Golden Age slime monsters in the comics take their inspiration from the very first story to appear in Weird Tales (March 1923). “Ooze” by Anthony M. Rud was the source of many Pulp stories to follow, and the comics are no different. Rud’s tale has some common elements you will see here again and again, including a swamp or remote location and mad scientists who end up being destroyed by their creations (the Frankenstein motif). Unlike most classic monsters, the slime monster is a Pulp creation, not one taken from Victorian fiction.
Slimy man-eaters would squish through the pages of the horror and science fiction Pulps and eventually appear on the silver screen in movies like The Blob (1958). Taking its idea of interstellar goo from H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space” (not to mention the shoggoths from “At the Mountains of Madness”) , Steve McQueen and the rest of the actors in The Blob actually come about three years after all of the comic book slimers. It was only years later that these comic bad boys would inspire Stephen King’s love of EC brand terror in Creepshow 2 (1987) that included King’s own goo monster in “The Raft”.
Here a dozen slimy tales from this golden age of comics:
The 1940s
“The Jelly of Doom” (Daring Mystery Comics #5, June 1940) was written by George Kapitan. The evil Scientist, Dork (what a name!), fills the city streets with a protoplasm that devours flesh. The Fiery Mask chases the villains back to their lair, fights the boss’s biggest brute, saves the girl and smashes the machine that makes the slime. This comic doesn’t show any one being consumed by the ooze but there is a frame with a skeleton floating around inside.
“The Green Terror” (Marvel Mystery Comics #15, January 1941) was written by Steve Dahlman. Electro is a robot body controlled by Professor Zog. The machine is resistant to the Green Slime, a terror released by Dr. Lorrof, another mad scientist. The robot is helpless to stop the flow until Zog realizes that radium’s properties kill the green flood. The idea of a robot surrogate dates back to J. Schlossel in Amazing Stories.
“The Plague of the Jelly Men” (Marvel Mystery Comics #31, May 1942) was written by an unknown author. Being a wartime comic, the villains are the Japanese. They drop blobs of protoplasm on America from a dirigible. This time we get to see people consumed by the slime as well as skeletons floating in blobs. Kewl.
The 1950s
“Ooze in the Cellar?” (Haunt of Fear #11, January-February 1952) was written by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. Silas Thornton is a miser, saving everything in his cellar. When the local orphans take an interest in his hidden fortune, his wife is hard pressed not to give in to their desire for food and new clothes. But something is growing in that basement. Something that kills his wife then consumes Silas whole. Here is a good example of EC doing it first. All the other 1950s horror titles followed their lead…
“Jelly Death” (Chamber of Chills #6, March 1952) was written by Bob Powell. Dr. Larson creates a protoplasm that can take different forms. He uses the invention to attack his enemies. Unfortunately for the mad man, he is the first victim. The blob goes on a short rampage, killing victims, until it melts on the grave of Timothy Bowen. Tim had been mysteriously murdered, but is now avenged. The Bob Powell art in this one is so good.
“IT!” is from Witches Tales #10 from Harvey Comics. It was drawn and probably written as well by Bob Powell. A mad scientist creates a clear, slimy creature. It goes on a rampage. What else?
“Victims For the Crawling Menace” (Baffling Mysteries #9, July 1952) has Colby hiring a boat to take Anne Farrow to the island where her brother, John is. John is working for the scientist, Professor Darnad. When they arrive on the island Anne finds her brother dead, only a set of clean bones. This is because Darnad has created a flesh-eating slime monster. After the thing eats the professor, the couple burn everything and leave. Once again, the plot of “Ooze” is repeated.
“The Living Slime” (Tomb of Terror #5, October 1952) was written by an unknown author. Merrill Dane is an escape convict who discovers a strange slime in the swamp. If you touch it, you gain some of the attributes of its last victim. Back in the world of men, Dane realizes he can climb the corporate ladder if he could steal the talents of others. He does this by feeding them to the slime. Unfortunately, he gets a little slime under his finger nail and joins the others. This is the first swamp story. There will be many more.
