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It! The Living Colossus is a fictional character appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
. Initially a statue animated by a hostile extraterrestrial, he
first appeared In 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 interest in fir ...
in the
science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...
anthology series ''
Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series, and two one-shot comics, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for s ...
'' #14 (Feb. 1961), in a story drawn by
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
(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 Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...
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 ...
of a short-lived feature, in which he was animated by a wheelchair-using special-effects 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, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for s ...
'' #14 (Feb. 1961), published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
' 1950s and early 1960s forerunner, Atlas Comics. Penciled by industry legend
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
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 A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fea ...
'' #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 Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...
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 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 author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...
story "It!" in '' Supernatural Thrillers'' #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 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 ' ...
, 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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...
'' #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. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...
: 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. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...
. 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, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...
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 and Googam ... and a team-up with he superhero">superhero.html" ;"title="he superhero">he superhero/nowiki> Thor (Marvel Comics)">Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, 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 g ...
to stop an invasion of Earth by the Storm Giants of Norse mythology">Norse legend". The character was killed 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 ...
'' 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and reanimated by the Kigors, who used it to attack the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
. The Kigors were defeated by Hollywood special effects 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.''Astonishing Tales'' #22-24 (February - June 1974) O'Bryan later was cured and married Diane Cummings. The statue became controlled by Doctor Vault and was destroyed in battle with the
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 (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...
. Doctor Vault died 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 Doom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' The Fantastic Four'' #5 in April 1962, and has since endured as the arch ...
, It! was lost in the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
near the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
. 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 a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...
assisted O'Bryan's niece in retrieving the Colossus and restoring O'Bryan's mind. O'Bryan and It! were being considered as a "potential recruit" for the
Initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...
program. It! later appeared on Monster Isle when Shadowcat and
Magik Magik (Illyana Nikolaievna Rasputina) (Russian language, Russian: Ильяна Николаевна Распутина) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cock ...
appeared to look for a
mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...
girl named Bo.


Powers and abilities

Bob O'Bryan becomes It! through mind transferal into an animated stone statue and its composition 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 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

Reed Richards 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 Doom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' The Fantastic Four'' #5 in April 1962, and has since endured as the arch ...
. 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., defending the secret State 51 installation from
Nextwave ''Nextwave'' is a comedy comic book ongoing series, series by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, published by Marvel Comics between 2006 and 2007. ''Nextwave'' consistently features extreme violence and comedy, and simultaneously satire, satirizes ...
.


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