Real Name: Larry Rambow

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Unrevealed, possibly laboratory assistant

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards)

Enemies: Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic)

Known Relatives: Dr. Phillip Zolten Rambow (father)

Aliases: "The Monster in the Streets" (in story title)

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#105 (December, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: As the Monster, Larry Rambow was surrounded by a sphere of raw energy which distorted his appearance and destroyed all it touched; he could also project bursts of this same type of energy. While in this form, he was virtually mindless, and attacked anything that moved in his proximity. He could absorb and neutralize heat and most other forms of energy, as well as disrupt the function of electronic equipment.

Larry was eventually returned to normal by means of his father's neutralizer, which rendered the energy that mutated him ineffective.

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:
(Fantastic Four I#106 (fb)) - Larry sought to help his father in the development of a device that could neutralize any weapon and thus make war impossible. Wearing an armored suit designed by his father to protect him in case anything went wrong, Larry was nonetheless exposed to a powerful atomic blast when oxygen leaked into the test chamber and ignited the test energy. Afterward, Larry was surrounded by destructive energy which left him virtually mindless, and he staggered from the lab and out into the city.

(Fantastic Four I#105) - The explosion and Larry's subsequent rampage attracted the attention of the Invisible Girl. Larry's father arrived seconds later and tried to convince everyone that the "Monster" might be an alien that could be trying to communicate with them. The Invisible Girl attempted to warn her teammates, but the Monster's glowing aura of energy was interfering with the signal from her electronic belt alarm.

   As the Human Torch happened to fly overhead, his powers began to fade--pulling back, he saw the Monster, recognized it as the likely cause, and attacked it. But the Torch's flame-blasts were ineffective, and he fell to the ground when his flame died out, drained by the Monster's energy. The Invisible Girl formed a force field to try to contain the Monster, while the recovered Torch flew back to the Baxter Building to notify Mr. Fantastic, hoping that he could figure out how to stop the menace.

(Fantastic Four I#106) - The Monster soon overwhelmed the Invisible Girl's force field, causing her to collapse. Mr. Fantastic arrived in time to shield Dr. Rambow from his rampaging son, and upon questioning the scientist, Mr. Fantastic figured out that his old colleague knew more than he was letting on. Dr. Rambow revealed the whole truth, and Mr. Fantastic then reminded him that they had always had the policy of never working on dangerous experiments without making a fail-safe device. Dr. Rambow suddenly remembered that he had created such a device (see comments), so the Torch flew him back to his lab to retrieve it, while Mr. Fantastic wrapped himself around the Monster to contain it, subjecting himself to its deadly power.

   When the Torch and Dr. Rambow returned with the neutralizer, Mr. Fantastic had to adjust the machine because the nervous Dr. Rambow's hands were trembling too badly; after Mr. Fantastic collapsed from the injuries he incurred, Dr. Rambow activated the neutralizer, which successfully returned Larry to normal. Larry's mind began to clear, and he commented that he felt like he was awaking from some terrible nightmare. As his father collapsed from stress, Larry rushed to his side and accompanied him to the hospital.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee, "Jazzy" John Romita, and John Verpoorten.

Fortunately, we had the ultra-genius of Reed Richards on hand to remind Dr. Rambow that he had designed a fail-safe device to reverse the process of mutation on Larry. Man...I NEVER would have thought of that!

    That's like:
    "The water is flooding over the sink!"
    "Turn off the water!"
    Now that's some quality thinking!

To be fair, Dr. Rambow was emotionally distraught and his primary concern was for his son, so maybe he just wasn't thinking straight.

And I wonder if Larry--or any of his offspring--could have had any lingering effects and/or genetic mutations from that atomic energy he originally absorbed.--Ron Fredricks

The Thing/Ben Grimm was out of action for most of these two issues as he was in the midst of a delicate procedure designed to return him to normal.

The university at which Rambow worked was a short distance from the site of the battle in mid-town Manhattan, but it could have been Empire State University or a number of others.

Profile by Snood. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Larry Rambow and Dr. Philip Zolten Rambow have known connection to:

