TITANO
Real Name: Titano
Identity/Class: Gorilla (1950s era)
Occupation: Circus attraction
Group Membership: Manning Bros. Circus troupe
(Leo Craig, Lester Dunn, Rudy Harper, ringmaster, others)
Affiliations: Leo Craig (trainer)
Enemies: Lester Dunn
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile in a cage with Manning Bros.
Circus
First Appearance: Astonishing I#21/6
(January, 1953)
Powers/Abilities: Titano is a gorilla with the
normal attributes of his species. He has been trained to perform basic
circus tricks and responds to his trainer.
Height: 5'
Weight: 400 lbs.
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Astonishing I#21/6 (fb) - BTS) - Titano the gorilla
became one of the attractions of Manning Bros. Circus with Leo Craig as
his trainer. However, trapeze performer Lester Dunn was repulsed by the
animal and regularly tortured the gorilla with nasty tricks and
outright cruelty. This led to animosity and hatred between the gorilla
and Dunn.
(Astonishing I#21/6) - One evening before a show,
Dunn stood too close to Titano's cage and was caught by the gorilla,
which tried to crush him. Calling for help, Craig quickly appeared and
forced Titano to release Dunn, who feigned innocence. Both Craig and
Dunn's fellow aerialist Rudy Harper appealed to Dunn to stop his
negative behavior toward Titano, but Dunn ignored them. After that
night's show, Dunn set fire to area around Titano's cage, causing the
gorilla to panic and roustabouts soon rushed in to douse the fire.
Titano endured continued harsh treatment from Dunn, including sharpened
stick jabs, thrown rocks and even a snake. But one night, Dunn fooled
Titano into accepting a banana that the aerialist had secretly laced
with red pepper. The malicious Dunn laughed hard at Titano's pain and
went into the circus tent for his circus performance.
(Astonishing I#21/6 (fb) - BTS) - Enraged, Titano
broke out from his cage and quietly entered the circus tent, clambering
up and waiting on a trapeze swing for his foe.
(Astonishing I#21/6) - Dunn continued laughing hard
and went to perform his daring trick with no safety net. It was only in
midair as he reached out to catch his partner that he saw the angry
Titano had taken Harper's place instead.
Comments: Creators not credited.
Presumably, Dunn either refused the catch or Titano
grabbed him and threw him down after crushing or injuring him; either
way, it's safe to say that Dunn died in the hundred foot drop to the
ground.
Titano looked to be (or was colored brown to appear
like) a western lowland gorilla, which is considered the most numerous
and widespread of all gorilla subspecies. Stats for this profile are
taken for the upper range of this species. There's only one panel where
Titano is fully lit in the circus tent; all others are in shadow or at
night.
Grand Comics Database identifies Carl Wessler to be the writer.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Titano the gorilla has no known connections to:
Lester Dunn was one of a pair of renown trapeze
performers alongside Rudy Harper in Manning Bros. Circus. However, Dunn
was distracted by the circus' gorilla Titano and was disgusted by it,
regularly engaging in malicious acts against the gorilla while it was
caged. One evening after a show, Dunn stood too close to Titano's cage
and was caught by the gorilla, which tried to crush him, but the
aerialist was saved Titano's trainer Leo Craig. Dunn was frustrated at
fellow aerialist Harper's continued lateness, although he always turned
up on time for the circus act. After that night's show, Dunn set fire
to area around Titano's cage, causing the gorilla to panic and
roustabouts soon rushed to douse the fire. Dunn continued torturing the
animal, including sharpened stick jabs, thrown rocks and even a snake.
Dunn gloated about this to Harper, who again told him to stop. But one
night, Dunn fooled Titano into accepting a banana that the aerialist
had secretly laced with red pepper. The malicious Dunn laughed hard at
Titano's pain and went into the tent for his circus performance.
Enraged, Titano broke free of his cage and quietly entered the circus
tent, clambering to the trapeze swing where Harper should have been. So
distracted with malicious laughter, Dunn realized too late that he had
leapt from his own trapeze swing in a death-defying somersault with no
net toward the angry gorilla.
--Astonishing I#21/6
images:
(without ads)
Astonishing I#21/6, p4, pan8 (main image)
p4, pan2 (headshot)
p3, pan5 (Dunn)
Appearances:
Astonishing I#21/6 (January, 1953) - uncredited writer & artist(s),
Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 02/11/2025
Last updated:
02/11/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com.
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix!