If you missed the last one…
1975 was a particularly busy year for YiBS. Last time we offered four from that year. We continue with two more and keep going to the 198os. In this last section you will see the idea of a cryptid change from the basic “Hunters die trying to get a yeti” story (and there are still some of those in the black & whites) to stories like Mike Grell’s “Lair of the Snowbeast” in The Warlord where the ape creature is something more than simply a monster. The truth of the matter is that the snow monster goes from savage attacker to sympathetic creature. This progression has been happening since the 1950s but it arrives at last here at the end of our journey. This will find its strangest expression in the Vampirella story “Sasquatch Love”.
“Valley of the Devil” (Phoenix #3, June 1975) was written by Gabriel Levy. Aliens, yetis, a villain that looks like Satan and a dinosaur. You figure it out!
“Snowman’s Land” (Daffy Duck #98, December 1975) was written by Mark Evanier. Daffy goes to the Himalayas to see the snowman but he is being fired for not being abominable enough. Daffy helps him get his mojo back.
“The Thing” (Korg 70,000 BC #5, February 1976) was written and drawn by Pat Boyette. One page filler in a comic about the daily life of cavemen.
“Hide and Go Mad” (Creepy #85, January 1977) was written by Budd Lewis. Another hunter becomes yeti tale from Warren but this time it all happens in his head. Munday puts on the yeti’s coat to stay warm then proceeds to tear it off. When they find him, he has torn himself apart.
“Yeti” (2000 AD #15, June 4, 1977) was written by Peter Harris. 2000 AD‘s version of The Six Million Dollar Man, has M.A.C.H. 1 looking into a crash site on a mountain and getting jumped by yetis.
“Quest For the Sacred Water-Skin” (Black Panther #5, September 1977) was written by Jack Kirby. T’Challa and Mr. Little go to find a sacred Samurai water-skin that gives eternal youth. They crash land then fight a yeti.
“Lair of the Snowbeast” (The Warlord #9, October-November 1977) was written and drawn by Mike Grell. This is another classic from my teen years. Morgan and friends are in the mountains and encounters a snowbeast that proves to be something more when it is killed. (I won’t spoil the ending.)
“Main Attraction” (Scary Tales #11, January 1978) was written by Joe Gill (as Tom Tuna). Every circus owner would love to have a bigfoot on display. Too bad when it dies and turns out to be your son!
“Godzilla vs Yetrigar” (Godzilla #10, May 1978) was written by Doug Moench. Bigfoot gets exposed to mysterious rays and grows gigantic. Perfect for Godzilla to fight. King Kong vs Godzilla lurks behind this one.
“Sasquatch Love” (Vampirella #75, January 1979) was written by Cary Bates. Scientists play a dangerous game with a real female sasquatch. Teddy wears an ape suit and is held virtual slave by the female (including a love scene). In an attempt to rescue him, the humans mimic removing his mask. Unfortunately, the female takes off his whole head. One of the strangest pieces Warren ever did.
“The Night of the Yeti” (Vampirella #77, April 1979) was written by Michael Fleisher. This one takes us back to the mountain for another hunting trip and another man who becomes the yeti. There is a love triangle and an avalanche. This time it is different though: Joanne’s shirt falls open a lot.
“Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive” (The Uncanny X-Men #120, April 1979) was written by John Byrne and Chris Claremont. This was the first appearance of the character Sasquatch, a member of Alpha Flight. Yes, that is Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the opening scene.
“The Abominable Snow-Bunny” (Yosemite Sam #60, June 1979) was written by an unknown author. Sam takes up meditation and that leads to him and Bugs going to Tibet to seek a lama. They encounter the rabbit version of the yeti. Bugs uses his usual cross-dressing tactic to escape.
“Yonder..The Yeti” (Doctor Who Weekly #31-34, May 14-June 5, 1980) was written by Steve Moore. The Great Intelligence uses the furry creatures of the Himalayas to try and take over the universe! The Doctor has other idea. These yetis are interesting because they aren’t apes but have gigantic mouths and no head.
“Ghosts and the Supernatural” (Ghosts #89, June 1980) was written by Murray Boltinoff. One page intro for a comic about ghosts.
“Where Walks a Snowman” (Batman #337, July 1981) was written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. Someone is freezing people in Gotham. And it all goes back to yetis in the Himalayas. Batman is on the case.
“Snow Blind” (Detective Comics #522, January 1983) was written by Gerry Conway. The second half, two years later, sees our snowman battle a blinded Batman but the snowman find his father at last.
“Bigfoot” (2000 AD #316, May 14, 1983) was written by Gerry Finley-Day. Even on a post-apocalyptic Nu Earth, Bigfoot survives.
“The Deadly Triangle Part 2/Part3” (G. I. Combat #262-263, February-March 1984) was written by Robert Kanigher. Battles in the jungle only get hairier when giant yetis get involved. Really good Catan art.
“The Hand of the Yeti” (Timespirits #7, October 1985) was written by Steve Perry. Very odd comic with a yeti getting separated from his tribe. He goes to a lamasery, cuts off his hand and things get weirder with priests with hands in their heads and flying fish. Probably the most accurate version of the Himalayas though.
“Search For the Snowman” (The Badger #16, October 1986) was written by Mike Baron. The Badger gets jumped by ninjas then goes looking for the yeti. He finds him, fights him then the two take on more ninjas together. Pretty much a Tuesday in any superhero’s life.
Conclusion
Snow Beasts! Yeti, Bigfoot and Sasquatch in Comics began with Airboy and Tarzan fighting ape-like creatures in the mountains to superheroes fighting them there too. As fashions changed from the Golden Age adventure to Horror and then Silver Age Science Fiction and back again to Bronze Age superheroes, the Yeti in particular shows up again and again. These mysterious creatures represent an elemental idea that can be used to chill the blood, challenge the strong or make a statement about how humans treat the environment. Whether you believe in YiBS are real or not, isn’t even important. The idea of them has found its place here in the comics.
