Manoo

“No! No! Don't —”

History: Manoo was an alien law officer in pursuit of a dangerous criminal of his race. In his search, Manoo hid on Earth in human form. The alien criminal crashed his spaceship on Earth; the injured alien tricked young Billy Jones, telling him that he was the law officer and that Manoo was the criminal fugitive. Giving Jones an “electro-ray gun”, the evil alien sent Jones to find Manoo, telling him to kill Manoo because Manoo was a threat to Earth. Finding the disguised Manoo, Jones did not have the heart to kill him. Manoo revealed the truth, then he and Jones returned to the alien criminal. Manoo fought with the criminal, and with Jones help, Manoo won. Manoo left with the unconscious criminal, giving Jones a large gemstone as a reward for helping him.

In a modern retelling of this story, it was a criminal Manoo who came to Earth and took on the identity (via holographic illusions) of Billie Jones, a female student at Farnsworth College. He believed himself to actually be Billie, until alien enforcers shined a light and showed “Billie” her true shadow…the shadow of Manoo!

Height: 8 ft.

Demonstrated Powers: Manoo could alter his form to disguise himself in human form, but would cast no shadow once disguised. It is unknown if this ability was unique to Manoo; the criminal, although coming from the same race as Manoo, demonstrated no special powers.

Equipment: Spaceship, Electro-ray gun

Comment: Manoo's appearance in the story bears little resemblence to his appearance on the cover shot.

Comment: Manoo should not be confused with the gorilla Man-oo the Mighty introduced in Jungle Action # 1.

This Manoo should not be confused with the semi-sentient ape of the same name, whose adventures were depicted in several JUNGLE ACTION reprints, in the 1970's.* And, who bears such a convenient resemblance to DC's “Congorilla.”

OK, here's a stretch - what if the alien Manoo WAS the ape Manoo; the alien did take on human-form, so who's to say he didn't once disguise himself in ape-form while on a special mission in the jungles of Earth?

…or maybe the ape Manoo was one of a race of intelligent gorillas from “The Gorilla from Outer Space” in Tales of Suspense # 36 (art by Steve Ditko).

I have just notifced a rather odd piece of plagarism in the story 'The Shadow of Manoo' from the recent Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell.
While this is ostensibly a sequel to a story from Amazing Adventures #2, the entire plotline of the new story appears to have been completely ripped off of Stan Lee's 'Why Wont They Believe Me'?, which I have as a Tale of the Watcher from Silver Surfer #3 (1968), but was itself apparently first published in Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (1961).
Why wasn't Stan Lee given any credit for this story? Did he nick it himself of some pulp SF magazine?

I wrote the story “The Shadow of Manoo,” and the only thing I referenced was the original story, thanks to this blog. I never read the Tale of the Watcher story you mention, but I'll look for it now. I promise you I didn't rip anything off.

Comment on Manoo

* Name and email address are required. Don't worry about spam — your email address will not be shared with anyone. Only your name and Web site address will appear with your message.

Comment on Manoo