Publisher: Marvel Comics Type: One Shot | Status: Finished Publication Date: July, 1974 |
1 issue • 4 images • 1 reprinted issue |
"Giant-Size Creatures", sometimes listed as "Giant-Size Werewolf", was the first issue of a comic book series from Marvel Comics. One of several series that resulted from Marvel's attempt to cash in on the 1970's horror boom, including "Giant-Size Dracula" and "Werewolf by Night, "Creatures" premiered in July 1974. The Mighty Marvel Checklist for that month read: "Werewolf meets Were-Woman!"
The text piece "Tigra's Year," by scripter Tony Isabella, detailed how Tigra came about:1974. The Chinese Year of the Tiger has just begun as I compose these works. Ironic, that.
I don't know about you people out there in Marveldom Assembled, but I can't shake the feeling that 1974 is the year something happens. No, not just one thing, a whole kaboodle of things. We're being forced to take a look at our waning natural resources. In the United States, the man who holds the highest governemnt office them all -- the real biggie -- is being called upon to fully explain his actions or face the consequences. All around the world, the shooting matches seem to be winding down. Heaven forbid, we might conceivably end up in the middle of peace on Spaceship Earth.
On a much more personal level, felt more by you and I than Earth Proper, the comic book industry is changing. The much-cried-over paper shortage hit us where it hurts. We're experimenting with bigger comic books at more realistic prices. We have to. We're changing and, getting to the point of this piece, Tigra the Were-Woman is part of that fast-approaching change. We hope.
Tigra grew out of many factors. First among these was my being an incurable fan for Marvel comics. I hate loose ends. I hate to see characters put out to pasture needlessly. I hate to leave any series or type of series left untried. We'll tie those various personality quirks up for you in just a few more lines.
Less than two years ago, Marvel tried to establish the adventure heroine as a vital part of our line with such titles as NIGHT NURSE, SHANNA, THE SHE DEVIL, THE CAT. To be perfectly frank, we bombed. None of these books lasted more than five issues. I had just started working at Marvel when the cancellations were handed down by the business folks and felt pretty bad about it. One of the goals I had set for myself was to do my bit for improving the image of the women that appeared in our comics.
So, when I started thinking of possible ideas for new series for submission to Executive Editor Roy Thomas, I devoted a certain portion of my thoughts to dreaming up an adventure heroine. That wasn't easy by a long shot. We had tried superheroine, jungle goddess, and nurse; they hadn't made it. I looked at our current line and found something very interesting. The supernatural was very big. Monsters, vampires, werewolves...
Werewolves. Yeah. How about a female werewolf? Not exactly a werewolf. Some other kind of were-creature. Cats. That's it. Cats are sensuous and all. Maybe a whole race of Cat People. And a human woman who becomes one of them. And...
You get the idea. I was throwing ideas out one after another to see which ones appealed to me. My target was Duffy Vohland -- friend, fan, and one of the most prolific letter column writers I know. Poor Duffy watched me pacing and shouting out ideas and got caught up with this madness himself. The ideas continued to flow.
We need a name. For some reason, I remembered a bit in My Fair Lady -- for crying out loud -- in which Henry Higgins calls Eliza Dolittle a hellcat. Hellcat. Wasn't that the name Roy once told me he'd considered for the above-mentioned Cat?
Hellcat was my working title. Next, I had to figure out who the human woman would be. Hellcat. The Cat. Duffy shouted it out while I was swiftly arriving at the same conclusion. Why not turn the Cat into the Hellcat? Yeah.
Remember my dislike of loose ends? Well, now I had a chance to patch up a few of those odious things left lingering in the Cat book. Dr. Tumulo became a member of the Cat People and the possessor of unknown secrets. Secrets the bad guys wanted. The Cat would interfere and, for some reason or another, would become Hellcat. I was ready to see Roy.
I am in awe of Roy Thomas. I freely admit this and will not let him remove that sentence -- unless he wants to risk a pizza in the face. I took him the sketchy ideas I had and he flew with them. He came up with the name Tigra the Were-Woman. He kept me thinking in terms of combining the science of the Cat People with their equally mysterious sorcery, which led to a much more interesting origin sequence than I had originally planned. Finally, he gave me a palce to try out Tigra -- this issue of GIANT-SIZE CREATURES FEATURING WEREWOLF BY NIGHT -- and sent me into the twilight to write the thing.
Addendum: when I got hung up over some villains for the story -- an idea about a race of Rat People was making me groan -- Roy suggested I use one of my favorite super-villain groups ever...Hydra. Werewolf and Were-Woman vs. Hydra? The idea grabbed me. Hydra was big enough to have stumbled on the existence of the Cat People and mean enough to go after their secrets. Perfect.
When the plot was finished, Roy called in Gil Kane to design the new character. Gil's original sketch, done while Roy and I prompted him, is reproduced here. You can see where Gil showed us that a lion has a different nose than a tiger. Not only is Gil a pretty fair artist, he knows his zoology. With some additional work by Gil, John Romita, and Don Perline, Tigra was finalized. Don got my plot and proceeded to do wonderful things with it. You hold the result in your hand. I hope you liked them as much as I did. This is a book I'm proud of.
Like I said before, I can't shake the feeling that 1974 is going to be something. It may see comics establish their place in American culture more firmly than ever before. I hope comics starring women -- especially starring Tigra the Were-Woman -- become a viable part of this industry. In short, I hope this will be the Year of the Tigra!
That's largely up to you. If you want to see more of Tigra, we ask you to write. Let us know. We'll be more than willing to locate a magazine she can call her home.
1974. Maybe.
See Also
These stories were also printed by Comics VF in France:
- Satan #16 "Tigra - Belle comme la nuit"
- L'Insolite #2 "Le Loup-Garou - Les compagnons de Baal"
- L'Insolite #4 "Le Loup-Garou - La nuit du Loup-Garou"
- L'Insolite #6 "Le loup-garou - Le vampire vivant"
- Etranges Aventures #69 "La nuit du Loup-Garou - Moi, le Loup-Garou"