Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Sub-species of humanity; mutate
Occupation: Servant of the Deviant Empire
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Kro (see comments)
Enemies: "Frank Harper" (Makkari; see comments)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A volcano at Napuka, Polynesia
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (January, 1960)
Powers/Abilities: The Molten Man-Thing's body was seemingly comprised of a lava-like substance (see comments), with which it could burn through almost any obstacle. It appeared to have had little control over its abilities, and spread its lava and fire wherever it strode. Its fiery nature made it invulnerable to most physical attacks, but extremely susceptible to cold-based assaults.
Height: Unrevealed (15' ; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None
History:
(Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (fb) - BTS) - The origin of the Molten Man-Thing is unrevealed --
possibly it was the creation of Warlord Kro of the Deviants.
(Tales of Suspense I#7/5) - The Molten Man-Thing was first observed as it arose from a volcano on the island of Napuka. It set forth to destroy the villages there, but was opposed by Makkari of the Eternals (who was using the identity of vacationing commercial pilot Frank Harper) -- he first hurled spears at the monster, but was unable to wound it because the creature's intense heat melted the weapons. Harper/Makkari had the monster follow him to a nearby air base and into a wind tunnel; he then activated the mechanism, and the intense cold of the generated winds weakened the creature until it finally retreated, returning to the volcano it came from, possibly to die.
(Marvel Universe#4) - At the Explorers Club in the late-1950s, Makkari (now using the identity of NSA Agent Jake Curtiss) met with Ulysses Bloodstone, Doctor Druid, and Zawadi. He told the trio about an epidemic of monster sightings in the world, and recounted his own battle with the Molten Man-Thing over a year earlier -- Doctor Druid expressed it was "convenient" that there just happened to be a wind tunnel readily available on the isolated island, which Curtiss/Makkari attributed to "dumb luck" on his part (see comments).
(Fantastic Four Unlimited#7 - BTS) - Many years later, artist Frank Johnson created a Molten Man-Thing duplicate using the enchanted paints he had obtained from Yucoya-Tzin. Believing the creature to be a threat to the city, the Fantastic Four attacked it -- they nearly had it beaten, when it suddenly disappeared, its few minutes of life having evaporated.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko.
Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 contains a theory that the Molten Man-Thing was actually one of the Lava Men.
Frank Harper was not revealed to have actually been Jake Curtiss/Makkari until the retelling in Marvel Universe#4.
Thanks to MD Carter for originally allowing me to borrow images from his website, The Monsters of Jack Kirby
Although its origin was unrevealed, Marvel Universe#6 revealed Kro to be the instigator behind the rash of monster sightings, and it was only assumed that he was also behind the creation of the Molten Man-Thing.
After defeating the Molten Man-Thing, "Frank Harper" theorized that since the lava itself couldn't be alive, then there had to be a living creature inside the lava...a creature that had come from the depths of the earth, and therefore needed great heat to stay alive, which explained why it had surrounded itself with a boiling, molten mass.
And in regards to that wind tunnel just happening to be on the island: Since Makkari was still concealing his true identity and paranormal powers from the other three at the time, maybe the whole sequence involving the wind tunnel was just embellishment on his part, and he actually used his super-speed to create the cooling gusts of wind. -- Ron Fredricks
New images, etc. by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Molten Man-Thing has no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
Marvel Universe#4, p17, pan4 (Main Image - Molten Man-Thing attacks native village)
Tales of Suspense I#7/5, p3, pan5 (Molten Man-Thing attacks native village)
Marvel Universe#4, p18, pan6 (Molten Man-Thing hit with blast from activated wind tunnel)
Tales of Suspense I#7/5, p5, pan3 (Molten Man-Thing retreats from wind tunnel)
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#7/5 (January, 1960) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Steve Ditko (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)
Marvel Universe#4 (September, 1998) - Roger Stern (writer), Bret Blevins (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Gloria Vasquez (colors), Jim Novak (letters), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four Unlimited#7 (September, 1994) - Roy Thomas (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Carmen Imperato (inks), Nel Yomtov (colors), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
First posted: 02/23/2003
Last updated: 12/15/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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