Real Name: Ichabod Rasputin (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human; possible magic-user
Occupation: Former High Priest of Tavi;
former grammar schoolteacher
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), Fangor, Fival Fuvnik, Tavi
Enemies: Pretty much everyone he's ever met
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "High Priest of Tavi," "Priest of Purity" (as called by himself)
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York
First Appearance: Iron Man I#56 (March, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: The wizened Rasputin claimed to have great occult knowledge and abilities. He wielded the Tavistick, which he also claimed to have great power. The only time he actually did anything was after he and the staff had been electrified; using the Tavistick, he apparently animated Fangor, though he had no control over the monster. The Tavistick was shattered in the ensuing chaos.
Having isolated himself for years to study the occult, the anti-social and highly paranoid Rasputin believed the world was out to persecute him, and he constantly addressed others as "toad".
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Bald
History:
(Iron Man I#56 (fb)) - Rasputin had
long been a worshiper of the entity Tavi. He saw himself as holding the
key to saving mankind.
(Iron Man I#56 (fb)) - Years earlier, when he was a grammar schoolteacher, Rasputin tried to impart his occult theories to the eager young minds of his students, telling them that Tavi would come back and step on them; but he was fired when the school's principal learned of his unorthodox curriculum.
(Iron Man I#56 (fb)) - Determined to punish society for its perceived mistreatment of him, Rasputin spent all of his waking hours studying Tavi; eventually, he located the formula to recreate the mystic Tavistick. However, his efforts to accomplish this caused an explosion, which blew up a wall in his apartment and traumatized three old ladies standing outside--as a consequence, he was imprisoned for a time.
(Iron Man I#56 (fb)) - Upon his release, Rasputin had to face his angry landlord, who demanded to be paid for his wall--the landlord even struck the angry little man at one point.
(Iron Man I#56 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually, Rasputin succeeded in creating a semblance of the Tavistick -- although the staff was mystically inert, he knew one day it would work... and on that day, he would have his revenge on the whole world!
(Iron Man I#56) - In Central Park, Rasputin cursed a crowd of bystanders as "infidels," warning them that "The Day of Nightfall" was coming. He threatened to summon forth demons with his Tavistick, and thus heap doom on all the earth. But when the people mocked him and hurled food at him, Rasputin left in disgust.
Walking through the park, Rasputin came upon a new sculpture about to be unveiled; he attempted to interrupt the televised ceremony, demanding that the statue remain covered. But when he got in a cameraman's face, the irate man shoved Rasputin; as he began threateningly waving his Tavistick around, the enraged Rasputin smacked it into the TV camera, and he was nearly electrocuted.
Fleeing from the cameraman, the still-fuming Rasputin wished that he had the power to wreck the ceremony; but then he noticed the Tavistick was glowing--figuring the staff was somehow activated by its collision with the TV camera, Rasputin realized that he now had the power, so he rushed back to the ceremony!
When the statue was unveiled, Rasputin raised the Tavistick and spoke the forbidden words, "FRABNOIL OTNI, BOVINE TAVI" (see comments). At Rasputin's command, the demonic statue "Fangor" came to life and went on a rampage. Iron Man showed up and battled the animated sculpture, but in the resulting fight, the "stupid iron toad" was punched and knocked into Rasputin, and the Tavistick was broken into pieces.
As Fangor ran amok, Rasputin fled to safety, only to be struck by an approaching police car; the police officers tried to render first-aid assistance to Rasputin, who only insisted that the "blithering toads" had to let him go so he could find the broken Tavistick.
(Iron Man I#56 - BTS) - Apparently uninjured, Rasputin got away from police custody and recovered the remnants of the Tavistick.
(Iron Man I#56) - Some time later, after Iron Man had defeated the animated statue, a dejected Rasputin was drowning his sorrows at an Orange Julius stand in Greenwich Village. Although he found the pieces of the Tavistick, he muttered that he would abandon his fruitless quest for magical power; a passerby--Dr. Stephen Strange--told Rasputin to cheer up, as there was always tomorrow.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin.
Just thought I'd point out that this issue
followed the introduction of Thanos of Titan in the previous issue.
Thanos is better, I think.
Nonetheless, it's a good, solid Gerber tale.
In regards to Rasputin's incantation: Bovine means of or pertaining to cows...I don't know if the other words mean anything.
