Monstro

History: Monstro was an ordinary octopus that strayed within the waters where a Communist nation was conducting atomic bomb tests. The radioactivity of the atomic fallout caused the octopus to grow to gigantic proportions, and it then went on to attack nearby sea ports. Professor Mark Faraday, an American scientist, examined Monstro and theorized that the effects of the radioactivity would wear off in a 24-hour period, returning the octopus to normal size

Height: 100 ft.
Demonstrated Powers: Monstro was an ordinary octopus that was temporarily altered by the effects of atomic radiation. Monstro had proporionately greater strength while under the effects of the radiation.

Comment: Professor Mark Faraday had a slight resemblence to an early version of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.

Comment: Speculation - It is possible that the radioactive fallout from the atomic bomb contained “Pym particles” (sub-atomic particles discovered by scientist Henry Pym (see The Man In The Ant Hill) which could alter the physical size of beings and objects) which would account for the Monstro's temporary increase in size.

Comment: This story reminds me of the 1955 movie It Came From Beneath the Sea.

Comment: Monstro should not be confused with Monstro the ape-creature from Journey Into Mystery # 54, nor with the circus ape Monstro from Journey Into Mystery # 92.

Comment: Monstro should not be confused with the giant Monstro the Mighty introduced in Comedy Comics # 10 (June 1942).

Comment: Monstro should not be confused with Kid Monstro (the sidekick of Monster Man) from Ted Silverberg's TV series seen in Marvel Two-In-One # 78.

I tried to apply sizes to the same monsters in my personal database. I was only able to make estimates based on what was seen on the covers of certain comics, because I could not afford to buy the old issues myself. However, In Tales of Suspense #8 shown on the cover “Monstro” has an entire ship resting on his tentacle. I agree the splash page from your wonderful site shows him a lot smaller. Cover estimates would likely put him at over 1000 feet in length tentacle to tentacle, and according to the splash page he/she/it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 250-300 feet in length tentacle to tentacle. Does anyone have a theory on calculating his length?

I base the sizes of the creatures on an average of their height in the story in comparison to common objects shown. However, since the creature's height often varies from story panel to story panel, the monster's “true” size is, of course, debatable, so your guess is as good as mine.

A similar giant octopus called the KRAKEN was featured in TALES TO ASTONISH #93 and SUB-MARINER #27.

This was a good story that dealt with the monster as well as the pressure of the cold war.
I remember some mistrust and begrudging about consulting an American scientist.
I liked the depiction of the giant octopuss. He was awesome.

There are giant octopi created by a unnamed mad scientist in Marvel Mystery Comics#33(7/42) golden age Vision story.Possible octopi(normal size/giant size/robots?) in Marvel Mystery Comics#53(3/44) Sub-Mariner story and Human Torch Comics#13(fall/43) Sub-Mariner story.

Monstro shouldn't be confused with the japanese villian Monstro[All-Winners Comics#14(win/44-45)that Captain America fought.

In Avengers West Coast Annual#4(1989) there is a Giant Sea-Beast(octopus/squid) that Neptune left behind to guard a part of the Elder God Set's soul.

In Incredible Hulk #77 (current series), the Hulk went to Monster Island and battled a giant octopus off of the coast of the Island. Could this have been an updated Monstro?

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