add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Nutritional Wellness | Stephania (fang ji [han]) nutritionalwellness.com | Yue-Fang Chang, PhD neurosurgery.pitt.edu | IHRSA - Convention Track (FIN) getactivemagazine.com |
Fin Fang Foom is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Strange Tales #89 (Oct. 1961), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, Fin Fang Foom appeared during Marvel's period of experimentation with monsters, being intregrated into the Marvel Universe during the Bronze Age of Comic Books. The character has also appeared in associated Marvel merchandise including animated television series; toys; trading cards and video games.
[edit] Publication historyStan Lee's inspiration for Foom's name was apparently the title of the film Chu Chin Chow.[1] In the title Iron Man it is revealed in flashback that the character is an alien being from the world of Kakaranathara (also known as Maklu IV) in the Maklu system of the Greater Magellanic Cloud. The alien and several other members of his race originally depart from their peaceful homeworld with the intention of conquering other planets. The alien dragons land on Earth in ancient China, and the crew used their natural shapeshifting powers to mimic human form, intent on entering and studying human society before beginning their conquest. The alien navigator was the exception and, acting as reserve, was placed in a tomb and given a herb that places him in a catatonic state.[2] The character is first awakened in the title Strange Tales,[3] being deliberately roused by teenager Chan Liuchow, whose homeland is under threat from invading forces of Communist China. Liuchow taunts Foom with the threat of the herb, and goads the dragon into chasing him straight into the Communist camp, which Foom destroys. Liuchow subsequently leads the character back into his tomb, where the herb returns Foom to his sleep. In the one-shot Marvel Monsters: Monsters On The Prowl Fin Fang Foom is captured by the Elder of the Universe known as the Collector, and imprisoned with a subterranean collection of monsters.[4] Foom and the monsters reappear in the one-shot Fin Fang Four, being captured by the recently-formed Fantastic Four and deposited on Monster Isle. The character, however, returns to China and hibernation.[5] In the title Astonishing Tales scientist Doctor Vault manages to mentally control the dragon and attack Vault's foe, It the Living Colossus. After a brief battle, Foom resists the control and aids the Colossus against an alien invasion (intent on preserving the planet for the dragon's own race to conquer at a later date) before returning to hibernation once again.[6] In the limited series Legion of Night, Foom is again roused from his slumber when his body is possessed by the demon Aan Taanu. Combating a group of occult adventurers (including an older Chan Liuchow, now a Professor) known as The Legion of Night in New York, Taanu is exorcised from Foom's body, and the character once again returns to hibernation.[7] The Makluan vessel is eventually found in the title Tales of Suspense by a man who steals ten sophisticated rings from it, and becomes the supervillain the Mandarin.[8] In the title Iron Man, the Mandarin is directed to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon by a man called Chen Hsu, who is also an alien dragon and the captain of the vessel. The Mandarin finds and wakes Fin Fang Foom, using the dragon to threaten the Chinese government. Foom helps the Mandarin take control of one third of China, and is then revealed as an alien of Kakaranathara. With "Chen Hsu", whose true form is also revealed, the pair begin to summon their fellows, who had been disguised as humans for centuries. Realizing he has been tricked, the Mandarin joins forces with heroes Iron Man and War Machine to defeat the dragons, the battle ending with their apparent annihilation.[9] The character reappears in the second volume of Iron Man. Although Fin Fang Foom's body is destroyed, the character's spirit survives and bonds itself to a small dragon statue, which was stolen from a curio shop by teenager Billy Yuan at Foom's mental urging. Using Yuan's body as a conduit for his power, Foom summons thousands of lizards from the sewers beneath New York, merging them with Yuan's body to recreate his own form. Iron Man, however, defeats Foom with assistance from the last remnants of Yuan's mind. Due to legal complications the defeated dragon is sent to Monster Isle once again.[10] Foom and several other monsters briefly battle the dimensionally-displaced DC Comics superhero team the Justice League of America in the limited series JLA/Avengers.[11] With the other members of the Makluan crew dead, Foom decides to reform and becomes a follower of Buddhism. The character enters into a rehabilitation program, and with three other monsters - the robot Elektro; the giant ape Gorgilla, and the alien Googam - is shrunk down to human size, hypnotically stripped of their powers, and allowed to enter human society. One-shot Fin Fang Four reveals Foom has taken a job as head chef in a Chinese restaurant within the Baxter Building, with the character and the other monsters teaming together to defeat the size-changing warlord Tim Boo Ba.[12] In a Marvel Holiday Special, Foom begrudgingly aids Wong - the servant of Doctor Strange - in defeating a force of HYDRA agents.[13] There have also been two imitations of the character. In the title Thor the Midgard Serpent imitated Foom to attempt to trick the Thunder god Thor,[14] while in the title Hulk the villain Nightmare changed a creature called a Mindless One into a copy of Foom to battle the Hulk.[15] In the second volume of Thor the Thunder God also claims to have killed the true Fin Fang Foom in battle, and uses the dragon's bones to build a tomb in the realm of Asgard.[16] In the third volume of Howard the Duck, Howard has dreams of playing cards with characters Thing; Man-Thing; Bigfoot; Frankenstein's Monster and Foom.[17] The character appears briefly in a Sentry limited series[18]; one-shot titles Hulk Monster-Size Special[19] and Dark Reign Files[20] and features in another monster one-shot, Fin Fang Four Return![21] In 2009, Fin Fang Foom was ranked as IGN's 99th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[22] [edit] Powers and abilitiesThe character possesses super strength, the ability to fly via his wings at supersonic speeds, and can spew combustible acid mist from his mouth. Foom is also extremely durable and can regenerate at a rapid rate. By entering into long periods of hibernation, Foom has managed to survive for centuries. The character possesses a gifted intellect, can communicate telepathically, and has access to advanced alien technology. [edit] Other versionsFoom appears in the limited series Nextwave as a pawn of the Beyond Corporation©, and while having reverted back to original size, lacks any real intelligence.[23] In an alternate universe story in Mutant X Annual 2001, Fin Fang Foom is a member of the Lethal Legion, who dying in battle against the Goblin Queen (posing as the entity the Beyonder).[24] In another alternate universe, Fin Fang Foom battles Iron Man in the limited series Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas.[25] [edit] In other mediaFin Fang Foom appears in the animated television series Iron Man (1994–1996) voiced by Neil Ross; the The Super Hero Squad Show (2009) voiced by Steven Blum and Iron Man: Armored Adventures (2009). Fin Fang Foom also features in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) voiced by James Sie. [edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
