GENGHIS GRIMTOAD

Real Name: Genghis Grimtoad

Identity/Class: Extradimensional alien world (Shadow-Earth; see comments under that sub-profile) Boglund toad magic-user

Occupation: The "court" sorcerer for Prince Eric, though they never really had a court;
    former apprentice to his uncle Karbunkle, the court sorcerer of Haven

Group Membership: The Royal Party

Affiliations: Boab the Devil-Toad, Boglund Toads, Sir Hercules Bogthrottle, Prince Eric, Karbunkle Grimtoad, Sir Hakkem of the Flailing Mace, Queen Jade, "ostrich" steeds, Quanah the Painted Warrior, King Ranald, the Snecks, Gretel Sweetwar,

Enemies: Fiends of Toadthrax, Hordes of Kang, Kang, Toadthrax, Rift-Imps;
    Boab the Devil-Toad

Known Relatives: Unidentified mother, Karbunkle Grimtoad (uncle);
    unidentified ancestors (he came from a long line of Grimtoad sorcerers)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Torbeck;
    formerly Castle Haven in the Kingdom of Haven on Shadow-Earth

First Appearance: Look Alive#1 (18th September 1982); first Marvel appearance: Strip#1 (February, 1990)

Powers/Abilities: Genghis initially had some small ability to perform magic, but his spells almost never worked correctly. 

    After he received the Book of the Grimtoad Sorcerers from his uncle, his spells became more powerful and even occasionally worked as intended. 

    With preparation, he could (sometimes) generate lightning bolts, conjure tornadoes, melt iron, heal the wounded, and summon elder demons with whom to bargain.

Height: 4'6" (by approximation, when standing upright)
Weight: 120 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Red
Hair: None

History: (Strip#1) - The savage hordes of Kang stormed the High Wall of Haven, overcoming its defenders with the help of the evil sorcerer, Toadthrax. Apprentice sorcerer Genghis Grimtoad witnessed his uncle Karbunkle foretell doom and the fall of Castle Haven. Karbunkle told King Ranald that it would be besieged within hours. King Ranald ordered a party to be formed to escort his wife, Queen Jade, and son, Prince Eric to safety.

(Strip#2) - King Ranald summoned Quanah, the Painted Warrior, a "savage, untamed" barbarian. He ordered Quanah to escort his wife and son to Quanah's distant mountain homeland called Torbeck. A minister objected and insulted Quanah, who drew his sword, but after the King intervened to save the minister, Quanah slashed his own arm instead to draw blood as his culture required. 

    Karbunkle then suggested Genghis join the party to escort Jade and Eric to safety. In the process of telling his uncle he's not qualified, Genghis sent an errant lightning bolt careening around his uncle's laboratory. Karbunkle told Genghis he was the "poorest apprentice he's ever had," but that he was the only option for party sorcerer. Karbunkle gave him the Book of the Grimtoad Sorcerers.

(Strip#3) - The party formed and fled north on "ostrich" steeds. Queen Jade, Prince Eric, Quanah, and Genghis were joined by Sir Hakkem of the Flailing Mace, and Gretel Sweetwart, handmaiden to the Queen and Genghis's love interest. While Genghis frantically read up on his spells, Sir Hakkem berated him for not knowing basic sorcery. At Castle Haven, the siege was underway, with King Ranald and Karbunkle fighting back-to-back against the hordes of Kang.

(Strip#4) - The image of Toadthrax appeared in the sky above Castle Haven and rained fire down on the defenders. Karbunkle summoned "three winds" to blow the firestorm back upon the hordes of Kang. However, this allowed Toadthrax to zero in on Karbunkle and slay him with a powerful magical bolt. King Ranald was then slain by 16 "Charoon barbs."

(Strip#5) - Queen Jade and Prince Eric noticed the thick black smoke over Castle Haven and realized Ranald must be dead, which meant that Eric was the new rightful King. However, Eric did not wish to be called King until he earned the right. Kang, now King Kang, arrived at Castle Haven in his flying machine to survey the battlefield and see Ranald's corpse. The same minister that challenged Quanah turned traitor and told Kang that the Queen and Prince had fled north to Torbeck. Kang ran the minister through, after which he ordered his flying machines to hunt the party down. The party entered Boglund, Genghis' homeland.

