Real Name: Rommbu
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial ("the Fourth Galaxy")
Occupation: Scout/warrior
Group Membership: "The Collector's collection" (Droom, Fin Fan Foom, Gargantus, Goom, Grogg, Groot, Grottu, Taboo, Tragg, Vandoom's Monster)
Affiliations: Kid
Kaiju (Kei Kawade);
temporarily Abominable
Snowman, Black Panther (T'Challa), Blip,
Bruttu,
Crawling Creature, Creature
from Krogarr, Creature
from the Black Bog, Drax the Destroyer, Fin
Fan Foom, Gamora, Googam,
Goom, Gorgilla,
Green Thing,
Insect Man,
It the Living Colossus, Klagg, Kraa,
Metallo,
Mole Man (Harvey Elder), Monsteroso,
Monsteroso,
Monstro,
Monstrom, Moomba, Oog,
Orrgo, Pildorr the
Plunderer, Quogg,
Sporr,
Storm (Ororo Munroe), Thing
that Crawled by Night, Tim
Boo Ba, Ulvar,
Vandoom's
Monster, Zetora,
Zzutak;
formerly Collector (Taneleer Tivan), John Hunter
Enemies: Beast (Henry McCoy), Elsa Bloodstone, Collector, Deadpool ("Wade Wilson"), Elektra Natchios, Giant-Man (Hank Pym), Giant-Man (Raz Malhotra), Hulk (Bruce Banner), John Hunter, Pete Hunter, Leviathon Tide, Thing (Ben Grimm)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
formerly the Negative Zone;
formerly the Collector's zoo beneath Canada;
formerly the Fourth Galaxy
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#19/1 (May, 1961)
Powers/Abilities: Originally, the reptilian-skinned Rommbu was well over twice the size of an average human (as per an eyewitness to his first appearance). He had some way of detecting human presences, but whether this ability was mental, or a higher sense of smell is unrevealed.
As a warrior from a technologically advanced race, Rommbu was armed with a ray gun; his spaceship was equipped with a mind prober, and various offensive/defensive weaponry.
In his later appearances, Rommbu's size had somehow greatly increased (see comments).
Height: (originally) 15'; (later) 40' (by approximations)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: White
Hair: None
History:
(Tales to Astonish I#19/1 (fb) - BTS) - A warlike
extraterrestrial race native to the Fourth Galaxy eventually became
scientifically proficient, so they set out to conquer other planets;
choosing Earth as their next target, they sent Rommbu to demand a total
surrender of the planet.
(Tales to Astonish I#19/1) - When Rommbu arrived on Earth, his spacecraft landed in the path of a speeding train; the train screeched to a stop, and convicted criminal John Hunter made his escape. Rommbu emerged from his ship and announced himself to be the scout for an oncoming invasion, and demanded the total surrender of Earth to his race. He demonstrated the power of his ray gun to the train passengers, then delivered his ultimatum: He would return to space to await the arrival of his brother warriors--by that time, the leaders of the world had to surrender, otherwise Earth was doomed! Meanwhile, Hunter had made his way onto Rommbu's ship unnoticed, and he hid within the spacecraft.
Rommbu returned to his ship, took flight, and began to circle Earth as he awaited the arrival of his armada. Then he realized there was a human on board, and captured Hunter. He used a mind prober to read the Hunter's mind, and discovered him to be a criminal. Believing Hunter's disregard for his fellow humans would be an asset, Rommbu recruited his assistance. But suddenly, the ship's warning system detected a squadron of American fighter jets about to attack; however, Rommbu easily destroyed the planes with his ship's weaponry. When Hunter asked Rommbu what would have happened if the planes had been successful at destroying him, the extraterrestrial revealed that if any harm had come to him, then the invasion would be called off.
As Hunter was formerly a geologist, Rommbu asked him to help find a safe place on Earth to land the ship so he could recharge its electromagnetic batteries; Hunter suggested the volcanic island of Watuna.
When the spaceship landed on the island, Rommbu opened the hatch, and he and Hunter stepped outside and walked around the island while the batteries recharged. Rommbu noticed Hunter was continuously checking his wristwatch... then the ground began to quake, and Rommbu realized he'd been tricked--despite his criminal past, Hunter was unwilling to betray his world, and he had timed their arrival on the island to coincide with the volcano's eruption. As the volcano blew up, Rommbu desperately tried to get back in his ship, but the cataclysm seemingly destroyed both him and John Hunter.
(Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl#1 (fb) - BTS) - However, Rommbu--now much larger (see comments)--did not perish, and he was captured by the Elder of the Universe known as the Collector. Rommbu was placed in the Collector's zoo of giant monsters below Canada.
(Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl#1) - An attack on the Collector by the Mole Man caused the escape of the imprisoned creatures, and Rommbu was among many of the specimens to go on a rampage through New York City. But the monsters were defeated by a group of heroes that included the Hulk, the Beast, the Thing and Giant-Man (Pym)--Rommbu was personally defeated by the Thing. Mr. Fantastic had the Thing open a portal to the Negative Zone, where the creatures were all dumped.
