THE GLOB

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial humanoid (Pre-Modern Era)

Occupation: Spy

Group Membership: Invasion task-force

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Humankind, notably a painter, a scientist (see comments), and Transylvanian villagers (all unidentified)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Glop" (see comments)

Base of Operations: Transylvania;
   formerly its home planet (name and location unrevealed)

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#72/1 (September, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: The Glob possessed superhuman strength (possibly lifting 5 tons) and was able to smash solid stone. He required a specific chemical liquid of high viscosity (with an overly thick paint-like quality) covering his body to maintain mobility (It is unclear if his "comrades" also required this viscous liquid). His body was stone-like and bulletproof. In his inert form, the Glob absorbed information from his surroundings, presumably via radio-waves. His space-faring race was warlike and eager to conquer "weaker" races, and were carnivorous. They also seem to have been very long-lived compared to humans.

While coated with the viscous liquid, the Glob was vulnerable to common turpentine.

Height: 30' (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (8000 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: None

History:
(Journey into Mystery I#72/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in the past, an alien task-force was dispatched to Earth to investigate if the planet could be conquered. One of their number was left behind in a hypnotic lifeless trance, resembling a statue, to absorb local information. Large cans of highly viscous "paint" were left nearby with instructions left on a parchment -- this paint was to be used by his comrades to reanimate the alien. The creature was left in an old castle near a Transylvanian village.

   Some time later, a curious and wealthy "scientist" (name unrevealed, see comments) discovered the "statue" and the instructions. Determined to find out if the story associated with the instructions was real, he sought the help of a renowned foreign professional painter of furniture and apartments.

(Journey into Mystery I#72/1) - The scientist paid for the painter's flight to Europe and they traveled to the deserted castle. The scientist passed the instructions and paint to the painter and then left. The painter mixed the chemical liquids, resulting in a slimy substance that he then painted over the "statue".

   As the chemicals required time to reactivate the creature, the painter had been told by the scientist that he had to leave the castle before midnight; however, a sudden earthquake left the painter unharmed but pinned under some fallen ceiling beams. But by then, the scientist had locked all the doors, and with the midnight's bell-toll, the paint-slimed creature lived again! Startled by the moving monstrosity, the painter called it "the Glob" as it aggressively sought to crush him; but as it swiped its giant hand at him, the Glob knocked the fallen beams away and unintentionally freed the trapped painter.

   While the painter ran and hid, the Glob forced open a door and lumbered outside the castle -- hungering for food, it headed toward a nearby village. Smashing its hand through a restaurant window, the Glob grabbed a diner's supper and devoured it. Panicked, the villagers vainly fought back while the scientist and painter met again, and the scientist revealed the truth about the Glob's extraterrestrial nature.

   The Glob returned to the castle; seeing the two responsible for his premature revival, he violently chased the painter and scientist. In defense, the painter hurled a large can of turpentine at the Glob, causing the thick coat of paint to dissolve, and the creature was returned to his inert statue-like form. The painter and scientist escaped via a hidden passageway as the angry villagers destroyed the castle with explosives, burying the creature under tons of rubble.

   The painter and scientist later pondered when the alien's comrades would return for him, if it be days or millennia or more; they could only pray that mankind would remain eternally vigilant, so that whenever the creatures attacked, the people of Earth could defeat them as they had defeated the Glob.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby & George Klein.

The curious scientist reminded me of a disguised Dr. Droom (a.k.a. Dr. Druid, then a hunter of the supernatural and extraterrestrial threats), especially when his bespectacled eyes had apparent radiating circles which suggested hypnotic influence when he explained the true nature of the creature to the painter. Furthermore, the notion of the old scientist scampering around the outside of the castle, locking all the doors at midnight, seems a bit strange compared to a sorcerer's spell locking the doors altogether with an earthquake after-effect.

