“The Doom of Living Ice” is from Chamber of Chills #23 (October 1951), one of Harvey’s horror titles. The author is unknown but Pierce Rice did the artwork. The idea of finding some long-lost civilization in the Arctic is a holdover from the Pulps. As the map shrank, writers were hard-pressed to find places to locate their forbidding ancient cities and the horrors lurking there. Ian Cameron got around the lack of vast empires in the north by importing Vikings and playing on the legend of Ultima Thule. Poe, Verne and Lovecraft preferred to do their business at the other pole.
An Arctic expedition is caught in a storm and seeks shelter. An ancient temple delivers safety but a surprise!
The ancient structure is filled with figures frozen engaged in savage torture. It is a glimpse on a terrible past.
Being scientists, the men decide to light a fire and melt the figures. (Not quite sure what they are burning?) The result is freeing the ice people to live again. Once free, they turn on their torturers…
The silent observers are seen. The ice people are coming! If they can make it to the cold outside the scientists will be safe.
They flee but Harris is caught by the monsters. A rock slide covers the exit. One of the creatures beckons the men back. They see Harris. He is covered in the living ice.
The ice people melt. The two remaining scientists try to dig their way out. They touch the living ice and get frozen in place as the ice people had been. Meanwhile, outside, men looking for the missing scientists see the cave but pass it by, never finding their companions.
Conclusion
A short comic like this never gets around to explaining all the big questions: 1) why is there an ancient ruin in the Arctic, 2) who are the Ice People, 3) why were they torturing each other, and 4) how does the living ice work and where did it come from? There is enough material there for a good Lovecraftian novel. Basil Copper wrote one but if The Great White Space (1974) is any example, none of the explanations ever come. The mystery is tantalizing but best never revealed.
This comic is available free at DCM.