(Thunderbolts Annual II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Rommbu was captured by Elsa Bloodstone and held captive at Bloodstone Manor along with other monsters.
(Thunderbolts Annual II#1) - Rommbu got shot by Deadpool and Elektra when they were thrown into the same prison as him by Elsa's allies, Living Mummy and the Frankenstein Monster.
SECRET WARS HAPPENED
(Astonishing Ant-Man#5 - BTS) - Giant-Man (Raz) fought Rommbu in a park in San Francisco to protect the locals from the monster, but they weren't too thankful because some of them had been petitioning to get Rommbu on the endangered species list.
(Monsters Unleashed II#2) - The Inhuman Kid Kaiju summoned Rommbu along with numerous other monsters to an area outside San Diego, California in defense against the Leviathons.
(Monsters Unleashed II#3) - Rommbu joined the fight against the Leviathons. Earth's heroes watched the monsters summoned by Kid Kaiju defeat the Leviathons. After the battle Rommbu and the other monsters were teleported back from where they came.
(Monsters Unleashed II#4) - In the Golden City of Wakanda, Rommbu fought alongside Black Panther and Storm against a Leviathon. When the fight was over, Kid Kaiju teleported Rommbu to Dallas, Texas, where Rommbu aided Drax and Gamora against another Leviathon.
(Monsters Unleashed II#5) - After the Leviathon Mother's defeat, Rommbu was among the last monsters to teleport back to their place of origin.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee (uncredited), Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
Rommbu got a LOT bigger by his second appearance, 44 years later.
Considering the power of his ray gun, maybe Rommbu's
race had discovered
their own version of size-altering Pym Particles, which would
account for Rommbu's increase in size in his later appearances.
I'd further speculate that his ray gun could also cause increases
in size, and that during that volcanic eruption, Rommbu tried to
use it to make himself so big that he wouldn't be hurt in the
explosion, but got nabbed by the Collector before he could reach
the full height.
--Ron Fredricks
Gormuu (see clarifications) is obviously an homage to Rommbu, more so than any other "Kirby monster". Perhaps there's a connection between the two? They are very similar physically (even more so in the reprint mentioned below, which changed Rommbu's skin color) and come from similar warlike races.
Gormuu's
spacecraft also looked somewhat similar to Rommbu's, which could
also suggest a connection between the two of them.
--Ron Fredricks
Rommbu's tale was reprinted in Where Monsters Dwell#7, where he was colored a light green, with orange trunks.
An alternate Earth version of Rommbu appeared in Supernaturals#4.
In Nova: The Origin of Richard Rider, two members of Rommbu's race appear in the framing sequence by DnA. Maybe Rommbu was one of them. They attacked an extraterrestrial race and were opposed by Nova (Richard Rider).
The story from TTA I#19/1 was told from the narrative perspective of John Hunter's brother Pete, although it wasn't explained how Pete knew what was happening to John after he went into Rommbu's spaceship--maybe that mind prober created some sort of psychic link between the two brothers?
And Rommbu has a profile in Marvel Monsters: From
the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters,
from which some of this profile's information was taken.
--Ron
Fredricks
Profile by Madison Carter. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
Updated by Markus Raymond (Ant-Man, T-Bolts, Monsters Unleashed).
