Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Genetically-modified terrestrial plant-life
Occupation: None
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Kid
Kaiju (Kei Kawade);
temporarily Abominable
Snowman, Blip,
Bruttu,
Crawling Creature, Creature
from Krogarr, Creature
from the Black Bog, Fin
Fan Foom, Googam,
Goom, Gorgilla,
Green Thing,
Insect Man,
Klagg, Kraa,
Metallo,
Monsteroso,
Monstro,
Monstrom, Moomba, Oog,
Orrgo,
Pildorr, Quogg,
Rommbu, Sporr, Tim Boo Ba,
Ulvar,
Vandoom's
Monster, Zetora,
Zzutak
Enemies: Jed Hanson, Hellcat (Patsy Walker), Leviathon Tide
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unidentified rural community, somewhere in America
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#26/1 (February, 1962)
Powers/Abilities: Although dormant during daylight hours, this vine-like plant grew at an incredibly rapid rate after sunset and attained gigantic size. It was apparently able to grow in any type of environment--be it desert or arctic region--and did not require water.
Possibly possessing rudimentary intelligence, its many tendrils had enough strength to lift and crush a bulldozer, and to topple a water tower.
But the plant was vulnerable to a meteorite, which apparently contained some unrevealed element that was fatal to it -- direct contact with pieces of the meteorite caused it to wither and die.
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Inapplicable
History:
(Tales of Suspense I#26/1) - In an effort to solve the
problem of world hunger, farmer Jed Hanson was trying to develop a new
form of edible plant that would be vitamin-rich and able to grow rapidly
in any type of environment. Hanson began his experiment by planting a
multitude of seeds, then cross-bred the numerous produced plants and
tested them in countless types of soil. One evening, he took a brief
break from his work to check out a fiery object that fell from the sky
and landed near his farm; when Hanson discovered that it was only a
meteorite, he left the "useless rock" and returned to his plants.
Hanson at last achieved success one day when a new plant sprouted from the soil. But later that night, the small plant began to grow...AND GROW...AND GROW!! Like some multi-headed serpent, the vine-like vegetation spread out -- it first entwined itself around some nearby trees and uprooted them, then continued to spread across Hanson's farm.
The next morning, Hanson awoke and saw the monstrosity he unwittingly created from his innocent experiment, so he ran to get help from his neighbors. As the group of men chopped the giant plant with axes to destroy it, Hanson noticed that it hadn't grown any bigger since sunup, and figured that it only grew at night -- he determined that they had to kill the thing by sunset, before it spread over the whole state...or maybe even the entire nation! But the farmers' efforts were futile, for at nightfall, the fantastic plant began to grow again, and at an even faster rate than before. After grabbing and crushing a bulldozer, the expanding plant reached the nearby town, where it continued its rampant destruction -- it crushed and toppled the town's water tower, then smashed and destroyed several buildings.
As one of the enormous plant's tendrils began to reach out for him, Hanson ran in the direction where the meteorite had landed. When he hid behind the meteorite to rest, Hanson noticed that when the tendril came into contact with the unearthly stone, it shriveled and died. Figuring that the meteorite contained some element that was fatal to the monstrous plant, Hanson ran back home to his wife and son and told them about his discovery. The trio went to the meteorite with axes and broke it into small chunks, then Hanson gave the pieces of meteorite stone to the townspeople, who feverishly put them to use by touching the rocks to sections of the mammoth plant. Every part where a stone made contact caused the plant to wither and die, and before daylight, the crawling nightmare had been completely destroyed.
| SECRET WARS III HAPPENED (Monsters Unleashed II#2) - The Inhuman Kid Kaiju summoned the Thing that Crawled by Night (somehow returned to life) along with numerous other monsters to an area outside San Diego, California in defense against the Leviathons. (Monsters Unleashed II#3) - The Thing that Crawled by Night joined the fight against the Leviathons. Earth's heroes watched the monsters summoned by Kid Kaiju defeat the Leviathons. After the battle, the Thing that Crawled by Night and the other monsters were teleported back from where they came. |
(Marvel Comics#1000/7) - Hellcat battled the Thing that Crawled by Night while giving tips on how to take a selfie.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The Thing that Crawled by Night appeared a little different on the cover of Tales of Suspense I#26 -- it looked more like some walking wooden monster (...and kind of like Groot's cousin).
