If you missed the last one…
Still more Bronze Age Plant Monsters?! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when I think about this historically. In the 1950s, the only place to find monstrous foliage was in the Horror Comics (with the occasional superhero). In the 1960s the scary plants were replaced by Science Fiction plants (with the occasional funny animal). But during the 1970s, you found giant Venus Flytraps in Horror, Science Fiction, Superhero, Funny Animal and other comics. They were everywhere.
The comics in today’s post range from 1970 to 1973, the early Bronze Age. It was during this period two famous characters were sprouted, Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. I’m not going to re-hash any old DC vs. Marvel arguments here. I don’t care. We got twice as much fun out of it. Berni Wrightson and his Gothic stuff (followed by Nestor Redondo and his Gothic stuff) as well as Steve Gerber’s version later with Howard the Duck. (If we are going to argue impact, just ask yourself which character has a series of movies?) Either way, both houses really owe a debt of gratitude to Theodore Sturgeon and “It” (Unknown, August 1940). And no, younglings, I don’t mean Stephen King.
We have the full bouquet here, with killer ghost trees, alien fruit, talking vines, swamp creatures and even a Mythos plant-planet. DC, Charlton, Gold Key and Marvel, all the big guys have something to offer.
“A Phantom in a Tree” (Unexpected #119, June-July 1970) was written by Murray Boltinoff. A man fighting overseas sees the spirit of his father in a tree.
“The Super-Powers of Perry White” (Superman #227, June-July 1970) was written by Jerry Coleman. This story is really “What if Perry White Got Powers?” but Coleman makes this possible by having an alien fruit tree give Perry a purple pear. A newspaper man who sees an extraterrestrial and all he wants is a bite of fruit. I suppose when you have Superman flying around the bar for what is news-worthy goes up.
“Plant Life” (Abbott & Costello #16, August 1970) was written by Steve Skeates. A comment on Hippies more than a horrific plant monster. I suspect Skeates got the idea from people talking to their plants. The idea goes all the way back to 1848.
“The Demon Vine of Death” (Ripley’s Believe It or Not!#22, October 1970) was written by Leo Dorfman. Unusual for Ripley’s, this one has actual magic in it. A lightning strike causes a tree to have its dead vine become the arms of a demon. The tree is destroyed after Father MacKinnon is killed by it. This one reminds me a little of “The Purple Terror” (The Strand, September 1899) by Fred M. White, though set in Africa instead of Cuba.
“The Hanging Tree” (The House of Mystery #191, March-April 1971) was written by Jack Oleck. This tale feels a little like Washington Irving, with a witch being burned in America and haunting a tree. Unlike most of our examples the tree doesn’t grab anyone. The witch’s ghost does most of the heavy lifting. Still, a creepy tree…
“…Man-Thing” (Savage Tales, May 1971) was written by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway. If you are like me you associate Savage Tales with Conan. The fore-runner to The Savage Sword of Conan, this first issue of ST was a mixed bag. It had a Barry Smith Conan reprint but it also gave us “Fury of the Femizons”, “Black Brother” and a Ka-Zar piece along with the premiere of a new character, Man-Thing! Old Manny gets caught up in a love triangle in the swamp.
“Swamp Thing” (The House of Secrets #92, June-July 1971) was written by Len Wein. Before having his own comic, the thing had his premiere in House of Secrets. Old Swampy gets caught up in a love triangle in the swamp. Hmm…. Wonderful Wrightson art that would become even better in his own comic.
“Seeds of Destruction” (The Justice League of America #99, June 1972) was written by Mike Friedrich. From that cover you’d expect some pretty heavy plant monster action but the story is actually more about a couple of “alien Johnny Appleseeds” who plant seeds to eliminate pollution and help the earth. Good, right? Unfortunately they feel more for the environment than they do human. Green Lantern sends them home, telling them we will work out our balance with nature on our own. (We should have listened!)
“Zacornu the Demon Tree” (The House of Mystery #204, July 1972) was written by an unknown author. Based on actual Islamic beliefs, it makes a nice one-page filler for a Horror comic.
“The Doom That Bloomed on Kathulos” (Marvel Premiere #8, May 1973) was written by Gardner F. Fox. Sounds like an H. P. Lovecraft piece but Marvel gives actual credit to REH (“Featuring Concepts created by Robert E. Howard”). The plot has some Sword & Sorcery elements, like the winged attackers at Stonehenge. Strange goes to England and then is transported to the planet of Kathulos. It is a living plant-planet, which he defeats, stranding himsel far from Earth. Winged apish swordsmen and blood sucking vines are probably the elements that Howard inspired, taken from “The Garden of Fear” (Marvel Tales #2, July-August 1934). The idea of a plant planet might belong to Clark Ashton Smith and E. M. Johnston with “The Planet Entity” (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Fall 1931). Read the whole comic here.
Next time… More Sword & Sorcery and Science Fiction…
