What is a Wendigo?
2092144#0
Wendigo (occasionally: Wen-Di-Go) is a fictional monster appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Marvel character is based on the Wendigo legend of the Algonquian peoples. The monster first appeared in "The Incredible Hulk" #162 (April 1973), created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe, fighting the Incredible Hulk in the Wendigo's first comic book appearance.
Wendigo (comics)
451642#0
In Algonquian folklore, the wendigo () or windigo is a mythical man-eating monster or evil spirit native to the northern forests of the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes Region of the United States and Canada. The wendigo may appear as a monster with some characteristics of a human or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them become monstrous. It is historically associated with murder, insatiable greed, and the cultural taboos against such behaviours.
Wendigo
2092144#25
Aside from its vast strength, the tissues of the Wendigo's body are considerably stronger than those of a human being, providing it with superhuman durability. A Wendigo's body can resist high caliber machine gun rounds without sustaining injury. If a Wendigo is injured, it can recover from the physical trauma with tremendous speed and efficiency, giving rise to the quote "strike him down and he shall only rise again". The dense fur covering the Wendigo's body grants it immunity to the harsh conditions of the extreme cold weather common in the areas in which the Wendigo has appeared. The Wendigo can be rendered unconscious by sufficient force, such as severe physical injury and trauma, but it has even been able to regenerate from being completely disemboweled. It has even survived its heart being ripped from its chest. However, consumption of a removed heart will confer all powers and even the form of the Wendigo on whoever consumes it. It is not known what effect psionic attacks would have on or against a Wendigo.
Wendigo (comics)
2092144#1
The Wendigo is not one specific person, but instead is the manifestation of a curse that can strike anyone who commits an act of cannibalism in the Canadian north woods. Originally only one person can become the Wendigo at the time, which has led to one Wendigo being cured if another person was struck with the curse. In later years it has been revealed that a pack of Wendigos lived in the Bering Strait. At one point the Wendigo curse infected the Hulk, turning him into Wendihulk, although he was later cured.
Wendigo (comics)
451642#16
As a concept, wendigo can apply to other situations than just Native American-European relations. It can serve as a metaphor explaining any pattern of domination by which groups subjugate and dominate or violently destroy and displace. Joe Lockhard, English professor at Arizona State University, argues that wendigos are agents of "social cannibalism" who know "no provincial or national borders; all human cultures have been visited by shape shifting wendigos. Their visitations speak to the inseparability of human experience . . . National identity is irrelevant to this borderless horror". Lockhard's ideas explain that wendigos are an expression of a dark aspect of human nature: the drive toward greed, consumption, and disregard for other life in the pursuit of self-aggrandizement.
Wendigo
7127336#9
Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half out of four stars. In his review, Ebert wrote, ""Wendigo" is a good movie with an ending that doesn't work. While it was not working I felt a keen disappointment, because the rest of the movie works so well".
Dave Kehr from New York Times gave the film a positive review stating, "As in his previous films, Mr. Fessenden carefully blurs the line between psychology and the supernatural, suggesting that each is strongly implicated in the other. The rampaging Wendigo may be a manifestation of Miles's incipient Oedipal rage, but at the same time it is a force embedded in nature and history. Such abstract notions may put off fans of the genre in its most elemental, slice- and-dice form. But for those in search of something different, "Wendigo" is a genuinely bone-chilling tale".
Felix Vasquez Jr. from "Cinema Crazed.com" gave the film a positive review praising the film's ending and suspense.
AllMovie called the film "effectively creepy" and "surprisingly unsettling", "despite its inherent cheesiness".
Wendigo (film)
2092144#32
The Wendigo makes another appearance in the MC2 imprint of Marvel Comics, an alternate future featuring, among others, the children of existing Marvel superheroes. In an issue of "Wild Thing", Hulk, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and Wolverine's daughter Wild Thing encounter a large number of Wendigos, which turn out to be a lost cub scout troop that had eaten its scoutmaster. Doctor Strange is able to remove the curse from the children and remove their memory of the events.A pack of Wendigos appear in "Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United", watching Hulk and Abomination fight. Wendigos later battle Hulk and Iron Man in a cemetery but the Wendigos are warded off by the two Avengers.
Wendigo (comics)
451642#15
In addition to characterizing individual people who exhibit destructive tendencies, the wendigo can also describe movements and events with similarly negative effects. According to professor Chris Schedler, the figure of the wendigo represents "consuming forms of exclusion and assimilation" through which groups dominate other groups." This application allows Native Americans to describe colonialism and its agents as wendigos, since the process of colonialism ejected natives from their land and threw the natural world out of balance. DeSanti points to the 1999 horror film "Ravenous" as an illustration of this argument equating "the cannibal monster" to "American colonialism and manifest destiny". This movie features a character who articulates that expansion brings displacement and destruction as side effects, explaining that "manifest destiny" and "western expansion" will bring "thousands of gold-hungry Americans . . . over the mountains in search of new lives . . . This country is seeking to be whole . . . Stretching out its arms . . . and consuming all it can. And we merely follow". For a more detailed exploration linking wendigo attributes to colonialism, see Jack D. Forbes's 1978 book "Columbus and Other Cannibals", which was an influential text in the American Indian Movement.
Wendigo
451642#18
The Wendigo appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe, the monster is the result of a curse that afflicts those who commit acts of cannibalism in parts of Canada. The Wendigo first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #162 (April 1973) fighting the Incredible Hulk as well as Wolverine in his first comic book appearance.
Wendigo
2092144#2
While normally depicted as a savage beast with no control, Wendigos have appeared as part of various villainous groups, showing some restraint when not fighting. The Wendigo character has also appeared in several Marvel cartoon series.
Wendigo (comics)