Before the Fantastic Four, the Marvel Universe was a strange place. After the various members of the Invaders (and All-Winners Squad) disappeared, the humans of Earth were left to fend for themselves against all the various aliens of the galaxy.
Goom was one of those aliens, and here is his story.
Tales Of Suspense #15 (March, 1961)
In his first appearance (by
Stan Lee,
Larry Leiber,
Jack Kirby and
Dick Ayers), "Goom! The Thing From Planet X!" came to menace Earth after being drawn there by the broadcasts of scientist Mark Langley. Langely and his wife Helen confronted the monster, as it then showed Earth its various powers. Langley felt any society advanced enough for space travel should be a peaceful one, so he broadcasted again, earning the ire of Earth officials, who plan to execute him. Langley was right, as other aliens arrived to stop the execution, take custody of Goom and leave.
But, this was not the end of Goom!
Tales Of Suspense #17 (May, 1961)
Goom hadn't finished with Earth, as the Langleys had to "Beware Of Googam, Son Of Goom!" (by
Stan Lee,
Larry Leiber,
Jack Kirby and
Dick Ayers). Goom left behind his offspring, Googam, in a cave, and it slowly began to mature. Leaving the cave, Googam found Billy Langley, the son of Mark and Helen, and took him hostage at the Langley home, waiting to mature to menace the Earth as his father did. If Billy hadn't managed to trick the alien into following him in a game of tag, then leading Googam into quicksand, the Earth would have been doomed!
Still, Goom himself would return!
A duplicate of Goom would return to menace the Hulk in
Hulk Annual #5 (October, 1976), along with other monstrous duplicates of
Groot, the Blip, Diablo and
Taboo (all created by Xemmu, the Living Titan), but (after a meeting with Venus in the
Marvel Valentine Special and later retroactive adventures with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers) the real Goom would join with Groot, the Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, the
Gorilla Man (and more) in Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. Goom even faced Kitty Pryde and Magik in the Uncanny X-Men, and returned again with other monsters to menace the whole Marvel Universe during the Monsters Unleashed event!
Goom also appeared in Marvel # 4 (2021) in the story "Where Monsters Smell."
ReplyDeleteThe Googam story was also reprinted in Where Monster Dwell # 16 (1972), which I have in my collection. The Gil Kane cover makes Googam look way more menacing.