Marvel’s dragon-creature Fin Fang Foom has been menacing heroes like Iron Man since 1961. Usually depicted as a gigantic humanoid dragon (wearing purple shorts), Fin briefly had a very different look during the early 2000s. During this time, Fin decided to reform and enter into a monster rehabilitation program. Shrunk down to human size by Reed Richards along with several other (formerly) giant monsters, the legendary dragon actually got a job as the head chef in a Chinese restaurant (yes, really).
Not only did Fin Fang Foom mellow in personality, he showed a surprising sense of humor when he encountered a particularly arrogant restaurant critic and decided to play a prank on him. However, the prank quickly grew out of control – literally.
How a Human-Sized Fin Fang Foom Showed He Was Still Dangerous
While Reed Richards had hypnotically stripped Fin Fang Foom of all of his special powers, Fin still had the benefit of centuries of study and experience (at one point he bragged that he had taught Sun Tzu the Art of War). These skills came in handy when he sought employment and proved an excellent, if somewhat temperamental, chef for the Green Wok Chinese restaurant.
Fin’s culinary gifts earn him the attention of the very irate (and very bald) restaurant critic “Edwin Snodgrass” in the one-shot Fin Fang 4 Return. Although the critic’s insults threaten to make Fin resort to violence, the dragon manages to keep a cool head – but still finds a way to get back at Snodgrass. Grabbing a jar full of the “Shing Tau Root” (a fictional herb that Fin had managed to store for centuries), Fin mixes some of the root’s shavings into Snodgrass’ crab meat soup and then waits gleefully for the fun to start.
As Snodgrass samples the soup (which turned out to be quite good), his dead hair follicles come back to life with a vengeance. In seconds, he grows a thick full head of bright pink hair – followed by a long pink beard and mustache. His cries of shock amuse Fin (who thought the herb would only work on his nose hairs), but when Snodgrass sees his new locks in a mirror, his cries of fear suddenly change… to delight.
Yep, it seems Fin Fang Foom failed to take into account that a herb that can regrow hair would actually be quite popular with bald men. Disappointed and annoyed, the dragon skulks back into his kitchen, but his troubles are far from over…
How Fin Fang Foom Became More Popular That Rogaine
The second Snodgrass’ miraculous hair restoration hits the news, Fin’s Chinese restaurant is flooded with bald men screaming to try some of his special Shing Tau Root soup. Things got a bit “hairier” (pun intended) when Marvel’s number one bald villain, the aptly-named Egghead blasts his way into the restaurant demanding Fin surrender his “Follicular Regeneration Device.”
Disgusted, Fin Fang Foom easily beats up Egghead and then calls out the bald men on their vanity and stupidity. Reminding the men that baldness is simply a sign of getting older – which in his time was a positive thing since getting old simply meant, “You’ve been smart enough not to get killed!” Fin snatches the last Shing Tau Root and incinerates it in front of everyone.
Grumbling that “Men need to grow brains… not their hair,” Fin Fang Foom goes home – not realizing that by destroying the Shing Tau Root, he caused a lot of bald men to grow depressed – including the Vulture, Charles Xavier, the Puppet Master… and the Watcher.