This thing was never identified in this 7-page story -- while the cover identified it as "The Thing that Crawled by Night," the actual story-title was "It Crawls by Night!".
In Captain America: Unforgiven#1 (June, 2023) Zawadi mentioned the Thing that Crawled by Night during a training session with the vampire Redblood. It seems like the Monster Hunters were aware of the creature. Maybe it grew back at some point and was stopped by them again.
--Markus Raymond
And then it appeared in Marvel Comics#1000. I blame Kid Kaiju for bringing it back in the first place!
--Markus Raymond
Profile by Ron Fredricks
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Thing that Crawled by Night should not be confused with:
Jed Hanson should not be confused with:
The meteorite should not be confused with:
|
With his wife Ann and son Bobby, Hanson lived on a farm somewhere in the rural United States. Concerned about world hunger, Hanson cross-bred a variety of plants to develop an edible plant that could grow rapidly in any environment. He briefly left his work one night to examine a flaming object that fell from the sky and landed near his farm; but when he saw that it was only a meteorite, Hanson left the "useless rock" and returned to his plants. |
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One day, Hanson was elated to find that his work had successfully produced a new type of plant that sprouted from the soil. But when he awoke the next morning, he was horrified to find the plant had grown to monstrous proportions over the night, and he feared his rapidly-growing creation would soon overwhelm the town. Hanson eventually discovered that the enormous plant was vulnerable to the meteorite, so he had his wife and son help him break it into chunks; he then gave the pieces of meteorite to the townspeople, who killed the plant by touching its parts with the stones. Afterward, Hanson had learned two valuable lessons -- he would never again tamper with nature, and--in regards to the meteorite--he would never again believe that anything in this fantastic universe is ever really useless. --Tales of Suspense I#26/1 |
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It fell from space and landed in a rural American community near Jed Hanson's farm. |
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When Hanson created a rapidly-growing plant that threatened to overwhelm the area, he discovered that the meteorite contained some element that was fatal to the monstrous plant. With the assistance of his wife and son, Hanson broke the meteorite into hand-held chunks, then distributed the pieces of stone to the townspeople. The townspeople put the meteorite chunks to use by touching the stones to parts of the gigantic plant, causing it to wither and die. --Tales of Suspense I#26/1 |
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images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p1, pan1 (main image - Thing that Crawled by Night)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p3, pan4 (Thing that Crawled by Night in early stage of growth)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p5, pan2,4 (Thing that Crawled by Night reaches town's water tower)
Monsters Unleashed II#2, p28, pan1 (Thing that Crawled by Night among other summoned monsters)
Tales of Suspense I#26, cover (Thing that Crawled by Night)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p2, pan2 (Jed Hanson; Bobby Hanson (background))
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p2, pan3 (Jed Hanson, Bobby Hanson)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p3, pan2 (Jed Hanson, Ann Hanson)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p2, pan4 (meteorite falls from sky; Jed and Bobby Hanson (foreground))
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p2, pan6 (meteorite; Bobby and Jed Hanson (background))
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p7, pan2 (Ann, Jed, and Bobby Hanson break pieces off meteorite)
Tales of Suspense I#26/1, p7, pan3 (townspeople using meteorite rocks to kill Thing that Crawled by Night)
Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#26/1 (February, 1962) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), George Klein (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Ray Holloway (letters)
Monsters Unleashed II#2 (April, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Monsters Unleashed II#3 (April, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Leinil Francis Yu (pencils), Gerry Alanguilan & Michael Jason Paz (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Marvel Comics#1000/7 (October, 2019) - Kathryn Immonen (writer), Stuart Immonen (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 08/28/2023
Last updated: 09/08/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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