(Strip#6) - Genghis told his mother that her brother, Karbunkle, was dead. Soon after reaching Genghis' village on the shores of Lake Bufo, Kang's flying machines found the party. Genghis tried to destroy them in the air with fire, but instead turned the flying machines and the Charoons inside bright pink. As a battle ensued, Genghis missed with a lightning bolt, but then swatted down a Charoon with the heavy Book of the Grimtoad Sorcerers. As the party was overwhelmed, Sir Hakkem was skewered and killed.

(Strip#7) - Prince Eric was almost beheaded before a thrown blade from Quanah saved him. A "thunderous croak" came from the Boglund Marsh, as Hercules Bogthrottle and the Boglund patrol, riding their "ostrich" steeds, raced to help the party. These new arrivals turned the tide and managed to slay the rest of Kang's horde, at the cost of the lives of the entire Boglund patrol except Hercules.

(Strip#8) - Hercules was knighted by Queen Jade as the "first toad knight of Haven" and agreed to join the party in Sir Hakkem's place. The Mayor of the Boglund Marshes prepared a boat for the party to cross Lake Bufo and arranged fresh steeds for them in Snecklund. Genghis reminisced about happier days in this youth spent on Lake Bufo, and worried that someday he would have to challenge Toadthrax. 

    Meanwhile, King Kang awoke in Ranald's bed, declared it too soft and demanded it be stuffed with rocks and sharp objects. News that his flying machines had not returned sent him into a rage, and he summoned Toadthrax's projection.

(Strip#9) - King Kang ordered Toadthrax to find Queen Jade and Prince Eric and kill them. Toadthrax awakened four flying green fiends that were roosting upside down in his tower and sent them after the party. Across Lake Bufo, the party was greeted warmly by the Snecks in the Snecklund Protectorate, and they were given new "ostrich" steeds, though Quanah declined. Gretel expressed fear and weariness, but Genghis and Quanah insisted they ride on through the night. As day broke, they came to the north end of the High Wall of Haven and the Great Rift beyond it.

(Strip#10) - The party marveled at the seemingly bottomless canyon that was the Great Rift. Eric and Genghis questioned Quanah as to their route, but he told them "you argue - you die" and so they kept quiet. They walked a trail along the edge of the Great Rift but were soon set upon by one of Toadthrax's fiends. Prince Eric was seemingly knocked into the Great Rift, and Queen Jade was viciously clawed, despite Gretel demanding the beast leave them alone.

(Strip#11) - As the fiend descended upon Queen Jade for the deathblow, Quanah perfectly threw his sword to slice through the fiend's narrow neck. The fiend plunged into the Great Rift, taking Quanah's ancestral blade with it. Prince Eric was found clinging to a small outcropping just below the trail and Hercules was just able to reach him. Genghis was asked to conjure a ladder but was incapable and instead just pulled them up. Gretel shouted for them that the Queen had been poisoned, and Quanah took them all into the Hooly Wood forest as the other three fiends of Toadthrax searched for them.

(Strip#12) - The three fiends passed overhead while the party sheltered in the thick forest. Searching the Book for a cure for fiend-poison, Genghis shouted the ingredients he needed while the rest of the party found them, after which he concocted the potion. "For maybe the first time in his three years as apprentice sorcerer, Genghis's magic had the desired effect," and Queen Jade was saved. The party rested that night in the Hooly Wood, except Genghis and Quanah. Genghis expressed doubts about his magic, but Quanah told him to just do his best and to go to sleep. The next morning, the party pondered how to leave the forest without being seen by the fiends, and Prince Eric asked Genghis to figure out a way with magic.

(Strip#13) - Genghis tried to conjure a "gentle breeze" to waft them out of danger but instead summoned a raging tornado. The tornado picked up the entire party, except their steeds.

(Strip#14) - Inside the tornado, Quanah screamed that he smelled doom coming for them. As the fiends of Toadthrax fled, Genghis managed to end the spell. The party was dumped into the Ragnar river, and then they floated directly towards the Endless Falls, which emptied into the Great Rift.

