THE MONSTER HUNTERS

Membership: Ulysses Bloodstone, Dr. Druid, Makkari, Namora, Zawadi

Purpose: To confront and stop monstrous creatures (Post-World War II era)

Affiliations: Colonel Vulcannin (Valkin), the First Line (Black Fox, Liberty Girl, Agent Scott, Yankee Clipper), Gorgilla, Stanley Hathaway

Enemies: Blackjack, Harvey Elder (the Mole Man), Gigantus, Kro, Lizard Men, Dr. Schreiber, Tricephalous, various Deviant mutates, Zuhn, (formerly) Gorgilla

Base of Operations: The Explorers Club, New York City

First Appearance: Marvel Universe#4 (September, 1998)

History: (Marvel Universe#4 (fb)) - In the late-1950s, N.S.A Agent Jake Curtiss (actually the Eternal Makkari in disguise) recruited Doctor Anthony Druid and Ulysses Bloodstone to help investigate a rash of giant monsters terrorizing the world, as they too had recently had such encounters.

(Marvel Universe#4) - The three, along with Bloodstone's new ally Zawadi, met at the Explorers Club in New York; there, they traded tales, and as Druid recalled his encounter with Gorgilla, Zawadi realized that they were being spied on--Harvey Elder had hidden in the air vents, desperately wanting to gain membership in the Club. Pulling Elder out, Druid gave him a slight hypnotic suggestion to stop annoying them, and Elder went on his way. Curtiss then explained that he believed all of the recent monster rampages were coming from one common, singular source, and asked the others to help him search it out.

(Marvel Universe#5) - Druid mentally realized that Gorgilla had arrived in New York (brought there by the Deviant known as Warlord Kro). Arriving by helicopter, the allies did their best to contain the giant beast, who was now causing havoc in the middle of Yankee Stadium. Zawadi leapt out of the helicopter, armed with a giant needle, which she plunged into Gorgilla's shoulder. This only momentarily knocked Gorgilla out, and he resumed his destructive carnage. During all of this, Curtiss managed to stop an attempted bombing set up by a group of spies working in league with Kro. When confronted by his teammates, Curtiss "admitted" that he was actually Adam Clayton, a man who had gained super-speed some time before (see comments). The Monster Hunters followed Gorgilla to the Statue of Liberty, where he had chased one of the remaining spies. Druid finally managed to calm the beast and, using his telepathy, saw how Gorgilla had been brought to America--the creature had been tormented by the spies and that's why he chased after them.

(Marvel Universe#6) - As Bloodstone, Druid and Zawadi used a flat-bed truck to haul Gorgilla to an airport, Curtiss/Clayton had Colonel Vulcannin of the KGB (actually his fellow Eternal, Valkin) interrogate the caught spy, who confessed to being hired by Kro (although he didn't know him by name) to plant the bombs while Gorgilla caused a diversion. Catching up to his allies, the Eternal and the rest then set off via plane to Borneo. En route, Gorgilla found Elder once again lurking about, and Zawadi pinched a pressure point in his neck, rendering him unconscious. Then the Monster Hunters turned their attention to "Clayton," demanding answers as they had since learned the real Clayton had died long before. Before they could get answers, their aircraft was attacked by a Deviant ship. Makkari then flew on his own power out of the plane and repaired the damaged wing. Returning, he revealed himself as the war-time hero The Hurricane, aka Mercury, and told the others he believed an old enemy of his, the "Prince of Darkness," was behind the monsters. Landing near Midnight Mountain, the Monster Hunters were almost immediately attacked by a group of Lizard Men, who abducted the Hurricane and escaped with him into the depths of the Earth.

