KING CROCODILE
Real Name: King Crocodile
Identity/Class: Giant crocodile (1950s Era)
Occupation: Crocodile
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Sherry Carle, Betty Dean, Namor
Enemies: Jonah, nearby villagers when in the Amazon
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations:
Florida animal zoo;
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4 (Atlas) (April, 1954)
Powers/Abilities: King Crocodile was a massive crocodile almost 100 feet long. Despite its bulk, it could rear up on its hind legs and had huge jaws that could take an adult man whole. It was fast with a hide that was impervious to explosive-tipped bullets and was sentient enough to respond to a trusted human's commands.
History:
(Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4 (fb) - BTS) - A giant crocodile that lived deep in the Brazilian jungle came to be known as King Crocodile by the local villagers. Word soon spread with several expeditions launched from America to find it. The creature was also reported in an American newspaper. Meanwhile Sherry Carle, a prominent zoologist's daughter, encountered King Crocodile and built up a strong rapport with it, the giant creature effectively behaving like a pet dog to her voice.
(Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4) - Betty Dean and Namor the Sub-Mariner read of the giant croc and traveled to Brazil to find it. One of Betty Dean's friend, a news correspondent called Tony Parker, affirmed the creature's existence and they set off up the Amazon River. Elsewhere, Jonah, an aggressive explorer and hunter, fired explosive-tipped bullets at King Crocodile but to no effect. Hidden, Sherry Carle chided the killer croc and it moved away submissively. It then came across several Amazonian crocodiles attacking the canoe in which Namor and Dean were traveling, picking up and throwing aside the much smaller crocs. Jonah and his assistant chased after the crocodile and again fired at it with TNT charges, but Namor leapt to its rescue, riding its back toward the hunters. It picked up and crunched the two human aggressors in its mouth, killing them, but responded to Carle's commands to drop them. Sherry Carle explained that the big reptile only acted in self defense and felt so close to the massive beast that she did not want to leave it. So Namor arranged to have it shipped to the USA where it was placed in the Tropical Reptile Gardens in Florida, with Carle keeping an eye over King Crocodile.
Comments: Created by unnamed writer and Bill Everett (art).
King Crocodile may be a surviving member of the giant crocodiles that once roamed around the Vilayet Sea during Conan's time (see the so-called Sea God for an example).
Hm. I wonder if Tony Parker was a foreign news correspondent for the Daily Bugle...?
Lorna the jungle girl encountered the the Thing within the 2nd story of Lorna The Jungle Girl#22 (December, 1956). It was a giant alligator (based on the shape of it's nose), which aren't found in Africa.
--Gammatotem
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
King Crocodile has no known connections to:
Sherry Carle was the daughter of a famed zoologist, both of whom had gone in search of the massive crocodile. However, Jonah hated them both, especially because the others had found the beast first. After Jonah murdered her father, she escaped into the jungle and stumbled across King Crocodile. Despite the creature's ugliness, she befriended it and it responded to her voice. She felt close to it and did not want to abandon the crocodile. She returned to the USA and stayed close to the pen in the Tropical Reptile Gardens in Florida where the crocodile had been moved to.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4
Jonah was an adventurer who aggressively chased new discoveries. He sought to be the first American to find King Crocodile but was beaten by Sherry Carle and her father. He shot his rival and then proceeded to hunt King Crocodile. Eventually finding it, he fired explosive bullets at the giant creature. He defied the Namor when he sought to stop him killing the creature, but was instead crunched up and killed by the colossal beast.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4
Tony Parker was a friend of Betty Dean who worked as a news correspondent in Brazil. He confirmed the existence of King Crocodile and told her of its rough location, and warned her that Jonah was already on the creature's trail.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4
images:
(without ads)
Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4, p1, pan1 (main image)
Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4, p3, pan5 (crocodile tears)
Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4, p6, pan6 (Sherry Carle)
Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4, p3, pan4 (Jonah)
Sub-Mariner Comics#33/4, p2, pan3 (Tony Parker)
Appearances:
Sub-Mariner Comics#33 (April, 1954) - Bill Everett (writer/artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First Posted: 06/01/2009
Last updated: 07/03/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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