The 1970s saw an explosion in Sword & Sorcery comics and with it a trope that has become almost a cliche: the tentacled monster. The idea is as old as mythology with Scylla and the Kraken. In Epic Fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien gave us the Watcher in the Lake, a tentacular beastie that chases the fellowship into the Mines of Moria.
H. P. Lovecraft birthed up any number of squidgy things adorned with tentacles and his buddy, Robert E. Howard was known to use them too, such as Thog in “The Slithering Shadow” (Weird Tales, September 1933). It is only natural the comic book artists and writers should end up there too.
This post is dedicated to Michael may and his blog Adventureblog that has featured a segment called “Vs. Cephalopods” for many years.
