If you missed the last one…
Still More Bronze Age Plant Monsters III takes us from 1976 to 1982. These won’t be the last of the killer trees, poisonous flowers or even the strange space cucumbers of Star Trek. As before, the Horror tales have thinned out for more supervillains and Sword & Sorcery tales. The usual suspects are the publishers: Marvel, DC, Gold Key, Charlton along with Warren’s Creepy.
“A Tree Grows in Transylvania” (Dr. Spektor Presents Spine-Tingling Tales #4, January 1976) was written by Don Glut. Young Morgit has been bitten by Baron Tibor the vampire. She can’t resist his call. The local villagers search for Tibor’s grave and look in the one place they haven’t yet, a giant tree. When the tree falls, one of the branches pierces Tibor’s chest like a stake. Under the tree is a grisly trove of skulls. Not a plant monster exactly but somehow it feels right.
“The Genius Plant” (E-Man #9, 1977) was written by Nick Cuti. Scientists can increase their brain size with a new plant. The plants get a little out of control. Nick had fun with this series, poking gentle fun. Marty Pasko would revive it in the 1980s and be less gentle.
“Fury of the Floronic Man” (The Flash #245-246, December1976/ January 1977) was written by Denny O’Neil. A two issue back-up feature, the Green Lantern faces off against the Floronic Man, a scientist who changes himself into a plant monster. FM sends cactus and other plants against GL but in the end Jordan freezes him into ice cubes.
“This Tree Bears Bitter Fruit” (Star Trek # 47, September 1977) was written by George Kashdan. In previous issues the Enterprise crew faced off against killer alien plants, but here the plants are in space. The cucumber-like pods break open once on the planet and bear energy beings. The Enterprise flipping over in space is bad physics but it reminds me of the Discovery doing its space jump thing. Good thing they got Doug Drexler as a consultant. “Hey Doug, did Kirk ever face off against space cucumbers before?”
“The Smartest Plant in the World” (The House of Secrets #154, October-November 1978) was written by Arnold Drake. Good old HOS still writing plant monsters in 1978. A scientist raises a flesh-eating plant named Anita. He feeds it gerbils from a cage. One night the gerbils fight back and the plant grabs the man. This allows the little rats to get even.
Art by Bob Larkin
“The Devil Trees of Gamburu” (Savage Sword of Conan #42, July 1979) was written by Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas and Conan’s second flora-fraught adventure. This time it isn’t trees but huge man-eating plants used by the Gamburu. The Kulamtu trees wrap up their victims in their leaves then shove them down their toothed mouths. Conan rips them right out of the ground like evil celery then uses the stalk as a battering ram.
“Black Hawk: Hate Hate Hate” (2000 A. D. #134, October 13, 1979) was written by Alan Grant with art by Massimo Belardinelli. Black Hawk and Ursa train after Black Hawk is revived by the mending tanks. To sharpen his skills, the gladiators face off the Snikka Trees. These alien trees fire killer seed pods at the combatants. Ursa likes to chop-chop them. He saves Black Hawk from getting one in the head.
“The Raid on Fort Knots” (Walt Disney Super Goof #57, February 1980) was written by an unknown author. Goofy faces off against a scientist who has grown super plants and stolen his goobers for super powers. The scientist uses a giant onion to rob a bank by gassing everyone inside. He stops Goofy from transforming into Super Goof by making all his peanuts too big to swallow. In the end, Goofy gets some of the stolen goobers and transforms.
“Forbidden Fruit” (Creepy #127, May 1981) was written by Bruce Jones. This might be the last plant monster Warren did. A man and woman end up on a strange island where she is transformed into a tree. Her fruit has a human baby inside. Well, almost human. This story has some similarities to William Hope Hodgson’s “A Voice in the Night” which was made into that plant monster classic Matango (aka Attack of the Mushroom People (1963).
“A Tree From Some Dark Hell” (Arak, Son of Thunder #4, December 1981) was written by Roy Thomas. Not happy with just Conan facing off against evil trees, Roy Thomas sent his creation, Arak, Son of Thunder, against one too. After arriving at the court of Charlemagne, Arak has to deal with court politics. Fortunately, a plant monster haunts the king and Arak and destroys it, winning him a place among the heroes.
“Menace of the Moon-Tree” (World’s Finest #277, March 1982) was written by E. Nelson Bridwell. Professor Edgewise plants a seed that grows a plant so long it can reach from the Earth to the Moon. Captain Marvel Jr. points out that the Moon moves and the results would be terrible. (Something Edgewise hasn’t thought of.) The tree is cut down by a mysterious boy named Jack. Not as scientific as some DC characters, but Bridwell as inherited the character from Fawcett Comics with its more humorous feel.
Conclusion
Comics after the Bronze Age certainly did not ignore plant monsters. Who could forget Weed from Image Comics, Plants Versus Zombies or Quoi of the Cotati? Many of the characters from the earlier days of comics get reboots too. Think of Groot, who started as a Kirby one-off and became a believed member of The Guardians of the Galaxy. Perennial (see what I did there?) favorites like Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, Poison Ivy, etc. all have many varieties (see, I did it again) of comics after 1985. I doubt Still More Bronze Age Plant Monsters III is the last of the plant comics so until next time…
I was just reading Elric and a tree was an interesting confrontation. But, it wasn’t necessarily a monster that could move around. It had leaves that would fall on Elric and were acidic. I like that passive quality of the tree instead of the traditional plant attacks with claws and teetch.