"VOLCANO CREATURES"
Membership: Six (all unidentified)
Purpose: Unrevealed
Aliases: "Big-Feet", "monsters" (as the group was collectively referred to by Hulk); "Giant", "Mud-Head" (as some individual members were called by Hulk) (see comments)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Hulk (Robert Bruce Banner), Betty Talbot
Base of Operations: An unidentified volcanic island, somewhere in the South Pacific
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#170 (December, 1973)
History:
(Incredible Hulk II#170 (fb) - BTS) - The past of these beings is
unrevealed (see comments);
however, they somehow came to Earth, where they ruled a tiny island "for
eons", and made their home within
the heart of the island's barely dormant volcano. But as the
years went by, they eventually forgot who they were and why they had
come there--time had also taken a fearful toll on their numbers, for
once there had been a hundred of them, but by modern times, their
numbers had eventually dwindled down to only six.
(Incredible Hulk II#170) - Following their narrow escape from the Bi-Beast's Sky Island, the Hulk and Betty Talbot landed on the volcanic island. When a monsoon began, the two took shelter in a cave; but Betty--fearing that the simple-minded Hulk had kidnapped her--sneaked away.
As she ran through the jungle in a panic, Betty encountered one of the creatures, which seized her in its gigantic hand; fortunately, the Hulk heard Betty's cries for help. A battle ensued between the Hulk and his huge foe, but the Hulk gained the upper hand, and the lone "Volcano Creature" retreated to the jungle (...presumably to rejoin its companions).
The next morning, with the tropical sun's rays beating down upon them, Hulk and Betty went for a walk through the steaming jungle--when they came upon a pool of water, Hulk suggested to Betty that she take a cooling swim. But suddenly, the pool's occupant--a lizard creature--emerged and attacked--the Hulk made short work of the beast, and threw it miles away.
That night, after they had returned to their cave, Betty noticed the Hulk was asleep, so she sneaked away again. Betty went to the beach, hoping to catch sight of a rescue boat, but saw nothing. As she turned around, she was confronted by a trio of the "Volcano Creatures," who were naturally curious about the human-speck that had intruded upon their island.
(Incredible Hulk II#170 - BTS) - The terrified Betty fainted when the leader of the creatures seized her, then the three monsters began to carry her back to their home in the volcano.
(Incredible Hulk II#170) - The Hulk awoke and noticed Betty gone--he followed her footprints leading to the beach, where he also saw the footprints of the creatures; correctly figuring that the "Big-Feet" had his friend, the angry Hulk followed the tracks, then saw the "Big-Feet" walking up the path to the "smokey mountain".
Within the mouth of the volcano, the aliens gathered at their leader's harsh-croaked call to see their new "prize" (Betty), but the Hulk came leaping down and scattered them all as he landed. Betty revived while the Hulk battled the monsters, punching and tossing them into each other, until one of the "Volcano Creatures" struck him from behind.
Determined to put an end to the fight, the enraged Hulk hammered his fists down, causing a massive shockwave that cracked the crust of the volcano crater--the aliens' death screams sounded horribly human as they fell and burned in the white-hot lava.
But the Hulk did not hear them die, nor would he have cared if he did, for his only concern was getting Betty to safety; the green goliath made a mighty leap out of the volcano, just as it went into full eruption.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe.
This group was never identified by any particular name, but comics.org referred to them as "Volcano Creatures," so I went with that for the profile title.
During the final confrontation, the Hulk mentioned aloud that one of the "Volcano Creatures" reminded him of "Captain Omen's fish-face" (Aquon).
The background of these creatures was never revealed, but narrative captions referred to them as "aliens," and that they spoke "a language born far, so far, from Earth," thus we can assume they (and probably that lizard creature) were extraterrestrials; however, there was no sign of a spacecraft--possibly they were teleported to Earth.
But although the "Volcano Creatures" were semi-humanoid in form, and all about the same height (30-40 feet), they each had different physical characteristics, which suggests they might not be from the same race.
Or perhaps in the distant past, they were originally created by the earthbound Maur-Kon and his Followers of the Dark, as an army to conquer the planet.
The "Volcano-Creatures" could be alien Deviants, that would explain why they don't look the same if they were from the same race or alien "Inhumans".
--Gammatotem
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The "Volcano Creatures" have no known connections to:
The lizard creature has no known connections to:
|
An amphibious web-footed reptile of unspecified origin (see comments), it dwelt within a pool
of water on a volcanic island. |
|
images: (without ads)
Incredible Hulk II#170, cover (Main Image - three "Volcano Creatures"; Betty Talbot, Hulk (foreground) )
Incredible Hulk II#170, p14, pan4 (three "Volcano Creatures" menacing Betty Talbot on beach)
Incredible Hulk II#170, p18, pan2 (four "Volcano Creatures"; Hulk (foreground))
Incredible Hulk II#170, p18, pan4 ("Volcano Creatures" fall into lava)
Incredible Hulk II#170, p12, pan1 (lizard creature bursts from pool)
Incredible Hulk II#170, p12, pan2 (lizard creature seized by Hulk)
Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#170 (December, 1973) - Chris Claremont (writer), Steve Englehart (plotter), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Jack Abel (inker), Artie Simek (letters), George Roussos (colors), Roy Thomas (editor)
First Posted: 02/04/2021
Last updated: 02/13/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!