“Strictly From Hunger” was EC Comics version of the slime monster in Vault of Horror #27 (October-November 1952). It was written by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. Unlike the majority of green monsters, EC’s looks like pink vomit. A cancer cell is enlarged to gigantic size. A crowd of gun-toting villagers track it to a cave and destroy it.
“The Crawling Horror” (Beware! Terror Tales #4, November 1952) was written by an unknown author. Titus Grimm and Wilbur Hatch are two scientists working in a remote shack. Hatch invents a protoplasm that seeks food. Grimm invents a computer that is becoming a sentient AI. The computer takes control of the slime and grows it bigger and bigger. Eventually the computer has the monster eat its creator. Hatch destroys the slime using acid. This one is odd because of the computer element. The electronic brain looks like a slot machine. The title is the same as a classic slime Pulp story “The Crawling Horror” from Weird Tales, November 1936.
“Nightmare of Doom” (Chamber of Chills #15, January 1953) was written by an unknown author. The scientist Bartlett studies a rare species of bacteria. His mad colleague Fisk tries to steal it, causing both men to struggle while the slime tries to devour them. Fisk is successful and Bartlett gets turned into a set of dry bones. Fisk releases his new doom on the world. Rival scientists create another strain (pink, not green) to battle Fisk’s terror. The mad man is devoured before the others can stop the slime. Inside the melted goop they hear a voice then find Bartlett’s watch.
“The Swamp Horror” (Beware #15, May 1953) was written by Richard Kahn. The art in this one was done by the Science Fiction writer, Harry Harrison, who drew for EC and some of their competition. Men are hunting in the swamp for a gelatinous killer. They discover the diary of Doc Randall, the inventor of the slime. They realize Crandall killed himself to stop the terror. This comic reads like a shortened adaptation of Rud’s “Ooze”.
“The Wall of Flesh” (This Magazine Is Haunted #12, August 1953) was written by an unknown author. Sheila is a nurse in a veteran’s hospital. Her beau, Johnny, is recouping there. Dr. Quantrell is also there, working on his gruesome experiments, a wall of living flesh. When Sheila becomes trapped by the flesh-eating monster, Quantrell does nothing to help her, but observes. Johnny finds her and saves her. Quantrell tries to stab the soldier, but Johnny shoves the mad scientist into his own creation. More great Bob Powell art.
“The Monster” (Adventures Into the Unknown #51, January 1954) was written by an unknown author. Stan and Liz go to the country to see what work their friend Ralph has been up to since college. Ralph has created a slime that devours flesh. Ralph feeds it a rabbit. Stan is upset by the experiment but Ralph almost kills him when he suggests he should destroy it. Stan sneaks back to stop the madman. Liz phones Ralph to warn him. Stan gets shoved into the vat and is devoured. Later, when Liz comes Ralph accuses her of helping Stan and tries to strangle her. A man-shaped monster rises out of the vat and kills Ralph. Liz realizes the thing was Stan in a new form. Love triangles and slime don’t mix.
“Death Sentence” (Tomb of Terror #14, March 1954) was written by an unknown author. Dr. Vance Radfield is arrested for murdering John Dean. Carl Adams, who sees him in prison, discovers the truth: the two scientists created a slime monster that got away during an explosion. The thing devoured Dean then fled. Adams denies it, sending Radfield back to prison. We see him turn into slime. He is the creature, now loose on the world.
Conclusion
The Comics’ Code showed up in 1956, ending the rampage of Golden Age slime monsters. Liquid dangers still showed up in superhero comics but not with the same gruesome terror that first appeared in “Ooze” back in 1923. Superman or the Hulk could always turn back the tide. We didn’t see a great goo creature again until Gary Gygax included the Green Slime in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
Next time...Flowers….
The ACG story was drawn by Kenneth Landau who, in my opinion, was a swipe artist (his source being Wally Wood) whose work I did not highly regard when I wrote my book, Forbidden Adventures: The History of the American Comics Group. But after FA was published, I found and talked to Kenneth (with the help of a friend) and he was such a nice guy on the phone that I couldn’t bring myself to bring up the Wood swipes. Such is life.
It seems that comic book swamp quasi heroes such as The Heap, Swamp Thing, Man Thing were descendants of the slime monsters.
That’s another piece, syarting with Sturgeon’s IT.