Greek myth, so who ever it was
who wrote the book picked names that
appeared often enough to have
worked. Then again, Reed's Cyclops
could just have been a Deviant
mutate.
---Will U
Polyphemus showed up in Sub-Mariner I#29, with a big gem in place of his eye. Whether this was the real deal, or just a creation of the Huntsman remains to be seen. This is discussed in the comments for the Huntsman--Snood.
The other explanation is that Cyclops is yet another big, monstrous Deviant mutate (a speculation George Olshevsky supports in the Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four#1). I kinda prefer the first explanation, but both are equally valid. Am I the only person who wants to see a huge battle between all of Marvel's monsters? A fight between this Cyclops here and that A-Chiltar cyclops robot [see Clarifications] would be neat!
Thanks to Per Degaton for pointing out the revelation in Marvel Saga#8. Unfortunately, it was not revealed who mutated the Cyclops.
Maybe this Cyclops was originally an experiment by Maelstrom.
And the rather awkwardly-named "S.M Studios" [kinda makes you wonder exactly what sort of movies they produced] would later be renamed as "Imperial Studios" (see Retrievers of Atlantis).--Ron Fredricks
New images and text expansion by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Ben Peberdy, Spaceknight
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Cyclops may very well be the same entity as:
...but should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#9, p11, pan1 (main image - Cyclops vs Mr. Fantastic)
Fantastic Four I#9, p12, pan6 (headshot - Cyclops dodges boulder)
Fantastic Four I#9, p12, pan7-8 (Cyclops rushes toward Mr. Fantastic; Mr. Fantastic trips Cyclops)
Fantastic Four I#9, p13, pan1 (Cyclops falls down pit)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#9 (December, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Art Simek (letters)
Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe I#8 (July, 1986)
First posted: 10/26/2002
Last updated: 05/16/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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