The only companion of the reclusive Andreas Flec, she was actually just a manikin given imaginary "life" by his delusional loneliness.
--Chamber of Darkness#4/1
ANDREAS FLEC
Real Name: Andreas Flec
Identity/Class: Human (see comments)
Occupation: Hermit
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Marie
Enemies: An angry mob of villagers, Sisters of Destiny
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The Monster" (as called by villagers); "The Monster Man" (on cover)
Base of Operations: His castle, on the outskirts of an unidentified European village
First Appearance: Chamber of Darkness#4/1 (April, 1970)
Powers/Abilities: A seemingly ordinary human who demonstrated no paranormal abilities, Flec had a hideously deformed face, and was forced to live an isolated life because of it.
Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown
History:
(Chamber of Darkness#4 (fb) - BTS) - Because of his
monstrous appearance, Andreas Flec had to spend the years of his life in
the solitude of his castle, where he lived in contentment with his only
companion, the beautiful Marie.
(Chamber of Darkness#4) - One day, Flec rode into the nearby village and was immediately met with fear and suspicion by the villagers. There had been hard times for the village -- failure of crops, sickness, poverty -- and the superstitious townspeople suspected Flec of being a sorcerer, fearing that he was the cause of their troubles.
Flec went to the tinker's shop and purchased a music box that he commissioned the tinker to build for him. The box played a strange tune that the tinker's wife suspected was for some devil's ritual.
As Flec mounted his horse-drawn carriage and departed the village, a crowd of people called after him with shrill shouts of hate. When some villagers accused Flec of almost running them down, the crowd was roused into an angry mob and went into action to rid themselves of Flec.
Meanwhile, Flec returned to his castle retreat and presented the music box to Marie; while the music played, he opened a book of poetry and read some of her favorite sonnets to her--the radiant beauty sat serene and loyal, listening attentively to Flec's every word, giving Andreas Flec the perfect world.
But unknown to Flec, two villagers were watching him through the window -- seeing how still Marie sat, they thought that she was spellbound and being held as a prisoner by the hideous Flec, so they ran off to alert the others.
Later, Flec saw the mob of villagers carrying torches, pitchforks, and guns approaching his castle, so he grabbed an antique pistol of his own to frighten them off and protect Marie; but the mob battered down the door, and upon seeing the monstrous-looking man brandishing the pistol, they shot him.
The mob rejoiced because "The Monster" was now dead and they had saved the girl...but when they looked down at Marie, they saw that "she" was only a manikin! At that point, they learned the sad truth -- all those years in isolation, shut away from reality, had left Andreas Flec living in a delusional existence, where he believed Marie to be real. The villagers finally realized that Flec had only been a tragic hermit, and it was they themselves who were the monsters...
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten.
In trying to figure out what time-period this story took place, I would have initially placed it in the late 19th/early 20th century because no modern conveniences (i.e. automobiles, electric lights, etc.) were depicted.
However, the cover of this issue (art by Marie Severin/Bill Everett), which features this story, shows quite an anachronism -- a young woman wearing a mini-skirt and go-go boots! Although this character never appeared in the story itself (all of the villagers were dressed more conservatively), based on the cover alone, I would say that places the story of Andreas Flec in the modern era.
According to an article in The Jack Kirby Collector#13, Kirby originally drew this 7-page story with two hooded male sorcerers manipulating the events involving Andreas Flec. At the end of his tale, the sorcerers pulled off their hoods and revealed themselves to be Kirby and Stan Lee. However, without Kirby's knowledge, Marvel changed the sorcerers to be a pair of witches instead, and they were simply gone in the last panel without revealing anything about themselves.--Ron Fredricks
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Andreas Flec/"The Monster"/"The Monster Man" has no known connections to:
Marie has no known connections to:
The Sisters of Destiny/Sisters of Fate have no known connections to:
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The only companion of the reclusive Andreas Flec, she was actually just a manikin given imaginary "life" by his delusional loneliness. --Chamber of Darkness#4/1 |
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A pair of hooded witches (see comments), they mixed a caldron of their "Satan's stew" on s hilltop near a European village. They conjured an image of Andreas Flec from their brew, and were apparently responsible for manipulating the events that would lead to his death. (Note: Possibly they were also responsible for the bad times [crop failure, sickness, poverty] that the villagers had experienced. And the caption on the first page referred to them as "Sisters of Destiny," while the caption on the last page called them "Sisters of Fate".) --Chamber of Darkness#4/1 |
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images: (without ads)
Chamber of Darkness I#4, cover (main image - Andreas Flec, walking through village [rear view])
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p2, pan3 (headshot - Andreas Flec)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p4, pan6 (Andreas Flec, reaching for book of poetry)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p7, pan1 (Andreas Flec, killed by angry villagers)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p4, pan5 (Marie)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p7, pan3 (Marie, revealed to be a manikin)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p1, pan1 (Sisters of Destiny conjure image of Andreas Flec from caldron)
Chamber of Darkness I#4/1, p2, pan1 (Sisters of Destiny)
Appearances:
Chamber of Darkness#4/1 (April, 1970) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils), John Verpoorten (inks), Art Simek (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Giant-Size Chillers#3 (August, 1975) - reprint
First posted: 02/01/2007
Last updated: 08/28/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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