Issue(s): Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell #1, Tales To Astonish #10
Cover Date: Dec 05
Title: "Bring on the Bombu! / The return of Monstrollo, the terror of Hollywood / The shadow of Manoo / I was trapped by Titano the monster that time forgot!"
Credits:
Keith Giffen / Peter David / Jeff Parker - Writer
Keith Giffen / Arnold Pander / Russell Braun / Jack Kirby - Penciler
Mike Allred / Arnold Pander / Jimmy Palmiotti / Joe Sinnott - Inker

Review/plot:
This is one of four books that Marvel put out with a Marvel Monsters Group banner in 2005. The other three books take place after the Monster age, but this one follows up on the stories of some of the lesser monsters - Bombu, Monstrollo, and Manoo - during the Monster Age. It also reprints a story from Tales to Astonish by Kirby and Sinnott (writer unknown).

The new stories in this book are inconsequential humor stories that just have a little fun with the characters. I don't have any of their original appearances but it doesn't seem to hurt.

The first story, by Giffen and Allred, does helpfully recap Bombu's first appearance: Bombu's terrorized "primitive savages" with his witch-doctor-like face until he was encountered by some white people and then was inexplicably struck by lightning. He's now admonished by his superior in some humorous dialogue...

...and then he attempts to launch a second attempt at taking over the Earth...

...but he's tased by the police.

Nice retro art by Giffen and Allred.

The second story follows up on a down-on-his-luck movie producer. Previously his special-effect robot, Monstrollo, repelled an alien invasion, but when he told others about that his reputation went down the drain. At the end of this story, Monstrollo is restored by alien slaves that were freed after the failed invasion...

...and the director uses Monstrollo to ensure that he's treated fairly in Hollywood.

Decently cute story. The art is a little overly cartoony for me.

The final new story uses the familiar plot wherein the protagonist tries to warn people of an alien-in-disguise only to eventually learn that he is in fact the alien with amnesia.

"Why Won't They Believe Me?" from Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (linking to a reprint of a reprint of the story) may have been the first use of this plot.

It's a fun story with good art.

In the reprint, a giant crab named Titano is discovered...

...and the humans react by breaking out the lemon garlic butter sauce luring him to the Arctic.

Overall, the book (and really the entire Marvel Monster Group event) falls into the "pointless but fun" category.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: It's possible that due to the style of dress and level of technology (the police have tasers, for example), that these stories were meant to take place more recently, but with Marvel's Sliding Timescale i'm not too worried about it. These stories can basically take place anytime but it works best at a time when there are no active super-heroes.

References:

• A footnote tells us that Bombu first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #60.
  
• There's no footnotes for the other two monsters, but Monstrollo appeared in Tales of Suspense #25 and Manoo in Amazing Adventures #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? Y

My Reprint: N/A

DC had its own Titano; a giant ape with Kryptonite vision who was a fairly regular Superman villain.

"and the humans react by breaking out the lemon garlic butter sauce"

This was literally the first thought I had as well.

You'd think if these were all modern stories (some of which had a humorous tone), that would have been the perfect conclusion - giant monster crab rises from the deep prepared to terrorize humanity, cut to next scene where hundreds of people are having an awesome beachside crab feast.

Also, those cops in the Bombu story are EXACTLY what I would expect cops in the Marvel universe should be like at this point - super-jaded and more than willing to tase or tear gas whatever new would-be super-villain pops up in the middle of town this week.