It, The Living Colossus
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It! The Living Colossus is a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. Initially a statue animated by a hostile extraterrestrial, he
first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...
in the
science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
anthology series ''
Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such arti ...
'' #14 (Feb. 1961), in a story drawn by
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
(writer unknown). He was revived in ''
Astonishing Tales ''Astonishing Tales'' is an American anthology comic book series originally published by Marvel Comics from 1970 to 1976. Its sister publication was ''Amazing Adventures'' (vol. 2). In 2008 and 2009, Marvel produced 11 webcomics starring differ ...
'' #21 (Dec. 1973) by writer
Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...
and artist
Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
as the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of a short-lived feature, in which he was animated by a wheelchair-using
special-effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
designer.


Publication history

It! The Living Colossus debuted in the 18-page science fiction story "I Created the Colossus" in the anthology series ''
Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such arti ...
'' #14 (Feb. 1961), published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' 1950s and early 1960s forerunner,
Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...
.
Penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...
by industry legend
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
and inked by
Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
, and scripted by an uncredited writer, this " Marvel pre-superhero" monster returned for a 13-page sequel story, "Colossus Lives Again", by the same artistic team, in the by-now Marvel comic ''Tales of Suspense'' #20 (Aug. 1961). The two stories were reprinted in, respectively, ''
Monsters on the Prowl ''Chamber of Darkness'' is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor Stan Lee, writers Ge ...
'' #17 (June 1972) and 25 (Sept. 1973). The character was revived in ''
Astonishing Tales ''Astonishing Tales'' is an American anthology comic book series originally published by Marvel Comics from 1970 to 1976. Its sister publication was ''Amazing Adventures'' (vol. 2). In 2008 and 2009, Marvel produced 11 webcomics starring differ ...
'' #21 (Dec. 1973) by writer
Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...
and artist
Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
, who both drew and
lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
the stories. The feature ran four issues, through #24 (June 1974). Isabella said in 2001 that after the
Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...
story "It!" in ''
Supernatural Thrillers ''Supernatural Thrillers'' was an American horror fiction comic book published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s that adapted classic stories of that genre, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson and H. G. Wells, before becoming a vehicle for a sup ...
'' #1 (Dec. 1972) had sold well, "Came the word from on high that Marvel should do a regular 'It!' series". Marvel already had an It-like
swamp monster A swamp monster (also variously called a swamp creature, swamp man, swamp thing, or muck monster) is a fictional or mythological creature imagined to lurk in a swamp. Description Some swamp monsters resemble aquatic creatures, while other swamp ...
in the
Man-Thing The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in ''S ...
, so, "looking over the sales figures for recent issues of Marvel's giant monster reprint books, we discovered the issues which reprinted the 'Colossus' stories by Jack Kirby 'Monsters on the Prowl'' #17 and 25sold much better than the other issues which had been published around the same time".''
Comic Book Artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
'' #13, p. 100 In 2009, Isabella elaborated, saying editor-in-chief
Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...
: Assessing the series, Isabella said, "It was an honor working with Dick Ayers, one of the original 'Big Four' artists of the
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
. However, I don't think Dick was at his best here. He wasn't being treated very well by Marvel and it was showing in his work". In an unusual storytelling technique for the time, Isabella made longer stories than the budgeted 15-page tales by inserting reprint panels or pages from 1959-61 pre-superhero monster stories. "I could expand the page count of the 'It!' stories while including
backstory A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...
which would have otherwise eaten up some of those new pages". Had the series continued, Isabella said in 2009, "subsequent stories would have featured
Goom Goom is a fictional Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Tales of Suspense'' #15 (Ma ...
and
Googam This article lists the known monsters in Marvel Comics. History In the earlier parts of Marvel Comics, issues such as ''Journey into Mystery'', ''Strange Tales'', ''Tales of Suspense'', and ''Tales to Astonish'' would detail stories of its differe ...
... and a team-up with he superhero">superhero.html" ;"title="he superhero">he superhero/nowiki> Thor (Marvel Comics)">Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
to stop an invasion of Earth by the Storm Giants of Norse mythology">Norse legend". The character perished in ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book)">The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...
'' vol. 2 #244 (Feb. 1980), a fill-in issue, though it was rebuilt in another story the following decade. Writer Steven Grant recalled:


