Art by Ramon Villalobos
- Name: Robert Herman
- Code Names: Glob Herman, Glob, The Inhuman Torch (he is the only one to call himself that)
- First Appearance: New X-Men #117 (Oct 01)
- Powers: Body made of Bio-paraffin Wax, Superhuman Strength & Resilience
- Team Affiliation: Omega Gang, Hellfire Academy, X-Men
About
Created by Grant Morrison & Ethan Van Sciver as a piece of wallpaper for the newly revamped Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, this living bowl of Jell-O actually made it to the big screen before classic X-Men like Gambit, Jubilee, and Quicksilver. Proving that a unique design goes a long way in the mutant world.
X-Men The Last Stand had some weird cameos, Phat from X-Statix was there too
Glob Herman, the ooze with a visible heart of gold, got caught up in the wrong crowd in high school and started doing drugs. Instead of just neglecting his school work and giving him a hankering for some Doritos, the drug Kick (actually a sentient alien bacteria that was manipulating everything in Morrison’s run to cause an anti-mutant apocalypse) amplified the users mutant powers and aggression. Thanks to the organization of his friend Quentin Quire, Glob was a major player in the infamous Riot at Xavier’s where he set himself on fire and ran around not being very useful.
Art by Frank Quitely
After the adults took control, Glob and the other survivors from the riot got sentenced to doing good things around the globe. Glob mellows out in Africa helping the needy and gets lucky when the Scarlet Witch decided to ruin everything for everyone with her little panic attack. Being one of 198ish remaining mutants in the world, Glob came back to the X-Men and started showing up again in San Francisco (honestly I can’t remember anything happening referencing him between Riot and the San Francisco so I am basing that last bit off Wikipedia and the Marvel Wiki, both of which say citation needed for the Africa stuff). Old habits die hard and Glob got involved in the riots during the Utopia event. He didn’t do anything of note for a while and headed east to the Jean Grey School after the Schism.
Art by Marc Silvestri
During a mission to the Savage Land (because the X-Men only have field trip forms for there, the ruins of Genosha, and Limbo) Glob got seduced by Sauron to defect from the JGS to the newly established Hellfire Academy. He was unhappy with the education he was receiving at the Jean Grey School and expected to get a higher quality one at an institute where one of the teachers was a pteranodon in never nude shorts. Glob isn’t the smartest kid. While at the Academy, Glob was subjected to the Seige Perilous, had his strength enhanced, and his mind hypnotized to follow the orders of the Inner Circle. He was distraught when ordered to attack and kill his friend Quire. It took being eaten by a Krakoa to snap him out of it. Lucky for Glob, he is very resilient.
Art by Nick Bradshaw
As, what can be assumed to be punishment, Glob is assigned to Spider-Man’s special class at the Jean Grey School. There he has a role model who believes in him and finally figures out that he wants to be a good guy. Glob is currently work in X-Haven helping the remaining mutants recover from the M-Pox pandemic. Jeff Lemire, the writer of Extraordinary X-Men, has said he has plans for Globby.
Must Read
Glob is a rough character to recommend because he has been in the background for so long. Riot at Xavier’s is great but that is Quire’s story. E is for Extinction from Secret Wars had the best drawn Glob ever (thanks to an amazing Ramon Villalobos) but he is just set dressing. If you want the best story for Glob, make it the recent Spider-Man and the X-Men series by former Daily Show head writer Elliot Kalan with art by Marco Failla. This book takes Glob and gives him a realistic arc to turn him into a hero for good. It is a funny book even if it gives some questionable characterization to the senior staff at the Jean Grey School. You can find these issues on Marvel Unlimited or out in one trade titled Spider-Man and the X-Men.
Art by Stacy Lee
Ranking
Glob is just one of many well loved minor characters in the world of the X-Men. He hasn’t had enough staring roles to put him above major players but how can you not love a guy willing to strap himself to the front of a rocket and act as a human heat shield?
Art by Marco Failla
He has gone from a cool character design, to a dumb brute, to a real hero in the last 15 years. He is a character that demands to be loved and is going to be in the spotlight someday. He just needs the perfect writer to give him a chance. For now he is going right under Rachel as the number 2 X-Men character in the Xavier Files.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
