MONSTER from the LOST LAGOONMONSTER from the LOST LAGOON
Real Name: Mowfus
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Quon)
Occupation: Possible explorer;
former aquatic mammal trainer
Affiliations: Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Girl/Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing), Jim & Marge Power (both imposters), Power Pack (Alex imposter + Jack + Julie + Katie Power, Franklin Richards)
Enemies: Unidentified ship
captain and his crew
formerly the Fantastic Four
Known Relatives: Bisq, children (Bruuk, Koln, Xak)
Aliases: "the unidentified water-breathing alien"
Base of Operations: A spaceship,
mobile to an undefined scale;
presumably the planet Quon in the Byjak
system, Milky Way galaxy;
formerly a lake in Central Park
formerly the Lost Lagoon, off the coast of
Florida, The Caribbean Oceans
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#97 (April, 1970)
Powers/Abilities: The Monster has superhuman strength (Class 75-100) and durability (leathery skin), as well as being amphibious (he possesses both lungs and gills). He also is apparently able to communicate with aquatic life (or perhaps he just physically moves them).
He uses a special potion to adopt human form. He can understand English to some extent, but is apparently unable to speak it. His confusion when dealing with humans has often driven him to violence, but this is usually when he is trying to defend himself or his family.
History:
(Fantastic Four I#97 (fb) - BTS) - The Monster and his wife
apparently crash-landed on Earth somewhere in the Lost Lagoon.
His supply of water was lost in the crash, and he had to restock
it, as well as repair his ship. While he did so, he adopted a
human form and worked at an aquatic show in the Seaquarium,
training marine mammals. While swimming near the Lagoon, he
attacked and sank several ships, mistaking them as being hostile.
(Fantastic Four I#97) - The Monster attacked the Fantastic Four's Air-Sea Cruiser when they came to the Lost Lagoon to investigate the attacks. He directed a killer whale to capsize their ship, then returned to his cave/grotto, adopted his human form, and performed his dolphin act. During that act, Reed stretched his hand into the tank and felt around for an entrance into the Lagoon, and the Monster hurled a pilot whale into him, smashing his arm. Reed -- only partially unsuspectingly -- asked him to be their guide in exploring the caves in the area, and the Monster agreed, intending to make the Four his victims.
The Monster accompanied Reed, Johnny, and Ben aboard their Cruiser, but when they got to the deepest part of the caves, he punched his way out of the ship, flooding and sinking it into a thick bog. Reed used a spear gun to fire a line that they used to climb out, and Ben carried the others to the surface. The Monster attacked Ben, holding his own until Johnny revived and joined the fight. He then fled from them, returning to his ship and loading it with the bags of water he had gathered. The heroes guessed at his motives as they observed his mate within the ship, and then watched the pair fly off into space.
(Fantastic Four I#125 (fb) - BTS) - The Monster's mate contracted some sort of terrestrial virus. They were forced to return to Earth to obtain medication to cure her.
(Fantastic Four I#124, 125) - While Reed suffered from severe exhaustion, the Monster used chloroform to drug Sue and abduct her. Johnny tried to stop him, but the Monster kept him at a distance until he could take her below the surface of the lake in Central Park. He took Sue into a dry cave, and upon awakening she tried to escape, but only succeeded in flooding the cavern. She might well have drowned had not the Monster returned and saved her by draining the water from the cave. Still, Sue was terrified as the Monster advanced on her, until she learned that he had abducted her so that she could administer medication to his mate. The other members of the FF came to rescue Sue and fought the Monster, but Reed -- having rested and recovered -- figured the Monster's motives and stopped the fight. With his mate recovered, the pair boarded their ship and left Earth once again.
(Marvel Super-Heroes III6/2 (fb) - BTS) - However, the Monster and his mate had been forced to leave behind their eggspawn in the Lost Lagoon, and so they returned to Earth sometime later to recover their children as they prepared to hatch.
(Marvel Super-Heroes III#6/2) - Their eggs were discovered by some sea explorers, who saw them as beautiful globes which they could sell for a large profit (or to study them for science -- there was some disagreement between those who had discovered them). The Monster rammed their ship, knocking most of the eggs back into the water. The ship and its crew were saved by Power Pack, who were vacationing in the former Lost Lagoon. The Monster's mate took human form and tried to recover one of the eggs, but was discovered and kicked out of the museum. When the people sent out another ship and captured more of the eggs, the mate flipped out, returned to her true form, and proceeded to take out the crew. However, the ship captain caught her from behind and beat her senseless with a baseball bat. The Monster came to her rescue, attacking the humans, but Franklin -- who had learned of the Monster from his father -- convinced him to stop, or he would drive the humans to find a way to kill him. Power Pack used their abilities to heal his mate, and the Monster surfaced his ship just as some of the eggs began to hatch. Recovering all of the eggs, the Monster and his family departed Earth yet again.
Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby.
These guys need some names!
For the Monster, how about Mowfus? He looks like a Mowfus to me!
Since the release of the Fantastic Four Encyclopedia, this is his official name!
--Markus Raymond
For his mate, there's "Bride of the Monster," or Bisq
For the kids..."Spawn of the Monster", or Xak,
Koln, "Bett," and I'm not sure how many
there are, but there were more eggs, so how about Bruuk,
"Mahtti," and "Neemo."
Bisq's name became official in Power Pack's profile in OHOTMU A-Z HC#9. Their hatched children were named Bruuk, Koln and Xak in the Quon profile in OHotMU Update 2010#4.
--Markus Raymond
From reading FF I#97, it just appeared that the Monster needed to restock his water supply before leaving Earth. His whole scheme was way overly elaborate if that's all he needed to do. Perhaps the water needed to be specially treated -- a lengthy process -- or perhaps he needed to perform some complex repairs to his ship.
It is unclear if Mowfus is average
for his race, though the OHotMU doesn't list him as anything
beyond the normal for a Quon.
As far as I can recall, no other Quon have
been seen besides him and his immediate family.
An obvious homage to the Creature from the Black Lagoon and it's sequel, the Revenge of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
In the continuing saga of bad medical info in
entertainment media, there aren't really great medications to
definitively treat viruses (in general, you can treat the
symptoms of Herpes, and there are treatments for HIV, but not
real cures). You use antibiotics to treat bacteria, and sometimes
to prevent secondary bacterial infection if a virus causes
immunosuppression. So, it's more likely that Bisq
actually had some other sort of infection.
Or it just could be that in the Marvel
Universe they can treat viruses.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
She stayed within an aquatic chamber in their ship during the first visit, but still contracted a disease that required them to return to Earth for treatment. She took a more active role in recovering their eggspawn, but was nearly killed by a ship's captain who saw the eggs as a source of profit. She was healed by Power Pack and left Earth with her family.
She has similar abilities to the Monster, but is probably more in the enhanced human strength level. Unlike her mate, she appears to be able to speak some English.
She, too, used a potion to adopt a human form.
--Fantastic Four I#97 ([97(fb)], 97, [125(fb)], 124,125, [Marvel Super-Heroes III#6/2(Summer 1991 (fb)], 6/2
Their eggs were left
behind when the Monster and his mate first left the Lost Lagoon.
They were found by humans seeking to exploit them for profit or
in the name of science, but they were all recovered by the
Monster and his mate and began to hatch as they left Earth.
--Marvel Super-Heroes III#6/2 (Summer 1991) ([6/2 (fb)], 6/2
Quon race
According the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Deluxe edition#15, they originate from the planet Quon, which is 3rd from the sun in the Byjak system, in the Milky Way galaxy. They have a population of 4.3 billion, with a socialist government. They have moderately advanced interstellar ships and possess advanced knowledge of biochemistry.
Type: semi-humanoid
Fingers: five (with opposable thumb)
Toes: two (though they have been sometimes drawn
to have 4-5 toes) skin color:
green-brown
Average height: 6'4"
Special adaptations: Amphibious (possess both lungs and gills); superhuman strength and durability allowing them to survive the ocean pressures and temperatures; their skin is leathery and they are otherwise adapted for aquatic life; their children are hatched from eggs, but it is uncertain whether they are oviparous (laying eggs which are fertilized externally) or oviviparous (being fertilized within the body, then being laid and hatched) -- I'd guess the latter given their otherwise semi-human physiology.
--Fantastic Four I#97 ([97(fb)], 97, [125(fb)], 124,125, [Marvel Super-Heroes III#6/2(Summer 1991 (fb)], 6/2
Their ship is capable of interstellar transport, and can be stored underwater when not in use.
--Fantastic Four I#97 ([97(fb)], 97, [125(fb)], [124], 125, [Marvel Super-Heroes III#6/2(Summer 1991 (fb)], 6/2
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#97, Cover (Monster of the Lost Lagoon main image)
(Mowfus head shot)
(Mowfus human face)
Fantastic Four I#124, Cover (Mowfus carries away Invisible Girl)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p41, pan5 (Mowfus returns)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p40, pan1 (Mowfus' mate)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p36, pan5 (Mowfus' mate human face)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p44, pan1 (Mowfus' children)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p31, pan3 (Quon egg)
OHOTMU Deluxe Edition#15, p54, pan2 (Quon race)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6, p43, pan3 (Quon ship)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#97 (April, 1970) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks)
Fantastic Four I#124-125 (July-August, 1972) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Buscema (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)
Marvel Super-Heroes III#6 (July, 1991) - Michael Higgins (writer), Steve Buccellato (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Last updated: 12/12/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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