The scientist stated the "statue" was 30' tall, but there are times where it seems distinctly smaller, at about 20' or so -- perhaps it's just exaggerated stooping.

The duo referred to the Glob with male pronouns, but this may just be the sexism of the era.

Credits from the Grand Comics Database.

When the Glob was seen approaching the Transylvanian village, one of the villagers stated, "It is larger--more hideous than Doctor Frankenstein's creation!".

This story was reprinted in Where Creatures Roam I#7 (July, 1971), where it was re-lettered to change this monster's name to "The Glop", probably to avoid confusion with the Hulk foe who was introduced at about the same time (see CLARIFICATIONS). -- Ron Fredricks

Profile by Grendel Prime. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Glob has no known connections to:

The unidentified painter has no known connections to:






Unidentified painter

A professional painter, he usually painted apartments and furniture, and he had the reputation of being one of the best at his craft.

He was hired by a scientist to travel to a Transylvanian castle, where he applied a strange paint-like mixture to a large statue. He later learned that the "statue" was actually an alien spy who required the paint for mobility -- he dubbed the slimy, oozing creature as "The Glob".

The painter eventually defeated the Glob with a can of common turpentine, which diluted the paint and returned the creature to its inert statue-like state.

(Comment: His name was never mentioned, but I'll suggest "William Sherwin" in reference to a brand of house-paint.)

--Journey into Mystery I#72/1

Unidentified scientist

Specializing in some unrevealed branch of science, he found what appeared to be a statue in a deserted Transylvanian castle; near the statue were three cans of paint and an ancient parchment. He spent weeks deciphering the parchment and learned that the "statue" was actually an inert extraterrestrial invader, and that the paint was to be used by the "statue's" comrades in order to bring it back to life.

To find out if the story on the parchment was true, the scientist hired a detail-oriented American painter to carefully follow the parchment's instructions and mix the cans of paint, then to apply it to different parts of the statue with the required thicknesses.

When the painted statue came back to life as the oozing Glob, it went on a rampage in a nearby village, and the scientist revealed the truth of the alien creature's nature to the painter.

After the painter used a can of turpentine to defeat the monster, the scientist and the painter were left with the nagging fear that one day others like the Glob would return to Earth.

--Journey into Mystery I#72/1

paint

Three containers of unearthly chemicals left behind by an alien race, when mixed together in the proper proportions, they formed an oozing substance. The oozing substance was to be used by the aliens to reanimate their inert spy, whom they left in a statue-like state within a Transylvanian castle.

But the paint was discovered by a scientist, who then hired a painter to apply it to the "statue". The paint reanimated the alien, but it was later defeated when the painter used a can of ordinary turpentine to dilute the oozing paint, and the alien was returned to its inert statue-like state.

--Journey into Mystery I#72/1

turpentine

A can of ordinary paint-thinner, it was used by the unidentified painter to defeat the Glob.

The painter hurled the open container at the extraterrestrial monster, and it diluted the oozing paint that gave the Glob mobility -- when the paint ran off its form, the Glob was returned to its inert and lifeless state.

--Journey into Mystery I#72/1

images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, cover (Main Image - Glob pursuing painter)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p2, pan7 (Glob as inert statue (rear view))
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p4, pan2 (Glob covered with paint; painter (left))
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p8, pan1 (Glob menaces Transylvanian village)
Where Creatures Roam I#7, cover (The Glop)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p2, pan1 (painter in his shop)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p6, pan4 (painter in castle)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p2, pan6 (scientist)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p10, pan3 (scientist)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p3, pan1 (scientist shows painter (left) cans of paint)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p3, pan6 (painter applies paint to statue)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p11, pan4 (painter opens can of turpentine)
Journey into Mystery I#72/1, p11, pan6 (Glob gets hit by can of turpentine)

Appearances:
Journey Into Mystery I#72/1 (September, 1961) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), George Klein (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)

First posted: 10/31/2022
Last updated: 11/19/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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