Nick Fury Vs. Fin Fang Foom #1 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 2024, shortly after stepping down as the head writer of Captain America, Marvel Comics announced that J. Michael Straczynski would be crafting an anthology team-up series. There would be no set main character, like with Marvel Two-In-One which saw the Fantastic Four's ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing pairing up with a different character every issue. This twist for the new series would be having 2 changing and unlikely characters interacting with each other. A sneak preview of the first issue showed the cover by Gary Frank depicting Rocket Raccoon dining inside the castle fortress of Doctor Doom!

In December, the idea of a monthly title was scrapped. But instead of Straczynski's hard work being banished to the Marvel vaults, it was decided that a slew of one-and-done specials would be produced. The 'Unlikely Duo One-Shots' would see Spidey taking on not the Sinester Six but a full SIXTEEN, the Voluminous Volstagg assisting Captain America and Ghost Rider offered a chance to be the galactic herald of Galactus. But the book that I absolutely had to have in my collection was the war time meeting of Nick Fury and the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom.

Set in October, 1940, World War II is raging across the globe, but the United States has yet to officially enter the conflict... officially. A few months earlier, Fury and his childhood friend Red Hargrove undertook a clandestine mission to the Netherlands. Now barnstorming throughout Europe in a dilapidated Fokker, Fury is once again recruited by Happy Sam Sawyer to investigate the disappearance of a number of planes owned by an American company in war torn China.

The American company is actually a front for a group of US Army based mercenaries called the Flying Tigers. Planes flying reconnaissance for the Chinese army fighting off the invading Imperial Japanese forces, have disappeared without a trace. Needing fearless pilots with military experience, Fury and Hargrove are perfect to uncover the secret of the missing airplanes. On one such mission, Fury attempts to get a closer look at a mysterious cloud that upon further investigation looks a lot like a dragon. But clouds aren't supposed to be green, have teeth and dive at you from a steep angle at a very high rate of speed!!!

J. Michael Straczynski does a fairly decent job of keeping this story in line with the established Marvel Comics canon. Fury and Hargrove 's first mission for Happy Sam in the Netherlands in Sgt. Fury #7 is referenced several times. Defeated at the hands of American mercenaries, Fin Fang Foom sets his hibernation chamber to reset for reemergence in 1961; the very year the character would make his Marvel debut in the pages of Strange Tales #89. Too bad Straczynski doesn't seem to know American history! The author has the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor a year too early!

Can somebody say 'No Prize?'  Or is this part of a new timeline some fans are debating that will see the Axis powers somehow winning World War II? What unfolds in Stracynski's remaining one-shots due out this Summer could hold the answer.

Featuring artwork by Elena Casagrande. Cover by Gary Frank.

Completing this review completes Task #13 (A war Comic) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Monster Unleashed

When I first heard about this 2017 Marvel crossover, I was pretty excited. The big baddies of Marvel's sci-fi 1950s and 60s like Fin Fang Foom, Goomba and the Creature from the Black Bog were finally gonna rise up against the heroes of the Marvel Universe and reclaim their place as the rightful rulers of earth. It even appeared from some of the earliest artworks that good guys such as Devil Dinosaur were going to rise up against these men in tights. Yet, that wasn't to be the storyline at all.

An invasion by kaiju-like creatures does happen in Monsters Unleashed. However, these behemoths are unlike anything to have ever graced the pages of a Marvel Comic. Planet Earth has been chosen as the newest nest of the Leviathon Queen, a massive crimson egg-laying beast. But before she can settle in, the world must be cleansed of vermin. That means 'bye-bye, pesky humans.' 

The superhuman population assembles on a global scale like never before. Heroes and villains join forces to stop these Leviathons from decimating the planet. That's where the Marvel monsters of the Silver Age of comics step in. They've been biding their time waiting for the chance to conquer our planet and they're not about to let a bunch of extraterrestrial interlopers just swoop in and take the planet from them! 

Monsters Unleashed was unlike any massive crossover event I've ever read from the House of Ideas. For one thing, it was fun. There wasn't any sort of major shock, like the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War. The editors didn't try to add some new character that was going to change the way we looked at people of color or gender or reveal that some beloved established character was now retconned to be furry or something like that. Instead, this storyline was a tribute to the giant monsters of a by-gone era of creativity and thinly veiled fear of the Red Menace of Communism!

The new character that was introduced in this series was a young pre-teen boy named Kei. He has the ability to draw monsters and make them appear and disappear as needed. With this ability, Kei becomes Kid Kaiju (a freakin' awesome 2010s superhero name if I've ever heard one) and perhaps humanity's last hope for salvation against these big nasties.

I really loved how Monsters Unleashed utilized Moon Girl. Having her become a sort of mentor for new hero Kei was a perfect casting choice. Then we have monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone becoming Kei's bodyguard and mentor in a preview of a Monsters Unleashed regular series that continues from where the 5th issue of the miniseries ends. Even though I've got plans to downsize my collection somewhat, I think I'd be more than happy to collect the follow-up series because just like this crossover event, it was fun. 

Okay. Now it's time to pick apart the story a little. With kaijus appearing all over the globe, both villains and protagonist alike, there's a lot of destruction here. Some notable landmarks become piles of rubble, like the Nevada's Hoover Dam, the imperial palace of Wakanda and Johannesburg's FNB Stadium. I've read Marvel stuff from the past 7 years since this story came out. I've not heard about rebuilding efforts from Monsters Unleashed still being a thing in the Marvel Universe. Is superhero calamity reconstruction company Damage Control that good at quick repairs? Or do the magicians of the Marvel Universe like Doctor Strange cast instance rebuild spells? I think what I'm trying to get at is as much as I enjoyed the scenes of massive destruction, the level seen in this book was just too implausible to me.

Cullen Bunn penned a great story that was a thrill ride a minute. Smartly plotted. Hilarious banter. The art was good. Though a lot of the alien kaiju seemed to have googly eyes that made them look more silly that deadly serious. (Was Hobby Lobby having a sale on them?) I did mourn the death of one of Kid Kaiju's creations. The character is only there for like 5 pages and yet I feel in love with them. Hopefully, they'll make a return! Some great variant covers by Arthur Adams appear in the back and they're not to be missed. 

Another gem unearthed at my nearest Ollie's, Monsters Unleashed is an extremely fun read  despite it's over-the-top level of chaos and destruction.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2006 #1, February 2007 (Volume 1)

The Pros: The AIM story that runs throughout the entire issue, the freakin’ hilarious Fin Fang Foom story, and a very interesting tale about Ben Grimm and Anhilius. An added bonus, a Marvel Handbook report on Santa’s role in the Marvel Universe.

Let's not forget to praise this beautiful Norman Rockwell inspired cover of Santa Hulk. So adorable. So fun.

The Cons: It’s a 48-page special. However, 18 pages are filled with either reprints of old Holiday Specials or ads. So, in reality it’s a 32-pager. Had I paid the full $3.99 cover for this issue, I would be soooooo pissed.