(Strip#15) - As Quanah lamented dying without a blade in hand, the party plunged over the falls to their presumed deaths. However, they instead eventually fell into a net on the cliff wall. A horde of Rift-Imps approached, and despite Genghis trying to thank them, they did not seem to have friendly intentions.

(Strip#16) - Hercules and Quanah fought the Rift-Imps, but the "loathsome swarm" overcame them with paralyzing poison in their fangs and took them into their cave. 

(Strip#16 - BTS) - Toadthrax viewed the party on his crystal ball and falsely told Kang that the party had perished in the Great Rift. 

(Strip#16) - The Rift-Imps tossed the party in a "dungeon cell" and their belongings in a pile nearby. As the poison wore off, a pirate in the cell next to theirs told them that the Rift-Imps were carnivores and they "all be on their menu."

(Strip#17) - The pirate told the party his tale; his boating party had 43 members when it went over the falls last week, and he was the last remaining of his group. He thought the Rift-Imps had saved him for last as he was "such a plump 'un." At that moment, the Rift-Imps came for him. After they left, Genghis tried to melt the bars, but instead sent a lightning bolt careening around the cell. Without the Book, he said he couldn't do anything better. The party linked their belts and, improvising a hook from a torch sconce, managed to grab the Book and pull it into the cell. It was now all up to Genghis. "Ulp!"

(Strip#18) - Genghis used a spell from the Book to melt the iron bars and free them. The party grabbed their equipment from the nearby pile, with Quanah grabbing a new sword, and they sneaked through the warren. Once spotted, they ran up a sloping tunnel, but it was a dead end. The party battled wave after wave of Rift-Imp, surviving for the moment.

(Strip#19) - As another wave came at them, Hercules was wounded, but he was saved by Queen Jade. Gretel huddled at the back with Genghis, begging him to do something. Genghis lamented not being a better sorcerer and did the only thing he could: Summon Boab, the Devil-Toad. Gretel begged him not to, but despite knowing there would be a terrible price to pay, he performed the ritual, and Boab appeared.

(Strip#20) - As the Rift-Imps temporarily fled the summoned arch-demon, Boab asked who summoned him and what was the  request. Genghis hesitantly requested that Boab get them out of there. Boab demanded Genghis' soul as payment, but Quanah intervened. Quanah said that as guide he had failed and must pay the price. Plus, his "warrior soul" was a lot more impressive than Genghis's soul. Boab agreed, and Quanah's soul was taken, leaving him a near-mindless husk.

(Marvel UK Graphic Novel#3: The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad) - Boab honored his end of the bargain, creating a stairway to the surface. The party fled up the long staircase, but soon the Rift-Imps were close behind. As they emerged in Torbeck, the land of the painted warriors that was their destination, the Rift-Imps were just behind them. The hollow shell that was Quanah saw his homeland one more time, and "some vestige" of himself must have remained, for he collapsed the tunnel entrance upon himself. Queen Jade vowed his bold deeds would be remembered. The rainbow aura of Torbeck prevented evil magic from detecting or attacking them, so they were safe for the moment. The line of Ranald had survived. As Genghis pondered the trials and dangers they were yet to face, he gave a final "Ulp!"

Comments: Created by Alan Grant and Angus McBride; revamped for Strip by John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Ian Gibson.

    Genghis Grimtoad's saga originally began publication in Look Alive, an IPC (International Publishing Corporation) magazine aimed at teenage boys. Since it was a magazine rather than a comic The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad was the sole comic strip in the title, sitting uneasily alongside articles on rally cars, aircraft carriers, pop music, dinosaurs, windsurfing and the possibility of London suffering severe flooding - and that was just in the first issue! Perhaps unsurprisingly this eclectic mix didn't find an audience and Look Alive proved to be D.O.A., only lasting five issues, leaving Grimtoad's saga unfinished. - Loki

    Seven and a half years later the story was revived in Strip#1-20, a bi-weekly Marvel UK anthology, from February-November 1990, serialized in 2-page installments.
    Rather than reprinting the parts that had appeared in Look Alive, the story was retold from scratch with new art provided by Ian Gibson, though the first five Strip installments are an almost word for word match to the originals, with many, though not all, panel layouts also matching. - Loki
    The Strip version was collected soon after as Marvel UK Graphic Novel#3, with 4 additional new pages to finish out "Book One" (These pages were likely set to be published in Strip#21-22 before its cancellation). To date, there has been no sign of Book Two and no further appearances of Genghis or Shadow-Earth. This was published by Marvel UK but is (as far as we can tell from the indicia) creator-owned and not owned by Marvel.

