Science tells us that the earth is six billion years old, formed from a clump of dust which coalesced into a solid planetoid where water eventually formed and amino acids and electricity created the spark of life. An old shaman will tell you that the world was created when Turtle pushed some dirt onto his back to cool down, then splashed some water on it by accident. And the Sorcerer Supreme will tell you that the key to understanding magic is that these two stories are both true, despite their obvious contradictory nature.
They had names for them in the old days: “leviathan,” “aspidochelone,” “tarrasque,” jasconius,” “turisas,” “yacomama,” the Rainbow Fish, the Jormungandr and the Hydra. There were of course other monsters who had those names, but the fastitocoloni were mistaken for all of them at one point or another. When the great beasts of the sea had back-itches, they would rub up against undersea cliffs and push them upwards, creating hills and mountains where there was previously only flat land. When they played with one another in the ocean, they created tsunami. One time, when a lunatic human successfully hunted one of them, the corpse floated out to a part of the ocean that was empty, and it eventually became Greenland.
Eventually they all disappeared and life grew a little duller. People invented interesting things that made the world a smaller place – tall ships, telegraphs, digital watches, the Internet, that sort of thing. The hidden corners of the world grew fewer and fewer, and certainly there were no places remaining where the legendary sea monsters might still lurk.
Which is why it’s awfully surprising when a group of five fastitocoloni surface near Okinawa for a few minutes – causing a tidal wave that causes billions of dollars in damages to a good chunk of the Pacific Rim. They’re even larger than they were in olden times – the smallest one is the size of Manhattan Island! – and when it becomes clear that they’re real everybody starts to panic. Especially when it becomes clear they’re headed for major fish populations, and it looks like these big boys’ idea of a light snack would probably drive more than a few major species of fish to extinction. The world’s gotten too small for the leviathans.
Killing them is difficult enough (as many armed forces soon discover), but would Doctor Strange want to kill them if he could herd them offworld instead? After all, they’re not trying to hurt anybody. Really, they’re quite peaceful as giant sea monsters go. Surely if they left Earth once, they could do it again, right?
Of course, that in turn begs the question: where did they go? And where did they come back from? Was it the same place? And how did they get here? And was it just a fluke, an accident, or did somebody do this on purpose? And how do you get them to leave?
Top comment: Well, from the art you used on this entry, I say Dr. Strange taps one blue for an Unsummon spell. — malakim2099
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Gammera is friend to children.
It’s Dr. Strange meets King of the Monsters! Woo. I want to read your comics so much, it’s killing me. :-p
The obvious answer is to keep them as pets.
I bet the answer is that they’re part of an interdimensional catch and release program.
“One time, when a lunatic human successfully hunted one of them, the corpse floated out to a part of the ocean that was empty, and it eventually became Greenland”
Lunatic? Or AWESOME??
One time, when a lunatic human successfully hunted one of them, the corpse floated out to a part of the ocean that was empty, and it eventually became Greenland.
For some reason my brain switched that to “Graceland”, and then I couldn’t stop laughing.
“And how do you get them to leave?”
Call up Namor on the Defenders Hotline?
Well, from the art you used on this entry, I say Dr. Strange taps one blue for an Unsummon spell. 😉
But I have to say that your ideas are far fresher than anything I’ve actually seen Marvel DO with Doctor Strange recently.
Get the Sentry to toss one into the Sun. Fish & chips for everybody!
I want to see this so badly. I have a giant soft spot for Namor and can only assume he’d have something to say about it.
And Namor and Strange can get trapped in the bully of one of the creatures and they can pass the time playing Magic: The Gathering.
Man, Namor is high on my list of people never to game with. He’s a jerk as is! Imagine how he’ll react when I swarm him with Thallids…
Haha, the logo is from a Magic card again. That makes these essays even more awesome
Poor Japan. Is Monster Season not bad enough for them?
