Real Name: Manduu

Identity/Class: Extradimensional

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Krokarr, Y'Androgg

Enemies: Olympians (Hercules/Heracles, Zeus, many others), Thing (Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Manduu the Merciless

Base of Operations: Unidentified star in same dimension as Olympus

First Appearance: Marvel Two-in-One I#44 (October, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Manduu resembled a giant humanoid goat/satyr, complete with hooves and goat legs. He wielded a spiked club in battle.

Height: Unrevealed (50'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red, with black pupils
Hair: Gray

History:
(Marvel Two-in-One I#44 (fb) - BTS) - Krokarr, Manduu, and Y'Androgg were all members of a race of giants which came from a star located in the same dimension as Olympus (see comments). The trio stealthily invaded Olympus while its gods were suffering from the after-effects of over-celebration during the Spring Festivals. The giants bound Zeus in a flame pit within the Tower of the Sun, severely devastated much of Olympus, and banished most of the gods.

(Marvel Two-in-One I#44 (fb)) - After learning the whereabouts of Zeus from the defeated Y'Androgg (see that profile for details), the Thing and Hercules invaded the Tower of the Sun. They rescued Zeus, but Manduu interrupted them before they could escape. However, as the giant charged toward them, the Thing tripped Manduu, then Hercules knocked him into the Tower's flame pit.

   Accompanied by the freed Zeus, the Thing and Hercules went to confront Krokarr (see that profile for further details) and liberate the other Olympian gods.

(Marvel Two-in-One I#44) - At Camp Run-A-Mok, the Thing entertained some restless children with the story of how he and Hercules battled the three monstrous giants (see comments).

Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman, Bob Hall, and Frank Giacoia.

   While the two other giants in this story clearly survived, Manduu fell into a flame pit moments before the flames erupted so seriously that they would have killed Zeus. However, we never see Manduu killed outright, so he could have survived in any of a myriad number of ways; most obviously, if he was hanging out in the Tower of the Sun anyway, he's probably fire-proof in the first place!

   This entire story is told in flashback by Ben Grimm to the children of Camp Run-A-Mok. Since it is a retelling, some elements of the story may be exaggerated or outright false. However, the story contains some elements of truth as the Mighty Avengers: Most Wanted Files (2007) confirmed the invasion as having occurred, and confirmed some of the Olympian locations mentioned in the story (including the Tower of the Sun) as being real.

And after his tale, the kids wanted to hear another story, so the Thing told them about how he and Iron Man took on the Ravagers of Raguu.

When Hercules confronted Manduu, he referred to the three giants as "demons from Hades"--perhaps Manduu and the other two were agents working in some plot for Pluto.--Ron Fredricks

New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by SQUEAK

CLARIFICATIONS:
Manduu has no known connections to:

• Mando - Andromeda Galaxy race--Warlock I#15
• Manitou - Native American sky god--Ghost Rider II#49
• Manitou - human mutated by Native Americans--Dances with Demons#1
• Man-oo the Mighty - gorilla--Jungle Action I#1
• Manoo - alien active on Earth--Amazing Adventures I#2
• Mondu - aka St. Johnny--Darkhawk#25
• any other characters with similar name

The Tower of the Sun has no known connection to:

• Tower (Edward Pasternak) - size-altering mutant--X-Factor I#2
• Blake Tower - New York district attorney--Daredevil I#124
• Dark Tower - of Earth-712, headquarters of Brain-Child--Avengers I#86
• Dark Tower - of the Chess Set, another Darkforce manipulator (you get that, Flankmeister?)--Alpha Flight I#121
• Luke Tower - son of NY D.A. Blake--Spider-Man/Human Torch#5
• Tower 2099 - headquarters of the X-Men in Halo City--X-Men 2099 I#26
• Tower of the Elephant - temple of the levitating wizard Yara--Conan the Barbarian I#4
• any other characters with similar names, or any other towers

Tower of the Sun The Tower of the Sun (also known simply as the Sun Tower) is located in Olympus proper, very near the Temple of Apollo (the Olympian Sun God). The Tower revolves to follow the sun, and during the "hour when the sun doth strike the Tower," it blazes with a heat and fury sufficient to reduce even a god to ash. Inside the Tower is a flame pit running the full height of the structure. When Manduu, Krokarr, and Y'Androgg invaded Olympus, Zeus was mystically bound to an unburnable pole running up the center of the Tower's flame pit--Hercules and the Thing freed him by breaking the pole, then knocked Manduu into the fiery pit. Just as the sun struck the Tower, the structure erupted into an inferno, but the Thing, Hercules, and Zeus managed to leave in a chariot drawn by a winged horse --Marvel Two-in-One I#44 (fb)

images: (without ads)
Marvel Two-in-One I#44, p13, pan2 (main image - Manduu)
Marvel Two-in-One I#44, p13, pan3 (Manduu swings club at Thing)
Marvel Two-in-One I#44, p14, pan7 (Manduu falls into fire pit; Zeus, Thing, Hercules [foreground])
Marvel Two-in-One I#44, p10, pan7 (Tower of the Sun; Thing and Hercules in flying chariot)
Marvel Two-in-One I#44, p15, pan1 (Hercules, Zeus, and Thing escape from Tower of the Sun)

Appearances:
Marvel Two-in-One I#44 (October, 1978) - Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Bob Hall (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Michele Wolfman (colors), John Costanza (letters)
Mighty Avengers: Most Wanted Files (2007) - Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grüwald (editors)

First posted: 06/19/2007
Last updated: 08/15/2024