(Marvel Universe#7) - As the Hurricane's old foe held him prisoner, he forced the hero to finally drop all of his charades, revealing him to be the Eternal Makkari. The foe then dispensed with his own disguise, and revealed himself to be Kro. Kro explained that the monsters were Deviant mutates he had created and sent to aid his plans for world conquest. Meanwhile, the other Hunters had departed Borneo, leaving Gorgilla behind. They used information from a captured Lizard Man to head to a small island in the Sea of Japan dubbed Monster Island. By this point, Elder had woken up and, failing in an attack on the Hunters, was unceremoniously parachuted out of the plane. Just before landing on the island, they were confronted by Gigantus, who emerged from the sea. Narrowly escaping the behemoth, they set down on Monster Island, where Druid picked up mental cries for help from Hurricane/Makkari. Using an illusion of Gorgilla to cause chaos, the Monster Hunters used the opportunity to free their comrade, but Kro then summoned a large number of mutates to battle the heroes. The Deviant used this diversion to make an escape, and the Hunters decided to do the same. Once above ground again, they vowed to stay together, and would let no secrets come between them again. Makkari then used his powers to fly the rest home, as their plane had been damaged by Gigantus; unbeknownst to them, just moments after they left, Elder arrived on the island, having heard their coordinates earlier. There, Elder would begin his exploration of the island that would result in him becoming the Mole Man.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#2 (fb)-BTS) - At some point in time, the team added the Atlantean Namora to their ranks.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#2) - In 1958, the group arrived in Long Island, investigating a facility from which Druid had received odd psychic emanations. There, they confronted several superheroes (the original roster of what would become the First Line). The two teams quickly resolved their differences, and no sooner than that, they were attacked by the mutated Dr. Schreiber, who crashed through a wall and attacked them. The battle was cut short when the effects of the Skrull device that caused Schreiber to mutate wore off. The Monster Hunters and the First Line then infiltrated the facility, where they confronted a supervillain named Blackjack, who was working for a Skrull named Zuhn. When Zuhn caused Agent Scott's physical self to go haywire (Scott himself was a Skrull in disguise), the Monster Hunters accompanied their fellow superheroes to a hospital.

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Monster Hunters gradually went their separate ways. Both Namora and Bloodstone were killed, Druid eventually went insane and was killed (twice), and Zawadi simply disappeared.

Comments: Created by Roger Stern and Mike Manley.

This entry only contains the adventures of the Monster Hunters as a team, as most of them had long and storied careers before and after this stint. What exactly became of the team is unrevealed. Namora, Druid and Bloodstone have all died since, and Zawadi has yet to be seen since.

There's a major amount of retconning in the four-part arc that introduced the team. Many of the 1950s monster tales were re-worked to include Bloodstone and Makkari, when they clearly weren't the protagonists in the originals. Chalk this up to the original versions being fictional accounts of the real thing.

Sorry if there's any confusion with the whole Jake Curtiss/Adam Clayton/Hurricane/Makkari situation. I tried to make it clear early on who he really was, and let the rest go with how he was revealed via the storyline. For the story of the real Adam Clayton, go here.

Hathaway was given the first name Stanley in the Marvel Monsters book.

Profile by Madison Carter

Clarifications:

The Monster Hunters have no known connection to

Stanley Hathaway

(Marvel Universe#4) - Hathaway was the caretaker of the Explorers Club. After physically removing Harvey Elder from the premises, he showed Anthony Druid into a room where the rest of the future Monster Hunters awaited him.

(Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 (fb)-BTS) - Stanley died in 1980. His son, Jacob, took over his position, and later on, began to work with Elsa Bloodstone, the daughter of Ulysses, on putting together a database comprised of Hathaway's notes, Ulysses' journals and other sources.

--Marvel Universe#4 ( 4, MM:FtFoUBatMH#1 (fb)-BTS









images: Marvel: The Lost Generation#2, cover (main image-Ulysses Bloodstone, Zawadi, Dr. Druid, Makkari, and Namora running past Black Fox, Liberty Girl, and Yankee Clipper (right))
Marvel Universe#7, page 21, panel 1 (Makkari levitates Dr. Druid, Ulysses Bloodstone, and Zawadi from island)
Marvel Universe#4, page 8, panel 2 (Stanley Hathaway)

Appearances:
Marvel Universe#4-7 (September-December, 1998) - Roger Stern (writer), Bret Blevins (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation#2 (January, 2001) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters#1 (January, 2006)

First Posted: 08/24/2005
Last updated: 07/06/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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