Garganta is a fictional comic book character published by AC Comics appearing in several of their titles, most commonly Femforce the title in which she debuted in 1990. Originally appearing as a one-off antagonist, she proved so popular with readers that she re-appeared two issues later and eventually became a regular character. In 2001, Garganta appeared her own comic book Garganta's Thrilling Science. A live-action movie entitled Gargantarama, starring Brenna Barry as Garganta, was released on DVD in February 2006. A sequel, Ghost of Garganta, was released December 14, 2010. A remake of the first movie was released in 2016. Storylines have exploited Garganta's size-changing ability as both a blessing and as a curse. Although she can usually regulate her size by mental effort, she sometimes experiences uncontrolled growth and causes havoc. She is for the most part gentle and friendly and uses her giant size to help others. Because her powers would destroy her normal clothes, she wears only her Span-XX bikini.
Garganta's real name is Dr. Carol Heisler. Born in Yuma, Arizona on January 12, 1919, she became a biochemist and later worked as a U.S. government research scientist working on the V-47 formula that gave Miss Victory and her daughter their powers. Carol took the formula herself and destroyed the complex where she was working and began to rampage out of control because she could not control the energy in her. After being knocked out by the second Miss Victory she grew to gigantic proportions and continued her rampage, eventually being stopped by a combined attack that knocked all the energy out of her. Carol again grew to a giant and rampaged after unwillingly being subjected to an electro-stimulation experiment. This time she escaped to the sea and displayed a new ability to adapt to her surroundings becoming a giant whale-like sea creature. Miss Victory was dispatched to kill her with a special gun, but after Garganta telepathically told her how peaceful she was, she faked Garganta's death for her. Garganta was returned to human form by the Gammazons, a race of giant alien Amazon women, which left her tall with the mind of a passive sea mammal. She was abducted along with several other characters but was saved at the climax of the story. After the Gammazons were vanquished, Garganta was given a special bikini by Span-XX and a special apartment in a giant prefabricated building in the Femforce HQ but she later gained the ability to grow and shrink at will through practice. In a later storyline, Garganta came under the influence of rich socialite Stella Stargaze, who exploited her—firstly as a movie actress and later as a telepathic healer. However, when she attempted to "heal" a man who had been involved in seal hunting, she went wild and started growing in her nightmares. She was rescued by the Femforce and recuperated on a remote island. Tara managed to get her away from the complex with her untested growth abilities.
Name
Garganta's name was given to her by Ellen McFarland, a reporter who covered her initial rampage, and comes from the adjective gargantuan. This is itself derived from Gargantua, a fictional giant created by François Rabelais which in turn comes from the Frenchgorge, an aptronym expressive the character's enormous appetite.
Powers and abilities
Primarily Garganta has the power to increase her size, typically to, though she can grow to over, and lift over 160 tons. She has since learned she has empathic abilities which were in fact the cause of her earlier rampages. Garganta has also been given various other powers. Initially she could shoot destructive beams from her eyes and hands. She then displayed an ability to breathe underwater while swimming, and furthermore to adapt to her ocean surroundings and even mutate to fit them, becoming a giant sea-creature and speaking telepathically. None of these powers have been used since.
Influence
The giantess has become a recurring motif in Femforce throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Following the success of Garganta, the superheroines Synn and Nightveil were revealed to have size-changing ability, due to the reality-altering nature of their powers. Also Jungle-Girl Tara acquired the ability to become a giantess, though unlike Garganta she cannot maintain her giant size indefinitely. Giantess stories have become the theme of the ongoing Femforce backup feature, Gargantarama, which takes its name from Garganta herself. Garganta should not be confused with Giganta, a similar character in the DC Comics universe.
