Things That Go Bump In The Swamp!

Monsters lumber and lurk in all manners and styles. You've got giant monsters, little monsters, stinky monsters, evil monsters, well-meaning monsters, hidden monsters, mythical monsters, and so on and so forth. They have nestled into our imaginations in ways we cannot fully fathom, but we cannot ever forget. From the ancient Grendel to the modern-day Foukes Monster, the creeping thing which is lurking in the shadows of the swampy regions sends a tremor down our spines and makes second-guess our dominance in this world. I've been reading some utterly dandy monster yarns from Marvel and DC and Hillman and others. I've been reading vintage Man-Thing stories and the more I've read the more the insidious swamp drags me in. I've got two at times weirdly compelling Essential volumes of vintage Man-Thing stories to review.

Likewise I've been sampling for the first the legendary tales of the Heap, the original shaggy swamp horror who shambled from the pages of Airboy and elsewhere. PS Artbooks put the whole of the original Heap canon in three hardback tomes. I've had the last two for some time (found them cheap at Half-Price Books) but I did have to dig deep for the first one. They present a fascinating series of tales which run the gamut of horror and other genres.

I have read those classic Swamp Thing yarns by the late great tandem of Len Wein and Berni Wrightson again -- it's been a few years now. These stories hold up remarkably well after all these years, which justifies the praise they received at the time.

Also on tap this month are the many and varied Jack Kirby monsters produced for the pages of Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense and elsewhere when Marvel was known as "Atlas" and superheroes were imagined to be a losing proposition. We know the names -- Groot, Grogg, Dragoom, Zzutak, Sserpo, Taboo, Glob and of course Fin Fang Foom. There are dozens of others and a new one will be featured in the month-long series "Monsters Of The King".

Also be on the lookout for Kirby's monster covers in the the "Favorite Covers" feature here at the Dojo for the entire month of October.

And then there's the movies. I hope to get a chance to watch some classic monster flicks again, some favorites and perhaps dust off some old reviews and add maybe a new point or two along the way. Look for creatures from inky lagoons and other such lurkers aquatic.

So expect monsters, monsters, and more monsters  as I try to squeeze them all in! It will be a hoot and half trying!

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