“Haha, the logo is from a Magic card again. That makes these essays even more awesome”
Well of course. One of the upcoming plot threads is about how Magic: The Gathering is actually a passive test by (Insert somewhat benign seeming but possibly sinister council here) for affinity to magic. (Not the game itself, as the rules of magic are too logical, but rather one’s reaction to the the cards and the specific interplays between cards: ironically the people they are looking for mostly end up constructing poor Magic decks by traditional metrics.)
(And yes, I realize that card game as actual magic is more of a Yu-Gi-Oh thematically. Except that’s a more logical style of magic the MGK wants.)
“And was it just a fluke”
Bad! Bad fish pun! You did that on porpoise!
I’m forced to admit that this series of posts has me not only interesting in Dr. Strange for the first time ever, but actually aching to read these storylines.
Damn you, hypothetical awesomeness! Damn you!
“One time, when a lunatic human successfully hunted one of them”
For the sake of awesome, that lunatic must be revealed to be the man the bible referred to as Jonas.
The names of these things makes them sound Italian. I wonder if they’re any good on pasta?
I think you mean “Jonah,” unless you wanted the guy to be singing teen-friendly pop songs while he did it.
Duh–you call the space whales from Star Trek IV to come by and pick them up.
On the other hand… space whale monster sushi could probably feed most of the world for quite some time. Specially if you were able to transport one of those things into some Ice plane for storage.
Dr. Strange’s Sushi Bar and Cabana Grill?
Or are they an extinct species?
This would explain why the good Doctor is friends with conventional heroes: “Anyone have any spare Pym Particles?”
Of course, the fact that he wants to make them BIGGER would confuse a lot of folks…
Why, Middle Earth, of course.
For the sake of awesome, that lunatic must be revealed to be the man the bible referred to as Jonas.
I think you mean “Jonah,” unless you wanted the guy to be singing teen-friendly pop songs while he did it.
ooh..I sense a tie in with Night Cat!
“For the sake of awesome, that lunatic must be revealed to be the man the bible referred to as Jonas.
I think you mean “Jonah,” unless you wanted the guy to be singing teen-friendly pop songs while he did it.”
Are you suggesting that wouldn’t make it even better (and give an obvious indication of his lunacy)?
I’d’ve settled for giant sorceror sea kittens wanting to set up a tasty cakes shop, but giant isopods? Ick! Put some pink fur and giant googly eyes on those bastards, quick. Giant space isopds are ok, though.
Isn’t Greenland much, much larger than Manhattan?
Yes.
But not larger than Marvel Manhattan.
Also: giant isopods and celaphods are better than kittens any day.
Bodies tend to bloat a bit after death.
Note that it “eventually” became Greenland. It probably acquired detritus and driftwood and other stuff that got attached to it over the course of a unknown number of years.
MGK,
You are absolutely correct. I did mean Jonah.
However, I would not be adverse to seeing you write about the Jonas Brothers being eaten by a giant sea creature either. As long as they stay eaten.
I thought you guys were talking about My Name is Jonas. Mmm early Weezer
i love this idea so much. there needs to be more of the Sublime – the fear of large things
what happens when you eat its flesh?
Can the Illuminati hold a meeting to talk about this problem? And during the meeting, can they all turn around to see Quint scratching on a chalkboard, offering to hunt down this thing?
OR…
You should ditch this whole Dr. Strange idea, and just write about Quint.Because Quint fuckin’ rocks.
You know, Ahab probably hunted these guys once or twice (As everyone knows, Ahab was one of the many secret identities of Ulysses Solomon Bloodstone). And if anyone would’ve been taught how to deal with these things, it’d be his daughter.
Yes. Yes I am mentioning how to tie Nextwave in.
“Isn’t Greenland much, much larger than Manhattan?”
Well he did say the smallest was larger than Manhattan. Who knows how big the really big ones get?
They went back upstream to spawn. These aren’t the originals they’re the next generation, on the next step of the lifecycle. Newborns. Wait till you see the predator for them. Rocs? Rocs are gnat sized compared to the Albatross. That parable about the bird grinding it’s beak on the mountain for eternity? They are what that bird eats. That mountain? Inside is the Universe that replaces the Universe that replaces this one.
Unsummon wouldn’t work. Inkwell Leviathan has shroud.