If you missed Part 1….
While I was doing ACG werewolves I came across more Northerns. Some are also werewolf stories so I will refer you there for those. Here are two others that don’t involve lycanthropes.
A Northern is a tale set in the far north, sometimes about explorers like Scott or Perry, sometimes in the gold fields of the Yukon or Alaska. We have also included what I guess you’d call Southerns, stories set in the Antarctic. (This will tie in later.)
In our first segment, the Northerns came from Out of the Night. This time it is Adventures Into the Unknown. In issue #17 (March 1951) we have “Beast From the Beyond”. The author is not known but the art is by Ed Mortiz.
A team of scientist have come to the glacial ice cap to finish their research on Arctic snow with the hopes of creating weather control. Gil’s wife, Anne is the only woman on the crew. She falls down a crevasse and discovers the creature frozen in the ice.
The men rescue her but she has fainted. When she wakes she tells them of the beast but isn’t believed. Hawkins, who is called the kindest person on the team, volunteers to go down and see. Now that they believe Anne, the men erect a hoist and retrieve the monster.
That night it unfreezes, having been in suspended animation. It attacks Hawkins who is up on watch. The men are roused from their beds to find Hawkins and the monster gone. They go outside to search and find Hawkins. The lead husky barks at him. The man tries to kick the dog, claiming he must have gotten some of the monster’s scent on him. Once alone with the dogs, Hawkins turns back into the monster.
The creature touches one of the dogs and turns into a husky. Gil sees this transformation and devises a way to prove the monster’s charade. When Hawkins and the dog show up again, Gil shoots them with a snow seed gun, a device for seeding clouds. The cold of the shot kills both monsters.
Paranoia sets in. Anybody could be a monster. Gil uses the dogs for detection. Anne points out the dogs could also be monsters and the test might be false. Gil accuses Anne of being an inhuman thing, and Dawson agrees he should shoot her and the dog. This tips Gil off. Dawson was always a kind person before this. He shoots. Dawson was a monster. The rest of the party survive and go home, no longer fond of frozen vegetables.
Now it should be pretty obvious to any Science Fiction fan where this story came from. The Thing From Another World (1951) was released around the time of this comic appeared. The original story “Who Goes There?” by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell) had appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in August 1938. The setting has been changed from the Antarctic to some ill-defined glacier but that doesn’t really matter. The author has also dropped the UFO angle, providing no real explanation of the creature. The scenario of finding a frozen body in a crevasse would become a staple of the horror anthologies.
“Heart of the Snow Maiden” appeared in Issue #40 (February 1953). The author is unknown but the art was drawn by Harry Lazarus. This story was the opener and received a Ken Bald cover.
Gil and Ella come to Mount Blanc because of an avalanche that covered the town. There was a legend that a beautiful snow maiden fell in love with a mortal man and the jealous husband, known as the Ice King, caused the snowslide.
Ella finds the story ridiculous but Gil isn’t so sure. He finds an icy lump which he calls the Heart of the Ice Maiden. Gil goes away, ignoring his fiancee, then returns to Mount Blanc. He has carved a statue of the Ice Maiden. He activates it with the heart.
He admits his love for the icy woman, and Ella knows she has lost her man. The Ice King becomes aware of the Maiden’s return and goes on a rampage.
Ella goes to warn Gil. The monster eventually tears open Gil’s roof to get at the ice girl. Gil shoots the Ice King in the heart, then men with flame-throwers finish the job.
The Ice Maiden tells Gil she can’t stay with him and goes off to live alone in the mountains. Later, after Ella and Gil are married, Ella points out an article in the paper. Gil is a hero. He seems unimpressed as he is still thinking of the maiden. Outside, the heart of the Ice King still remains. Sequel anyone?
That’s not quite all the ACG Northerns yet, so until next time… Continue to Part 3…
