Surprised myself this week after realizing that in all the years I've been posting stories online here at THOIA, I've yet to post any from Dell's fun 60's comic spin-off of the great television series, The Outer Limits. And this is a unique yarn to correct my oversight with, mainly because it has a little bit of everything: horror, humor, beach babes, a tunnel of love, neat Jack Sparling artwork, and a cool monster that looks a little bit like the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Add one final "last name" ingredient into the mix (spelled correctly on the cover, but not in the story, dagnabbit!) and you have one winner of a fishy tail freak-out. From the April 1967 issue of The Outer Limits #12, and we'll take a look at another great story from this series in our next post as well, stay tombed...
And yes I know the title of the post isn't correct to the actual title of the story, I'm using the way it's spelled and worded on the comic book cover. --Mr. K
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine, a young Steve BANES, seeing this cover, plunking down 12 cents for a story about him turning into a sort of creature of the black lagoon, and find out it's really about some dork named BAINES? That kind of thing can crush a child!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I noticed, but the panel layout is pretty static, with small breaks in a 6 grid layout.
I like the artwork, a little rushed in places but I love the goopy monster, I like that he's quite a bit bigger than a normal human, but I do feel sorry for all the random people he killed ... or did he? Kind of hard to tell in the story!
I was going to joke about getting a no prize for how Charley got his glasses back, but then I re-looked at the transformation panel and they actually transform with him!
Aside from the title being spelled and written differently from the cover, there's actually a second unintentional spelling error that had me giggling. When the cop shows up, he states "But I won't take any HANCES..." Also, Charlie should know better than to eat weird stuff that's been floating around in the ocean inside a box for who knows how long. I was half hoping for Charlie to actually gain a little courage from his monstrous adventure and maybe actually get the respect of Millie by the end of the story, but nope, we don't get that kind of cliche. Instead, it appears that Charlie had one MONSTER of a hangover the next morning! *I'll see myself out now.*
ReplyDeleteI guess it's implied all the victims died, but considering one policeman "just" had his legs broken, it's strange there's talk of the night of terror fading into memory "hours later."
ReplyDeleteI tend to like stories that read like fever dreams.
So this Bob jerk. Jeeze. Only dude in the whole world who puts his shirt back on for the romantic tunnel of love part of the night. And I'm just going to go ahead and say there seems to be a bit of Frazetta DNA in that guy. And in that guy's hair. And in Millie; and in Millie's swimsuit, too.
ReplyDeleteGiant monsters and other calamities are always picking on Ferris wheels, but I've never seen one flip a merry-go-round over before. And that was awesome.
I do dig the art here. I can't believe Sparling managed to keep floating in the water feeling fresh for eight straight frames before the transformation. But he apparently has some trouble penciling nerds--I mean, Charley looks like Bruce friggin' Lee in the splash. And I have to admit, I'd like to see Kato and Tarzan duke it out, Mortal Kombat style. Especially now that I know Bruce has a finishing move straight outta the Black Lagoon.
> a young Steve BANES, seeing this cover, plunking down 12 cents
ReplyDeleteI've plunked down my 12 cents for even less interesting stuff over the years, that's for sure!
> "But I won't take any HANCES..."
LOL! Good catch, Glowworm!
>I tend to like stories that read like fever dreams.
Same here, Todd.
>Charley looks like Bruce friggin' Lee
Haha, sporting his honorary Black Lagoon Belt-- annnnd "every creature was kung fu fiiiighting..."
More Outer Limits fun up next, and if you're John Carpenter film fan you will really dig this one for sure. Thanks for the super great comments everyone!