Ten Lesser Known Bronze Age Monsters

This week we will be celebrating Halloween here in the states, so what better way to do that on Flashback Universe than by presenting some of my favorite C-List and D-List creature comics from the Bronze Age? Sure you know Man-Thing and Ghost Rider but how many of these old school monsters do you remember?

1. Man-Bat

 
I know, I know. He's actually pretty well known, but let's call this one a gimme. Recently, Grant Morrison has used the character (premise) in his Batman run, but doesn't Man-bat seem like a perfect candidate from his own series? (Or at least one of the replacement titles they seem to be pushing out in quarterly waves now.)

2. The Scarecrow (from Dead in the Night )

At some point Marvel decided to start calling this character Straw Man (probably to make sure they could capitalize on his huge (huge I say!) fan base and not worry about legal back and forth with DC's similarly named character.

3. The Golem (from Strange Tales)

Despite only a handful of Bronze Age appearances, this character hasn't completely faded into obscurity. In 2002, he appeared in Brian K. Vaughn's The Hood mini-series and then in 2006 in Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. This character is not related to the Golem character than appeared in a few Invaders issues.

4. The Creature Commandos (Weird War)

Young Jim Shelley had no interest in War comics, so I completely missed this when it was in the Spinner Racks. I always forget about it now that I'm older, but it really looks like something I would dig.

5. IT The Living Colossus (Astonishing Tales)

Marvel's only Godzilla sized monster, IT!  is one of the few Marvel monsters who never managed to make an appearance in either Marvel Team-Up or Marvel Two-In-One. I suppose his (very) limited run and huge size both worked against him.

6. Simon Garth, The Living Zombie

Marvel has tried a couple of times to relaunch this character in these Zombie-favorable times. In 2006 with a 4 issue mini-series written by Mike Raicht which was followed up by another 4 issue mini-series by Eric Powell. However, neither of those minis came close to Walking Dead numbers, so there's less life in the Living Zombie than his name would suggest. I wonder if this premise would make a popular television show?

7. The Patchwork Man (House of Secrets)

Staggering out of the pages of Swamp Thing, The Patchwork Man didn't last long on his own. I seem to remember picking up this comic in my local 7-11 and being sort of freaked out by the cover (or something.)

8. Manphibian

He may have not held his own title, but this Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired monster did manage to get star billing on the first (and only?) black and white issue of Legion of Monsters.

9. The Living Mummy (Supernatural Thrillers)

Despite being another one of the lesser known Marvel Monsters, The Living Mummy had a pretty long run compared to some of the other people on this list. He also appeared in Marvel Two-In-One.

10. Lilith, Daughter of Dracula

What puzzles me about this character is, unless I'm mistaken, she's wholly owned by Marvel. So, why haven't we seen her more over the years (y'know, with all the interest in Vampires now?)

So, how many of those did you remember?
Was there someone you think I should have included?

Have a Happy Halloween!

- Jim