Reptilicus (1961) had a weird dual quality that followed it from the silver screen to the comic book pages. The initial film was shot in Danish but then it was re-shot in English using the same cast. The original writer, Sidney W. Pink, railed against AIP’s second version, largely reworked by Ib Melchior, but ultimately legal action was dropped. Its enduring fame in Denmark saw thoughts of a sequel but generally lousy reviews in America made any such film unlikely. Reptilicus is Denmark’s only giant monster movie and has a cult following in that country.
The plot of the film is pretty typical of Kaiju films. Miners drilling for copper find a fragment of the monster, which they give to the scientists at the university. The fragment eventually grows into a new full-size monster and terrorizes the countryside. The monster is impervious to all weapons. Only the clever actions of the heroes can save humankind. This includes creating a rocket filled with a sleeping draft. The film is a little sketchy on how they disposed of an indestructible monster but Reptilicus is stopped and the world is saved.
As part of promoting the film, a novelization was released and a comic version of the film produced by Charlton Comics. The one issue adaptation appeared in August 1961. The adaptation was written by Joe Gill from the Pink and Melchior script. Artwork was done by Bill Molno and Vince Alascia. The comic version is accurate but lacks some of the sillier scenes from the film, probably done from an early version. The images of the comic are not copied from the film and Reptilicus flies more in the comic than on screen.
A second issue was produced by the same team as an imagined sequel to the film. Issue #2 (October 1961) repeats the same basic plot but in the jungles of Africa. Peter Blinn, a government agent, tracks down Dr. Hanna (and his beautiful daughter) to convince him to return to work on nuclear projects. Reptilicus shows up and the local Africans appeal to the whites to rescue them. Ultimately, it is the Africian chief who solves the problem, for he comes up with a plan to drive Reptilicus into The Valley of Smoke, where poisonous gas from a volcano is known to be lethal. This time around spears dipped in poison and bullets hurt Reptilicus even though in the film he barely noticed machine guns and bombs.
After the copyright lapsed, Charlton released a new version of Reptilicus under its second name, ironically, Reptisaurus the Terrible. This comic ran for six issues, starting with #3 in January 1962 and running to #8 in December. A Special Edition #1 appeared in Summer 1963. The series began with the same team but were replaced by Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta for #4-6 and Bill Montes and Ernie Bache for #7-8 and the Special.
There were some changes made in switching from “licus” to “saurus”. First, the drilling origin was dropped and Reptisaurus was awoken by nuclear bomb blasts. As with the adaptation, Reptisaurus flies most of the time rather than crawling around as he did in the film. This is understandable from an action point of view. As a flyer he fights UFOs and jet planes but can land to fight tanks and soldiers as well. Reptisaurus also lost his ability to breath fire.
Issue #3 is a hilariously bad aliens versus Reptilicus tale. Flying Saucers from Jupiter come to claim the Earth, but the Jupos’ (one named John and another Harold, of all things) ships are easily munched by Reptilicus and his mate (where did she come from? just wait for #4 to explain that). Even their tanks are no match for Reptilicus’s impervious skin. Eventually, with only a few ships left, the aliens find that gamma rays knock the flying serpents out. It is Earth’s air forces’ chance to help stop the invasion but airplanes are easily defeated. The aliens flee when they encounter Reptilicus’s offspring, leaving the Earth to the winged reptiles.
Issue #4 back-tracks and explains how Reptilicus and his gal met. The two monsters are munching on people in different parts of the world when the female’s cries are heard thousands of miles away. The two monsters slowly find each other, after trashing much of the planet, and begin a terrible battle. The humans get out of the way but in the end it is just their mating ritual.
Issue #5 has Reptisaurus, a bachelor again, land in Red China. There he sees a giant dragon robot created for parades. Reptisaurus falls in love with the green robot. The Chinese decide to use the device to capture the “Capitalist creature” for a visiting Soviet officer, who wants to take the beast back to Moscow. The soldiers load the robot with explosive and detonate it against the frisky monster. Reptisaurus is heart-broken and ends up in the Himalayas sulking while the Yeti looks on.
Issue #6 sees Reptisaurus leave the mountains to take his revenge on the Communists. The Soviets, using cables stretched from jets, snag Reptisaurus and capture him. The propaganda of his capture is sent to the newspapers of the Free World. The U. S. Navy sends in paratroopers who free Reptisaurus (because now, mutating again, he is a peaceful creature and of no harm to anybody). No longer starving, thanks to the protein rich fodder the Yanks left, Reptisaurus goes on a rampage and stomps the Reds. The portrayal of the Soviets as under-handed and suppressive brutes is reminscient of the anti-Nazi comics of the 1940s. The complete flip-flop in this issue is startling. For how many issues had the US and other countries been unable to capture the destructive monster? Now, he is good?
Issue #7 saw a change in artwork with Montes and Bache coming on board. The writing also took a new turn in that the lives of the people affected by Reptisaurus got more attention. Instead of unimportant human victims the story focuses on Dr. Harden and his personal conflict as well as following Reptisaurus and his mate (Yep, she’s back and she’s gone from being a copy of Rep to a more pterodactyl look with brown scales. This was probably done so the two creatures could be differentiated.) The love triangle between John Harden, his wife Lois and their guide Carl ends with Harden exerting his manhood and saving his marriage. He also takes one of the monsters’ eggs causing Reptisaurus to go on a rampage.
True to Reptisaurus’s ever-changing nature, in Issue #8, Dr. Harden goes insane as he studies the baby monster in his lab. (The wife must have gone back to the city, because she is MIA.) harden is supposed to be finding a way to kill the monsters for the Government but instead creates a hypnotizing whistle that will allow him to take control of Reptisaurus and his mate. His assistant, Alva and his associate, Dr. Laurence Morgan, go with Harden to Africa, after Morgan kills the baby monster specimen. In the jungle where Reptisaurus lives, Harden takes control of the monsters and plans to kill the others. Morgan’s quick call to the military has planes blow up the now hatched babies and Dr. Harden. Only Reptisaurus and his mate escape. In previous issues nuclear bombs were unable to kill Reptisaurus. In this issue, radiation works on the babies.
Special #1 features big game hunter and millionaire, Clark Martin, who is off to South America to find and hunt Reptisaurus. Another love triangle between Martin, his ward and fiancee Bev and the hunky guide, Breck, plays out as the descendants of the Aztecs revive their human sacrificing cult because they believe Reptisaurus is Quetzetacl the Flying Serpent returned. The cultists capture the bickering outsiders but Reptisaurus is not interested in eating them. He destroys the pyramid temple and the Aztecs flee into the jungle. The final issue proves to be a mishmash of previous stories, ending with Reptisaurus and his mates happily living in the jungle (probably hoping to be cancelled).
But Reptisaurus’s reign didn’t end there. In 2009, with Kaiju making a resurgence, Peter Dang directed and Jeremiah Campbell wrote a new version of the franchise, starring Gil Gerrard as General Morgenstern. Interestingly, the film is called “Reptisaurus”, not “Repiliticus”, making it an adaptation of the Charlton comic, not a remake of the 1961 film. As the trailer says “Based on the Comic Book Classic”. Classic, hm…. The film features CGI effects and tongue-in-cheek humor and doesn’t take itself seriously, making references to Godzilla movies for instance. Considering the history of the original film and the comics that followed, this is perhaps appropriate.
