Legion of Monsters is the name of different fictional superhero teams 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 ...

Publication history

The Legion of Monsters first appeared in Marvel Comics chronology in ''

Marvel Premiere ''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own seri ...

'' #28 (February 1976) and was created by

Bill Mantlo William Timothy Mantlo (born November 9, 1951) is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: ''Micronauts'' and ''Ro ...

Frank Robbins Franklin Robbins (September 9, 1917 – November 28, 1994) was an American comic book and comic strip artist and writer, as well as a prominent painter whose work appeared in museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, where one of his p ...

, and

Steve Gan Steve Gan (born May 22, 1945) is a Chinese-born Filipino comics artist. He is best known for co-creating Panday with Carlo J. Caparas and Marvel Comics' Star-Lord and Skull the Slayer. Biography Steve Gan was born as Santos S. Gan but changed h ...

. Unrelated to the team, The Legion of Monsters was also used as a banner name for two magazines, ''The Legion of Monsters'' #1 (September 1975) and ''

Marvel Preview ''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group. Publica ...

'' #8 (September 1976), both of which featured multiple stories starring some of Marvel's monster characters.

Fictional team biography

Legion of Monsters (1976)

The first version of the Legion of Monsters were united by chance to investigate the appearance of a strange being called The Starseed. Although the being was benevolent,

Morbius, the Living Vampire Morbius the Living Vampire, real name Michael Alexander Morbius, M.D.,''Morbius the Living Vampire'' (vol. 1) #1. Marvel Comics. Ph.D., is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy ...

and the

Werewolf by Night The Werewolf by Night (usually referred to by other characters simply as the Werewolf) is the name applied to two fictional characters who are werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of We ...

were overcome by their hungers and attacked it. The

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

intervened, as the Starseed was unable to overcome his fear of 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 ...

and was burned by it. The dying Starseed attempted to cure the Legion of their monstrous forms, but was too weak and died minutes later. Tired of fighting, and disappointed in their actions, the team split up, although they barely acknowledged even being a team in the first place.

Legion of Monsters (2010)

A new version of the Legion of Monsters was formed by Morbius the Living Vampire, the Werewolf by Night, and the Man-Thing. They are joined by

N'Kantu, the Living Mummy N'Kantu the Living Mummy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character's first run was from 1973 to 1975, and was based on the popular undead mummy trope of horror fiction. Publication his ...

and the

Manphibian Manphibian is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He has some resemblance to the " Gill Man" seen in ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''. Publication history Manphibian first appeared in ''Legion o ...

. They came together to protect monsters from the Hunter of Monster Special Forces and send the monsters into the Morlock Tunnels to the Monster Metropolis. They first appeared when the Moloids that work for the Man-Thing find the decapitated parts of the

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

(who was sliced up by

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

's son

Daken Daken (; birth name: Akihiro) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daken was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in '' Wolverine: Origins'' #10 (March 2007). ...

) and Morbius reassembles him as FrankenCastle. The Punisher joins up with the Legion of Monsters to help protect the Monster Metropolis from the Hunter of Monster Special Forces where FrankenCastle fights the Hunter of Monster Special Forces' leader, Robert Hellsgaard. The Werewolf by Night and N'Kantu the Living Mummy are shown fighting the Dimensional Man.

Elsa Bloodstone Elsa Bloodstone is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appears in Marvel's ''Bloodstone'' mini-series of 2001 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. She is the daughter of the previously ...

teleported to Monster Metropolis with a dead monster that was corrupted with evil energies. The Legion of Monsters later help the

Red Hulk Red Hulk is an alias that is used by different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. While the first two were created from members of the United States army, the third one is a form of Hulk's Joe Fixit ...

overcome the panicked monsters at the time when the Red Hulk had journeyed to the Monster Metropolis. With the help of

Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...

, the Red Hulk and the Legion of Monsters discover that the spirit that has been bothering the Red Hulk is the insane evil side of

Doc Samson Doc Samson (Leonard Skivorski Jr.) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a superhero and psychiatrist in the Marvel Universe, known as a supporting character in ...

(referred to as Dark Samson) which has not passed into the next life. Using a ghost entrapment device, the Red Hulk and the Legion of Monsters were able destroy the Dark Samson spirit by ripping the Dark Samson spirit in half. The Red Hulk and the Legion of Monsters did a toast to honor Doc Samson after that.''Hulk'' vol. 2 #52

Members

Legion of Monsters (1976)

- Leader *

Legion of Monsters (2010)

- Leader *

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

* FrankenCastle - A

version of Punisher. *

* Satana *

Shiklah Shiklah is a fictional character that appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She was married to Deadpool, but they've recently become estranged, and she married Dracula instead. Publication history The character first appe ...

* Simon Garth, the Zombie

In other media

*The Legion of Monsters makes a cameo in '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'' during Jill Valentine's character ending. The Legion of Monsters is seen ambushing

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

and Jill forcing the two to team up to fight them. *Three Legion of Monster members: Morbius, The Living Mummy, and Man-Thing appear in ''

Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xb ...

Collected editions

References

External links

Legion of Monsters
at Marvel Wiki
Legion of Monsters
at Comic Vine {{Man-Thing Marvel Comics superhero teams