Toldos & Rakor

Right. If you haven't been there yet, go ahead and bring yourself up to date on Monster King, over at www.torcpress.com/monsterking.html. I'll wait. Everyone up to date? Okay.

Toldos & Rakor, who appear in those pages, debuted way back in the beginning in "Pulp Horrorshow" v0l. 1 #2. Their first full appearance was in Issue #3. They popped back up in "Truth or Consequences Monthly" #4-6. They returned in "SDF: Perfect/Ugly" with another little scheme to kill the Clown, then went with a full tilt attack in "SDF: Honorless Dogs" 1-3. The Clown's killed 'em TWICE. They're annoying that way.

I created both of these guys back in...High School? I think it was High School. They've always been mid-level demons designed to menace whoever my main character at the time was. They weren't always a duo. In fact, I'm not sure when they became a duo, but it made sense when they finally came together.

Toldos is a Toad Demon. The idea came from that whole "Raining Frogs" thing that pops up every so often (there was an episode of the "X-Files" that I clearly remember where it rained frogs as a precursor to a series of demonic activities. Also that one Stephen King short story. I love that story). Toldos is strong and has supernatural leaping abilities. He likes to leap into the air and crashland on his enemy, with devastating results (check out "SDF: Honorless Dogs" 3 for an example of how nasty that attack can be). He's also got a long, prehensile tongue that's coated in a powerful acid. Toldos's weaknesses are that he's slow and stupid. Very stupid. I have no idea why Toldos says "Yes" at the end of all of his sentences. I didn't write that.

Rakor's a Rat Demon. That one's pretty obvious. Rats have always been associated with Plague, Pestilence, and Black Magic. Rakor possesses superhuman speed, has razor sharp claws, and can vomit up a thick, black goop that's chock full of diseasey nastiness. Rakor also knows a variety of powerful Black Magic Spells and Curses. He's also fairly clever, which makes up for the fact that Toldos is dumber than a box of rocks. Rakor is not as strong or as tough as Toldos, though. Oh yeah, Rakor also has a powerful sense of smell, which is why he's been able to track down the Clown on multiple occasions (Fun Fact: The Clown smells like Cotton Candy and Sawdust).

The Toldos & Rakor we've seen in the comics aren't the "real" Toldos & Rakor. Their Real Bodies are still trapped in Hell. Their Demonic Spirits are Free to Roam the Earth (thanks to the fact that Ortex constantly summons them back). Their Spirits can take Possession of the body of anyone that's sold their soul to Ortex. Since Ortex currently rules the world, that's a pretty big list of possible bodies. Anyway, that's why they get killed and come back all the time. It's not like the Joker where he "slips away" at the end. Nope, they die, and then just get summoned back into new bodies, usually with some new screwball plan to kill the Clown.

Anyway, long story short, Toldos & Rakor, the Assassins from Hell, have been drafted into the mysterious Ortex Elite Squad. They've got experience fighting the Clown, and they won't stop until he's Deader than Dead. Needless to say, "Monster King" #5 is gonna be a rough ride for our Hero.

And there's still two other members of the Elite Squad waiting in the wings.