The first two words backwards spell "INTO LIONBARF," but I doubt it's anything significant.--Ron Fredricks
Rasputin's first name was revealed in OHOTMU A-Z Hardcover#1 in the Angel's entry.
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ichabod Rasputin has no known connection to:
Fangor has no known connection to:
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A large statue sculpted by artist Fival Fuvnik, its actual title was "All the Evils of Man, " although Fuvnik simply nicknamed it "Fangor"-- it was conceived by the artist (metaphysically speaking) to represent evil's nameless appellation and appearance. Ichabod Rasputin somehow apparently brought the statue to life (though it could have been coincidence). It weathered a number of assaults from Iron Man to little effect, until the hero hurled an unstable-freon mini-bomb at the animated statue, rendering it brittle. With a final power dive, Iron Man shattered the statue into inert pieces, ending its threat. Rather than rampaging mindlessly, Fangor could think and speak, and it also breathed. It was about 20' tall, composed of stone, and possessed superhuman strength and durability.
Rasputin also called it "Creature of Stone," "Soul of Evil," and "Plunderer of Purity."
(Comment: I'd guess that some demon or other magical creature was summoned to animate Fangor, but that's just a guess.) --Iron Man I#56 |
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A renowned sculptor, he created the statue "All the Evils of Man," which he simply nicknamed "Fangor"; the statue's demonic appearance represented how Fuvnik conceived of evil's nameless appellation and appearance. Fuvnik's mammoth sculpture was taken to Central Park, where it was to be unveiled in a televised ceremony. But Ichabod Rasputin somehow brought the giant statue to life, and Fuvnik barely managed to jump from harm's way when the animated Fangor struck at him with its fists. --Iron Man I#56 |
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"The Angel of Death," he (?) was worshiped devoutly by Ichabod Rasputin. He may have granted his disciple the power to animate Fangor via the Tavistick, or he may have had nothing to do with it, or he may not even exist.
There is no image, as Tavi was never pictured.
(Comment: According to our myth-expert Will U, there is no mythological basis for Tavi. If you google it, you'll find Riki-Tiki-Tavi, but that's about it.)
--Iron Man I#56 - BTS
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"The dreaded winged skull shaft that makes rocks walk and clouds talk" (as per Ichabod Rasputin), it was mounted on a wooden staff (approximately 4 feet long). Rasputin learned how to re-create this alleged item of magical power from an occult text, though his earlier effort caused a powerful explosion. Once he had constructed the Tavistick, he had intended to use it to gain vengeance on the world, but it didn't work. |
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When Rasputin was knocked into a television camera while holding the Tavistick, he was nearly electrocuted, and the staff began to glow. Rasputin used the apparently energized Tavistick to bring the statue Fangor to life. However, the Tavistick was broken mere minutes later, and Fangor was destroyed by Iron Man. Although he later recovered the pieces of the Tavistick, Rasputin apparently abandoned the worship of Tavi. --Iron Man I#56 (56(fb) - BTS, 56 |
images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#56, p7, pan9 (main image - Ichabod Rasputin, with Tavistick)
Iron Man I#56, p7, pan2 (headshot - Ichabod Rasputin)
Iron Man I#56, p7, pan3 (in his younger days, Ichabod Rasputin as grammar school teacher)
Iron Man I#56, p20, pan6 (Ichabod Rasputin; Dr. Stephen Strange [right])
Iron Man I#56, cover (Fangor; Iron Man [foreground])
Iron Man I#56, p16, pan1 (Fangor battles Iron Man)
Iron Man I#56, p19, pan3 (Fangor destroyed by Iron Man)
Iron Man I#56, p8, pan6 (Fival Fuvnik)
Iron Man I#56, p9, pan1 (Fival Fuvnik)
Iron Man I#56, p6, pan1 (Rasputin hits TV camera with Tavistick)
Iron Man I#56, p9, pan5 (Rasputin recites magical incantation with Tavistick)
Iron Man I#56, p12, pan4 (broken Tavistick; Ichabod Rasputin [background])
Appearances:
Iron Man I#56 (March, 1973) - Steve Gerber (writer), Jim Starlin (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Charlotte Jetter (letters), Roy Thomas (editor)
First posted: 05/02/2005
Last updated: 02/18/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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