• Frank Rambeau - father of Captain Marvel/Photon, husband of Maria, heart disease --Avengers I#246
• Maria Rambeau - mother of Captain Marvel/Photon, wife of Frank--Avengers I#246
• Rambo - Rick Sheridan's dog--Sleepwalker#1
• John Rambo - the action hero played by Sylvester Stallone
• Rambu – Aakon cyborg--Captain Marvel II#45
• Monster - fighter, defeated by Armadillo--Thunderbolts I#76
• MONSTER 2099 - Chosen, simulated powers of Beast/McCoy--X-Men 2099#99
• Monster from the Lost Lagoon - extraterrestrial member of the Quon race--Fantastic Four I#97
• Monster from Mars - statue advertising movie, brought to life by Miracle Man, destroyed by Human Torch--Fantastic Four I#3
• Monster in the Iron Mask - extraterrestrial, scout for invading force, proved immune to any attack except gas--Tales of Suspense I#31
• Monster of Alhmet of the Hyborian era--Conan the Barbarian Annual I#10
• Monster of Ba'al - mutated follower of Ba'al--Wolverine II#14
• Monster of the Badoon - large green robot/cyborg--Silver Surfer I#2
• Monster of the Dweller-in-Darkness - trained ape--Master of Kung Fu I#92
• Monster of Frankenstein - creation of Victor Frankenstein--Monster of Frankenstein#1
• Monster of the Moors - see Moorlands Monster--Tomb of Dracula I#6
• Monster of the Moors (Ronson Slade) - British scientist, attempted to restore youth, resulted in his periodic transformation into savage murdering creature--Marvel Preview#8
• Monsters of Bald Mountain (Evil, Good) - statues sculpted by Anton Gorge, represented good and evil, came to life from bolt of lightning--Tales to Astonish I#7
• Monsters of Zero Street - extradimensional, fire-breathing beings--Captain America I#201
• Monsters of the Fire People of Earth-Ultraverse - result of generations of breeding away from light--Freex#12
• Monster that Walked like a Man - see Gigantus - Deviant mutate--Journey into Mystery I#63
• any other characters with similar names, or any other monsters

Dr. Rambow's neutralizer has no known connection to:

• Neutralizer - Tony Stark invention, used by S.H.I.E.L.D.--Strange Tales I#143
• Neutralizer - weapon used by Rom--Rom#1
• Neutralizer - weapon built by Forge--Uncanny X-Men#184
• Neutralizer - Iron Man foe--Marvel Comics Presents I#58/4
• Neutralizer Helmet - Eternal device to contain mental powers of Dromedan--Eternals I#16
• or any other characters or devices with similar names

Dr. Phillip Zolten Rambow A professor at an unspecified university, he was an old colleague of Reed Richards, and the two served together on anti-war committees. Dedicating his life to the cause of peace, Rambow sought an end to warfare. He decided that if he could create a device that would neutralize any weapon, it would thus make war impossible. As he prepared for the final test of his device, he designed an armored suit that could protect its wearer like a portable bomb shelter. Rambow used his own son Larry as a test subject, but though the neutralizer's settings were all correct, a small oxygen leak in the chamber caused the energy to ignite and explode. When the smoke cleared, Dr. Rambow found his lab in shambles, and Larry was gone, transformed by the energy into a mindless and destructive "Monster". Rambow tracked Larry to Manhattan, where he tried to convince the Fantastic Four and others to subdue the Monster peacefully, but neglected to reveal his involvement. Finally Reed suspected there was more than Rambow was telling, and Rambow divulged the full truth. Reed then reminded him of their old policy of always having a fail-safe device in case something went wrong during their dangerous experiments; recalling that he had such a device back at his lab, Rambow had the Human Torch fly him there so he could retrieve the neutralizer. When the Torch and Rambow returned, Reed set the device, but then collapsed from injuries incurred while fighting Larry, and Rambow activated the neutralizer. The device successfully restored Larry to normal, and Dr. Rambow collapsed from the strain; afterward, he was taken away in an ambulance to the hospital. (Comment: In #105, the Invisible Girl referred to him as "Zolten," while Mr. Fantastic addressed him as "Phillip" in #106 -- once again, we employ the old "Robert Bruce 'Bob' Banner Explanation".) --Fantastic Four I#105 (106 (fb), 105, 106

Dr. Rambow's neutralizer Seeking a way to make warfare impossible, peace-activist Dr. Rambow built this device to neutralize any weapons of war. But during the neutralizer's initial test, Rambow's son Larry was accidentally mutated into a mindless and destructive energy "Monster," and he went on a rampage throughout Manhattan. Later, Rambow retrieved the neutralizer from his lab and used it to change his son back to normal. --Fantastic Four I#106 (106 (fb), 106

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#105, cover (main image - Monster in the Streets)
Fantastic Four I#106, p9, pan4 (in flashback, pre-mutation Larry Rambow in protective suit)
Fantastic Four I#106, p15, pan3 (rampaging Monster; Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic (background))
Fantastic Four I#106, p19, pan3 (after exposure to neutralizer, Larry Rambow returns to normal)
Fantastic Four I#106, p10, pan2 (after explosion, Dr. Rambow in his lab)
Fantastic Four I#106, p9, pan1 (Dr. Rambow reveals that the Monster is his son)
Fantastic Four I#106, p18, pan1 (neutralizer, surrounded by Fantastic Four and Dr. Rambow; Monster (background))
Fantastic Four I#106, p19, pan1 (activated neutralizer hits Monster)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#105 (December, 1970) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Romita (pencils), John Verpoorten (inks), Artie Simek (letters)
Fantastic Four I#106 (January, 1971) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Romita (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Artie Simek (letters)

First posted: 12/13/2003
Last updated: 09/20/2023