Fictional character biography

It! the Living Colossus was a 100-foot-tall stone humanoid statue constructed by Moscow sculptor Boris Petrovski to protest the oppressive
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
government. It became animated initially by the mind transferal of a stranded alien from the Kigor race, and rampaged through Moscow. When the alien's rescue party arrived, the Kigors abandoned the Colossus and returned to their homeworld, leaving the statue inanimate. The statue was later transported to
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and reanimated by the Kigors, who used it to attack the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. The Kigors were defeated by Hollywood
special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
designer Bob O'Bryan and the statue was again rendered inanimate. An accident later robbed O'Bryan of the use of his legs, compelling him to use a wheelchair. The statue was stolen by the evil Doctor Vault, who reduced its size from to . Animated by the mind transferal of O'Bryan, It! battled Vault's minions and escaped. It! went on to battle other monster foes. O'Bryan later was cured and married Diane Cummings. The statue became controlled by Doctor Vault and was destroyed in battle with the Hulk. Doctor Vault appeared to die when he was unable to complete the transference of his mind from the statue back into his body. it was rebuilt as a robot for use by O'Bryan in his films. Later, the original It! was reconstituted by O'Bryan under the control of Lotus Newmark. After a battle with
Doctor Doom Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
, It! was lost in the Pacific Ocean near the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...
. O'Bryan lost his connection to both his normal body and It! and his body was left in a vegetative state. Five years later,
Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...
assisted O'Bryan's niece in retrieving the Colossus from the ocean floor and restoring O'Bryan's mind. O'Bryan and It! were being considered as a "potential recruit" for the
Initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...
program. It! later appeared on Monster Isle when
Shadowcat Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (January 1980) and was co-created by wri ...
and Magik appeared to look for a mutant girl named Bo.


Powers and abilities

Bob O'Bryan becomes It! through mind transferal into an animated stone statue and its
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
had been altered by the Kigors. It has tremendous strength, stamina, and durability, as well as the ability to fly via gravity manipulation. As a statue, It! can survive underwater without air. However, it is vulnerable to nerve or knockout gas, which forces the command intelligence back into its original body. "Special
psychokinetic Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
nerve endings" implanted by the Kigors allow It! to be animated, either directly (as with those aliens) or by psychic transference (as with O'Bryan).


Other versions


Clones of It the Living Colossus

Reed Richards Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and ...
made a duplicate of It! using the "Ionic Inanimate Matter Converter". It was sent to oppose the
Cosmic Cube The Cosmic Cube is a fictional object appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. There are multiple Cubes in the Marvel Universe, all of which are depicted as containment devices that can empower whoever wields them. Although th ...
-empowered
Doctor Doom Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
. Another duplicate of It!, as well as a second brown version of the creature, fought on behalf of the terrorist front organization
H.A.T.E. The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...
, defending the secret State 51 installation from the
Nextwave ''Nextwave'' is a humorous comic book series by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, published by Marvel Comics between 2006 and 2007. ''Nextwave'' consistently features extreme violence and comedy, and simultaneously satirizes and celebrates Marvel' ...
squad.


Other characters named It

There have been other characters in the Marvel Universe known as "It". These include: * Roger Kirk, was known as "It, the Thing that Couldn't Die" in ''
Supernatural Thrillers ''Supernatural Thrillers'' was an American horror fiction comic book published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s that adapted classic stories of that genre, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson and H. G. Wells, before becoming a vehicle for a sup ...
'' #1. Kirk had died in 1929 and became a
swamp monster A swamp monster (also variously called a swamp creature, swamp man, swamp thing, or muck monster) is a fictional or mythological creature imagined to lurk in a swamp. Description Some swamp monsters resemble aquatic creatures, while other swamp ...
created from his reanimated skeleton and vegetation which accumulated around his skeleton. It murdered those around it until it fell into a stream, which washed the skeleton clean. * An operation of
Roxxon The Roxxon Energy Corporation (otherwise known as the Roxxon Oil Company, Roxxon Oil Corporation, Roxxon Corporation or simply Roxxon) is the name of a fictional massive petroleum industrial conglomerate in the Marvel Universe appearing in Americ ...
was known as "I.T." and was run by Albert DeVoor. I.T. went under different alias on each world in an effort to ignite a nuclear war between mainstream Marvel Earth (as Inter-Looking Technologies), Earth-A (as Inter-Related Technocracies) and the Fifth Dimension (as Inter-Politan Thermodynamics) in order to generate power for Polemachus (see
Arkon Arkon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the warlord and ruler of the extra-dimensional world of Polemachus. The concept of the character is that he is a hero from the sword-and-sorcery ge ...
). This occurred in ''
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'' #160-163. * In ''
House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...
:
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'' #1,
Ben Grimm Benjamin Jacob Grimm, also known as The Thing, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and ...
, the only survivor of the ill-fated space shuttle flight of Reed Richards and his crew, was captured and named "the It" by Victor von Doom and was a member of the Fearsome Foursome. * In ''
Tales to Astonish ''Tales to Astonish'' is the name of two American comic book series and a One-shot (comics), one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fic ...
'' #92-93, a robot of unknown origins was called "It the Silent One". It was activated on the ocean floor and battled
Namor the Sub-Mariner Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies In ...
. It was destroyed after a collision with a submarine.


Reception

It! The Living Colossus was ranked #27 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.


References


External links


It the Living Colossus
at Marvel.com
It the Living Colossus
at Marvel Database {{DEFAULTSORT:It! The Living Colossus Comics characters introduced in 1961 Characters created by Jack Kirby Fictional characters from Los Angeles Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Fictional golems Fictional humanoids Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics giants Marvel Comics robots Marvel Comics superheroes