    Genghis Grimtoad has quite a pedigree behind it in terms of its creative team. John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Ian Gibson are all very notable UK creators active for 40+ years that helped shape 2000 AD and Judge Dredd, among many, many others. Interestingly, they all have done almost no other Marvel work besides The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad -- across 4 decades, only 30 comics for Alan Grant, 15 for John Wagner, and nothing else for Ian Gibson. And much of that Marvel work was Dr. Who comics when Marvel had the license.

    Genghis' original artist, Angus McBride, was a prolific contributor to British titles, mostly ones considered to be more "educational" in nature such as "Look and Learn," "Finding Out" and "World of Wonder"; to the best of my knowledge, he never worked for any Marvel title, which is a shame as he was a very accomplished illustrator. See the image to the left, which was included in Look Alive#3 as a massive, folded, pull-out poster. The poster also included the lyrics of the Ballad of Haven's Deep - since having the lyrics and poster in the same image on this page would require either shrinking the lyrics to the point they become illegible, or the poster being massive and overwhelming the page, I've split them, and you can see the lyrics further down the page.

    As you can see by comparing the Look Alive poster with the images from Strip, Jade went from being black haired in the original version to blonde in the revived, Eric went from a red-head to a blond, the various toads were a lot smoother-skinned to begin with, and Quanah's proportions, although still exceedingly muscular, were not as exaggerated as they would become. - Loki

    This is a pretty fun story overall, but I would note that it appears to have some instances of racial caricature with a thin layer of fantasy on top of them. Quanah is a noble savage who speaks in broken English, whose body is covered with tattoos of his battles, with large, distended earlobes due to large wooden earrings hanging down past his shoulders, calling to mind several native cultures. The appearance of Bad King Kang and his Charoons (and their "Samurai" armor) seem to draw heavily from earlier caricatures of Japanese and other East Asian cultures. I feel these aspects are worth noting for today's readers.

    "Ulp!" is Genghis's most notable quote. He says it no less than 7 times in the course of the story, often in the last panel of a 2-page installment. Whenever the party needs to rely on him and his magic, he gives an "Ulp!"

    This story is an odd mix of serious fantasy and silliness. Lots of people die, there's some tragic sacrifices, and the party's whole quest is taken very seriously, but there's also names like "Hooly Wood" for a forest. While the party's humans are all drawn fairly realistically, the non-humans are almost uniformly drawn with very large eyes, which give them a cartoony look. This works well for the toads, but it looks extremely goofy elsewhere, particularly the Fiends of Toadthrax and the Rift-Imps, whom otherwise are treated as serious threats.

    I have the feeling that there are a ton of references in the names that I'm not getting. Charoons? Bufo? Torbeck? Snecks? Ragnar? Boab? Quanah? Maybe they're just random names, but I have the feeling many of them have some reference attached, even if it's just a pun I'm not getting.
    Bufo is the name of a genus of toads, most notably (to me), the Bufo Alvarius, which secretes a psycho-active toxin that can kill dogs that get it in their mouth (which is what dogs do with toads and other things). I don't immediately recognize any of the others, but probably others do/will...
    On that same note, a carbuncle is a name for an infected hair follicle. Presumably deliberate, and since Karbunkle is also Genghis' uncle, it's perhaps a double joke.
--Snood

    The cover of this Graphic Novel is one of those that does not occur anywhere in the actual story. At no point is Queen Jade's head surrounded by light, and at no point do they visit floating mossy rocks, and at no point does Toadthrax menace them directly. Also, on the cover, Toadthrax's red eye is now his right eye, when it's consistently his left eye in the story. Also, his other eye is "normal" on the cover instead of yellow like it is throughout the story.