CLARIFICATIONS:
Rommbu has no known connections to:
John Hunter and Pete Hunter have no known connection to:
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A handheld weapon used by Rommbu, it projected a beam that shrank two humans from their normal height to 12 inches. After demonstrating the power of the weapon, Rommbu reversed its charge and restored the men to normal size. It was unrevealed if the ray gun had any other capabilities (see comments). --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 |
 
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Capable of intergalactic travel, it transported Rommbu from the Fourth Galaxy to Earth. It was powered by electromagnetic batteries, which required regular recharging. When a squadron of American jet fighters attacked, Rommbu activated the ship's metal-disintegrating rays and destroyed the planes. |
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Later, while the spaceship was flying over the Pacific Ocean, a submarine launched a Polaris missile at it; but Rommbu fired his own defensive anti-missile rocket and destroyed the missile. Rommbu then activated his ship's magnetico and lifted the entire submarine out of the water; after carrying it to a nearby island, Rommbu deactivated the magnetico and beached the sub on the island, then proceeded to the volcanic isle of Watuna. Following his landing of the spaceship in Watuna's volcanic crater, Rommbu began to recharge the ship's electromagnetic batteries; but shortly afterward, the volcano erupted in a massive explosion felt worldwide--it was later revealed that Rommbu somehow survived the eruption, but the fate of his spaceship remains unrevealed. --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 |
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One of the devices aboard Rommbu's spaceship, it consisted of a helmet and a viewing screen. When the helmet was placed on an individual's head, it picked up the subject's unconscious memories of the past and broadcast them on the screen. Rommbu used the mind prober on John Hunter (a process Hunter found extremely painful) to review scenes from Hunter's criminal past, during which Hunter robbed a bank and shot a bank guard. After learning that Hunter was a criminal, Rommbu believed that such a man could not care much for his fellow Earthlings, and would therefore be willing to help him with his invasion of Earth. --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 |
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A deserted volcanic isle located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, it erupted at unspecified regular intervals. Former geologist John Hunter tricked Rommbu into landing his spaceship in the crater, so the extraterrestrial could recharge the ship's electromagnetic batteries. But Hunter was aware that an eruption was scheduled during that time, and he was willing to sacrifice his life to stop Rommbu's invasion forces. When the volcano erupted, the cataclysm was recorded on every seismograph on Earth, and the entire world believed that Rommbu had perished. --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 |
 
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In the 1950s, Hunter was formerly one of the most brilliant and renowned geologists in the United States; but he had gained little financial reward from his notoriety, so he turned to robbing banks. During one such robbery, he shot a guard; Hunter was subsequently apprehended by the authorities after he crashed his car during his getaway, then he was sentenced to life in prison. But during his train ride to prison, Rommbu's spaceship landed in the path of the train, and Hunter used the distraction to escape from his police escorts. He took refuge inside Rommbu's spaceship, but when Rommbu found him, he used a mind prober to review Hunter's criminal past, and he believed Hunter to be so callous towards his fellow humans that he trusted the man to find a safe place for them to land while the ship recharged. However, Hunter was unwilling to betray his world to the extraterrestrial, and knowing that the volcanic isle of Watuna was about to erupt, he suggested that Rommbu land there. Just after they landed, the volcano erupted in a massive explosion, and the world assumed that both Rommbu and Hunter perished in the eruption. Although Rommbu was later seen to have somehow survived, the final fate of John Hunter remains unrevealed. --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 (19 (fb), 19 |
 
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He was the younger brother of geologist John Hunter--because of his greed, John began robbing banks, but was eventually apprehended after one such robbery, during which he shot a bank guard. Pete was present at John's trial, when John was sentenced to life in prison. The incredulous Pete could only wonder why his brother threw his brilliant career away and turned to crime. Later, Pete heard a news report on the radio that confirmed John had escaped and joined forces with the extraterrestrial invader Rommbu. But after he learned that John and Rommbu were apparently killed by a volcanic eruption, Pete figured that because John was a geologist who knew the volcano was slated to erupt, he had been willing to sacrifice his own life to stop the invader. Pete took solace in believing that somehow John's sacrifice would make up for his past misdeeds, and he prayed that wherever his brother was, he would find the understanding and forgiveness that he so richly deserved. --Tales to Astonish I#19/1 (19 (fb), 19 |
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images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p1, pan1 (main image - Rommbu; John Hunter [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p7, pan1 (headshot - Rommbu)
Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl#1, p22, pan4 (Rommbu, defeated by Thing)
Monsters Unleashed II#4, p8, pan1 (Rommbu battles Leviathon; Black Panther, Storm [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p5, pan5 (ray gun in Rommbu's hand)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p6, pan3 (beam from Rommbu's ray gun causes two men to shrink)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p6, pan4 (two men shrunk by Rommbu's ray gun)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p3, pan5 (Rommbu's spaceship lands on train tracks)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p8, pan3 (Rommbu's spaceship circles Earth)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p10, pan2 (Rommbu's spaceship disintegrates fighter jets)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p11, pan5 (Rommbu's spaceship lifts submarine from ocean)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p9, pan1 (John Hunter connected to mind prober; Rommbu [background])
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p12, pan2 (Rommbu's spaceship flies to Watuna)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p12, pan4 (Rommbu's spaceship descends into volcano's crater)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p13, pan3 (volcano erupts)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p2, pan3 (John Hunter)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p10, pan4 (John Hunter questions Rommbu)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p13, pan1 (John Hunter tricks Rommbu)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p2, pan2 (Pete Hunter [left] speaks with John Hunter)
Tales to Astonish I#19/1, p8, pan2 (Pete Hunter)
Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#19/1 (May, 1961) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl#1 (December, 2005) - Steve Niles (writer), Duncan Fegredo (artist), Jenny Lee & Mark Paniccia (editors)
Nova: Origin of Richard Rider (2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Geraldo Borges (pencils), Nelson Pereira (inks), Cory Levine (editor)
Thunderbolts Annual II#1 (February, 2014) - Ben Acker & Ben Blacker (writers), Matteo Lolli (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
Astonishing Ant-Man#5 (April, 2016) - Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
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)
Monsters Unleashed II#4 (May, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Salvador Larroca (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Monsters Unleashed II#5 (May, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Adam Kubert (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
First posted: 11/24/2005
Last updated: 02/02/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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