WENDIGO
Real Name: Francois Lartigue
Identity/Class: Human (Canadian) mutate (supernatural)
Occupation: Hunter
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His three fellow hunters
Enemies: Hulk (Bruce Banner), Sasquatch (Walter Langkowski)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: The woods of northern Canada
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#272 (June, 1982)
Powers/Abilities: The Wendigo curse transformed Lartigue into a large muscular humanoid covered in white fur. He possessed the Wendigo characteristics: fang-like teeth, clawed extremities as well as a long, powerful tail. Wendigo possesses extraordinary stamina and enhanced reflexes and speed. As the Wendigo, Lartigue had a crude level of intelligence as well as a craving for human flesh. As the Wendigo, Lartigue was unable to speak save for his own name, which he pronounced as "Wen-di-go".
Height: (Lartigue) 6'2", (Wendigo) 9'7"
Weight: (Lartigue) 170 lbs. (Wendigo) 1800 lbs.
Eyes: (Lartigue) Brown, (Wendigo) Red
Hair: (Lartigue) Black, (Wendigo) White (fur)
History:
(Incredible Hulk II#272 (fb) ) - Francois Lartigue was a
trapper who joined three fellow hunters for an extended trip to the woods
of Northern Canada. They took up residence in a desolate cabin in the
middle of the forest, just as winter set in. Due to unexpectedly heavy
snowfall, they were unable to go out and hunt for several weeks. In the
end, their food supplies gone and with hunger taking over, Lartigue gave
into his basest urges. He killed his companions and fed on their flesh,
which caused him to contract the curse of the Wendigo.
(Incredible Hulk II#272 (fb) - BTS) - As the Wendigo, Lartigue finished off his fellow hunters and completely consumed their forms, leaving only their skeletons. Still ravenous Lartigue started to hunt for human flesh, attacking people whenever he could. He attacked a camper and claimed the passengers for himself. Not too long afterwards, Walter Langkowski happened upon the overturned camper and, remembering the stories his fellow Alphans told him of Wendigo, decided to go look for the latest incarnation of the monster. Langkowski started to track the creature's footprints in the snow.
(Incredible Hulk II#272) - Bruce Banner returned to Earth following a harrowing adventure in outer space. As fate would have it, he found himself near Lartigue's cabin in Canada. Eager to get out of the freezing cold, he entered but quickly regretted this decision when he discovered the gnawed off bones of Lartigue's former friends. Before Banner could escape, the Wendigo returned and prevented him from getting out. Before Wendigo could devour Banner, Sasquatch arrived to engage the monster. Sasquatch initially ordered Bruce to run away. A moment later, he recognized the half naked man as Banner which distracted him long enough for the Wendigo to break free. Though he was terrified, Banner was astonished to find he wasn't turning into the Hulk (a result of a recent overdose of gamma radiation that changed his shifting sequence). Watching Wendigo tear into Sasquatch, Banner for the first time forced himself to actively and willingly become the Hulk. As a result, he turned into the green behemoth with his intelligence and personality intact. The newly intelligent Hulk joined Sasquatch and together they fought Wendigo. In the end, the emerald and orange powerhouses timed their attacks and hit Wendigo with two massive tree trunks, which was enough to knock him out. Sasquatch immediately planned to take Lartigue to his teammate Shaman so he could rid the hunter of the curse.
(Incredible Hulk II#273) - Sasquatch kept the Wendigo under
wraps until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived to take control of
the situation. Binding him with titanium cables, Sasquatch explained to
Bruce Banner that he would be taking the monster to Shaman who was the
only one close enough to cast a counterspell before the Wendigo would
wake up. Sasquatch grabbed the unconscious beast and dropped him in a
nearby helicopter, ready for takeoff.
(Incredible Hulk II#273 - BTS) - Shaman used his magics to free Lartigue
from the curse of the Wendigo (see
comments).
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils & inks).
Beware the Walking Wendigo... You'd think that any self respecting hunter would know the tale of the Wendigo's curse. Lartigue obviously didn't prepare well enough for his trip and paid the price. Though it's not seen on panel, Shaman presumably rid the trapper of his affliction.
Man, those Mantlo/Buscema Incredible Hulk issues sure could get dark at the drop of a hat. Buscema's panels of Lartigue getting ready to chow down on a corpse left a distinct impact on me as a kid. And to think this two month journey into Canadian horror mystery followed a delightful outer space romp with Rocket Raccoon, adorable talking animal like aliens and other family friendly entertainment. Nowadays, flesh eating zombies have become common place but in 1982 even the suggestion of man eating man was shocking to say the least.
Francois Lartigue received partial entries in the Wendigo profiles in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#14, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition#14, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Hulk (2004), All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Premiere (HC)#13.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
This Wendigo is one of a line of similarly-inflicted beings, which include,
The Wendigo has no known connection to
images: (without ads)
Incredible Hulk II#272, p10, pan1 (main image)
Incredible Hulk II#272, p16, pans2&3 (eating human flesh)
Incredible Hulk II#272, p9, pan5 (reaching for Banner)
Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#272 (June, 1982) - Bill Mantlo
(writer), Sal Buscema (pencils & inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#273 (July, 1982) - Bill Mantlo
(writer), Sal Buscema (pencils & inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Last updated: 08/17/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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