    This profile was completed 6/03/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by caliban.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Genghis Grimtoad has no known connections to:

• Aged Genghis, Earth's oldest living sorcerer

Boab, the Devil-Toad has no known connections to:

• The Toad God, an Elder God and fellow demon

Kang (aka Bad King Kang) has no known connections to:

• The Council of Cross-Time Kangs, though you never know...

Shadow Earth

Shadow-Earth appears to be a medieval-level world where sorcery is rare but exists, and many animals have evolved differently, some to human-level intelligence.      The only technology we see beyond medieval is modified hot-air balloons.      As far as we are aware, only toads can use sorcery on Shadow-Earth.      It has three primary Kingdoms we encounter: Charon, Haven, and Torbeck. --Strip#1-20, Marvel UK Graphic Novel#3: The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad Note: Despite the name "Shadow-Earth," this appears to be an alien swords and sorcery realm, like "Weirdworld" or Tolkien's "Middle Earth," as opposed to an alternate reality Earth.    The map on the left appeared in the Genghis Grimtoad graphic novel, while the much more detailed one above formed the underside of the poster given in Look Alive#3.

King Ranald the Protector

Karbunkle Grimtoad

The Book of the Grimtoad Sorcerers

The Royal Party

Queen Jade

Prince Eric

Quanah, the Painted Warrior

Sir Hakkem of the Flailing Mace

Gretel Sweetwart

Sir Hercules Bogthrottle

"Ostrich" Steeds

The Snecks

Kang

Toadthrax the Black

The Hordes of Kang

Kang's Flying Machines

The Fiends of Toadthrax

Four fiends, resembling small green dragons, were set after the Royal Party.      One ambushed them and poisoned Queen Jade with its claws but was slain by Quanah.      The other three pursued the party but couldn't find them in the Hooly Wood and were later dispersed by Genghis's tornado. --Strip#9-12, 14

Rift-Imps

Boab, the Devil-Toad

images: (without ads)
All images bar last three from Marvel UK Graphic Novel#3: The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad. (To find the corresponding issue# of Strip they are from, take the page number below, divide it by 2 rounding up, then subtract 2.)
p39, pan1 (main image)
p48, pan6 (Ulp! image)
p29, pan2 (Genghis with the book image)
p19, pan5 (Genghis with blue background image)
Genghis Grimtoad graphic novel cover (Jade with inexplicable halo of light image)
p4 (Map of Shadow-Earth image - does not appear in Strip as far as I can tell)
p12, pan4 (King Ranald image)
p10, pan5 (Karbunkle image)
p8, pan8 (Book image)
p29, pan1 (Royal Party image)
p48, pan1 (Queen Jade image)
p23, pan1 (Prince Eric image)
p23, pan3 (Quanah image)
p15, pan2 (Sir Hakkem image)
p30 (Gretel image)
p35, pan 1 (Hercules with club image)
p18, pan 5 (Hercules with eyepatch image)
p24, pan 2 ("ostrich" steed image)
p22, pan 1 (Snecks image)
p5, pan 1 (Kang image)
p11 , pan 2 (Toadthrax with crystal ball image)
p5, pan 2 (Large projection of Toadthrax image)
p10, pan 4 (Hordes of Kang image)
p14, pan 7 (Kang's flying machines image)
p21, pan 6 (Four Fiends of Toadthrax image)
p25, pan 4 (Fiend of Toadthrax with goofy eyes image)
p39, pan 8 (Rift-Imps image)
p42, pan 5 (Boab image)
Look Alive#3 pull out poster section (Genghis Grimtoad cast in Ballad of Haven's Deep Poster, lyrics of Ballad, detailed map of Shadow Earth)

Appearances:
Look Alivce#1-5 (18th Sept 1982-16th Oct 1982, weekly) - Alan Grant (writer), Angus McBride (artist), Kelvin Gosnell (editor)
Strip#1-20 (17 Feb 1990 - 10th Nov 1990, bi-weekly) - Alan Grant and John Wagner (writer), Ian Gibson (art), Dan Abnett (Editor)
Marvel UK Graphic Novel#3: The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad (1990) - Alan Grant and John Wagner (writer), Ian Gibson (art), Dan Abnett (Editor), Bambos (Map created by)

First Posted: 09/18/2021
Last updated: 09/17/2022

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!
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