GOLEM

Real Name: Inapplicable

Identity/Class: Magical (Hebrew) creation, terrestrial

Occupation: Defender of the innocent

Group Membership: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit (Abominable Snowman, Bradley Beemer, Brother Voodoo, Clone of Frankenstein, Glob/Joe Timms, Gorilla Man/Ken Hale, Groot, Hellstorm, It the Living Colossus, Lilith, Living Mummy, Clay Quartermain, Sasquatch/Walter Langkowski, Vampire by Night, Warwolf/Vince Marcus, Zombie"John Doe", many others)

Affiliations: Created by rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezazel, used by numerous people throughout the years, most recently revived by Professor Abraham Adamson;
    allied with Jason & Rebecca Adamson, Wayne Logan, Saudia Yamal, Professor Yeates
    briefly allied with the Thing

Enemies: Kaballa the Unclean and his elementals, Col. Omar and his unit of deserting soldiers

Known Relatives: Inapplicable

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Area 13, Pine Barrens, New Jersey;
    Formerly Prague (site of creation), deserts of the Middle East, and St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#134 (December, 1970), (existence confirmed in modern era) Strange Tales I#174 (June, 1974)

Powers: The Golem was approximately seven feet tall and carved out of stone. He possessed superhuman strength and durability, the extent of which varied with the strengths of his connection to those for whom he felt love. At his weakest, he was only slightly stronger than man, but at his peak, he could trade blows with the Thing (Class 90). In addition, where he was at his peak, the word "EMETH" (meaning truth) would glow on his forehead. According to legend, if the "E" were erased, to spell "METH" (meaning death), he would collapse, leaving an inert husk. Apparently, another Golem could than be created.

Height: 8' 6"
Weight: 1590 lbs.

History: (Incredible Hulk II#134 (fb) / Strange Tales I#174(fb) - In the 15th Century, in the city of Prague, the wise man Judah Loew Ben Bezazel created the form of the Golem, caving him out of rock, and breathing life into him by supernatual means. He then set the creature against those responsible for his people's plight, and it fought for them until "there was justice for his people in the city of Prague," after which it vanished from them forever.

The Golem wandered off to other lands, fighting tyranny wherever it encountered it. Eventually, the Golem wandered out into the desert, where it stood immobile, until it was completely covered with sand.

(Strange Tales I#174) - Prof. Abraham Adamson led an archeology party consisting of his niece and nephew, Rebecca and Jason, and Rebecca's fiance, Wayne Logan, to the deserts in search of the Golem. They found it and successfully unearthed it. They also encountered a tribe of Arabs, and offered them food and shelter. However, when Professor Adamson discovered them looting his party's supplied, they gunned him down. The Arab leader took the others with him to prevent them from revealing Adamson's death and causing a national incident. Adamson then located his scrolls on the Golem and repeated the spell to revive it, and shed a tear on it just before dying from his wounds. The Golem revived, and possessing Adamson's motivation, it attacked and slew the Arab soldiers, freeing Adamson's party. Rebecca recognized her uncle's twinkle in the Golem's eye.

(Strange Tales I#176) - Adamson's party brought the Golem aboard and ship headed for the USA. An old enemy of the Golem's, Kaballa the Unclean, learned of its revival and sought to claim it for himself. Thinking the Golem drew its strength from the land, Kaballa sent a trio of his Air-Demons to assault him. The Golem initially seemed too weak to battle the Air-Demons, and was nearly carried off by them. However, he suddenly had a burst of strength and quickly destroyed all three of them.

(Strange Tales I#177) - The Golem was brought to San Pedro University in St. Petersburg, Florida, where it was examined by Saudia Yamal and Professor Yeates.Yamal's test concluded that the seemingly inert Golem was in fact alive, but Yeates remained skeptical. Yeates, fearful that the discovery of the Golem, and his own denouncement of it would prove damaging to his career if it did prove to live, attempted to destroy it that evening with a blow torch. However, Kaballa sent a trio of Fire-Demons to attack the Golem, and they materialized thru Yeates' torch. Again, the Golem appeared on the edge of defeat, but suddenly rallied and destroyed the Fire-Demons. As a result of this conflict, Kaballa learned that the Golem drew his strength not from the land, but from truth, and the love it felt for the family of the one who had revived it.

(Marvel Two-In-One#11) - Kaballa took control of the Golem, while the sources of its strength, Jason and Rebecca Adamson and Wayne Logan, where distant from it. Kaballa sent it on a rampage in St. Petersburg, which brought it into conflict with the Thing, who was vacationing there. Kaballa sent some elementals to break up the fight, but Jason, Rebecca, and Wayne arrived on the scene, causing Kaballa's control to fade. Kaballa then traveled to the scene himself to attack the others and retake the Golem. However, when the Golem advanced on him, Kaballa teleported away. With the threat of Kaballa gone, the Golem returned to its inert state.

(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#2) - At some point, the Golem was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos unit. It was seen together with Manphibian and John Jameson at the base's commissary.

(Nick Fury's Howling Commandos#6) - Golem was among the Commandos who launched an assault on the forces of Merlin.

(Marvel Tarot#1 - BTS) - The First Tarot showed Ian McNee the Golem as the Strength card. McNee thought the Golem had been deactivated for decades but heard word was spreading that the mighty mineral mensch was back and dealing with some sort of trouble in New York.

Comments: Adapted by Len Wein, Mike Friedrich, and John Buscema

The Golem also received a profile in the Pre-FF Heroes web-page (there's a link to other sites on the index page)

Strange Tales#175, reprinted an old monster story and contained no tales of the Golem, as the result of a problem with a deadline.

    StrT#177(fb) related a story about another Golem. Which grew so large, that its creator could not reach its forehead to erase the "E" if needed, and thus feared he might be unable to control it. It creator ordered it to take off its boots, and when bent down to do so, he erased the "E." However, as it "died,"it fell on top of him and crushed him (wasn't sure where to put this, figured I'd add it)

Not a very final ending. The Golem's just standing there, waiting for someone to use it again...maybe there's some connection to It, the Living Colossus...

The creature seen in the Howling Commandos book may not exactly look like the Golem, but that's who it is. I've seen the script Giffen wrote. Chalk it up to Francisco's art. - Madison Carter

Golem has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook.