If you missed the last one…
This post is brought to you by Whispers of Ice and Sand: Space Westerns by G. W. Thomas, a collection of stories set on different worlds in a star system dominated by explorers and pioneers. Five of the stories take place on the planet Utukku where the sand is so fine that footprints disappear in seconds. Bandits and gunmen stalk this new frontier where ancient Harlequin ruins are the most sought after treasure. The other four stories are about Sudana the space captain and her android companion, Zaar. Together they face the freezing cold of Hel III, the jungles of Divu VI and a rebellion, the burning rock of Blister and an intergalactic game show, and finally, a rescue from the radioactive moon of Rigon. This is space opera in the finest tradition of Firefly and Star Wars.
Wow! I’m still stumbling across plant monsters here and there in the comics. The Sci-Fi comics like Planet Comics are no surprise, but most of these are Superheroes. Even as late as 1983, Marvel was throwing plant giants at the Avengers. If I said plant monsters were evergreen, you’d accuse me of making a pun. (Of course, I am.) I came across one on film last week when I finally watched Predator: Badlands (2025) which has some groovy killer vines. (For the movie and TV plants, go here.)
Golden Age
“The Lost World” (Planet Comics #37, July 1945) was credited by house name “Thornecliffe Herrick”. This long-running comic serial featured Hunt and Lyssa in a scene that will be repeated in Logan’s Run (1975) when they will visit a long-dead D. C. There they will suffer at the hands of the invading aliens, the Volta Men, but will also meet the Hydrads of Venus, walking plant-men. These spongy creatures seem to be defeated by the bad guys but the couple bring them back by turning on the sprinkler.
“Spawn of Venus” (Weird Science #6, March-April 1951) was written by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. A spaceship lands on Venus to explore and finds killer plants and a giant green slime blob. The spacemen flee back to earth, taking one beautiful flower with them. This turns out to be the source of the green blob, which goes on a rampage. The military decides to nuke the monster, sending a million smaller blobs over the land. A classic. I’m not sure how I missed it up to now.
“The Man With the Green Thumb” (Mister Mystery #8, November 1952) has a scientist who injects himself with chlorophyll so that he takes on certain plant qualities. A gangster, Tony Drago, tries to steal his formula but finds out the hard way that Dr. Dana is unkillable.
“The Magic Tree” (Jungle Comics #159, Summer 1953) features a strange anthropomorphic tree that does magic. It’s not really a monster but it’s not your average everyday shrub either.
Silver Age
“Trail of the Jungle Amazons!’ (Rex the Wonder Dog #36, November-December 1957) was written by John Broome. This conventional jungle adventure takes Rex and his master in search of the lost Amazon women, a jungle cliche. On the way, they encounter a killer tree, another jungle cliche. Good thing they have Gil Kane art.
“I Can’t Escape From the Creeping Things!” (Journey Into Mystery #62, November 1960) was written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. Another classic that I missed somehow, this time from the Silver Age. A ruthless business man from America buys a strange estate in Europe where a haunting tree/vine tortures him into repentance. I thought this was Steve Ditko when I first saw it but it is Don Heck. The evil Capitalist who gets his comeuppance will be used again in the Horror comics of the 1970s.
“The Secret of the Space Capsules” (Challengers of the Unknown #17, December 1960-January 1961) was written by Dave Wood. Four alien cylinders crash to Earth, each containing a different terror. The first one has a giant plant with killer vines. The Challengers destroy it with a spear gun. I’m surprised the salt water of the ocean didn’t do the work for them. I guess they never saw The Day of the Triffids (1963).
“The Little Monsters” (The Three Stooges #17, May 1964) begins when the twins want to grow a snapdragon but end up with a dandy-lion. The flower escapes, eating all the food in a deli, before coming home with a tummy ache.
“The Planet of the Outcasts”/”The Kryptonite Killer” (Action Comics #322-323, March-April 1965) was written by Leo Dorfman. This two parter features Plant Girl, Ran-Kor. In the opening of the tale, she manipulates a tree branch. For the remainder, she does nothing with plants. She and her alien gal-pals give Super-Girl a hard time.Kinda lame.
“Death in the Depths” (Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle #21, March 1967) has Kona saving his civilized friends. They are about to be sacrificed in a temple but they escape into the jungle. Unfortunately there are man-eating plants there. Kona saves them again with a sword but gets captured so his friends must save him. This was a very planty issue because the back-up story also featured a killer plant.
“Flower of Evil” (Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle #21, March 1967) has Anak notice his gorilla and snake friends are aggressive after being near a strange red flower. He avoids the red flower and they leave together friends again. He does not destroy the strange blossom.
“Fresh Tree” (Melvin the Monster #9, August 1967) was written and drawn by John Stanley. Boy versus tree. Nuff said.
Bronze Age
“The Plant Planet” (The Great Gazoo #9, April 1975) is a text story by an unknown author. I don’t usually include many text stories but this one intrigued me with its artwork. Tin robots and plant monsters! Who can resist? Flame Sparkle and her robot friend, Plugg, visit a strange planet where the plants are sentient. They win the good plants favor by stomping on the weeds. Reminds me of “The Rules of Luton” (October 23, 1976)Â from Space 1999. Flame Sparkle went there first!
“Say It With Flowers” (The Micronauts #21, September 1980) was written by Bill Mantlo. The Micronauts end up in a flower shop where Sam Smithers has declared himself Plant-Man (old Marvel villain). The miniature people help take him down.
“Up From the Depths!” (The Avengers #231, May 1983) was written by Roger Stern. This story has two plant guys, first, Plant-Man, the same guy who guest-starred in the last comic. He was created back in the 1960s. The second is the plant giant he creates to attack S. H. I. E. L. D. It’s up to the Avengers to cook his broccoli.
And Beyond
“The Coming of the Inhumanoids!” (The Inhumanoids #1, January 1987) was adapted by Jim Salicrup from a script by Flint Dille from the 1986 cartoon series. The comic ran in a four issue mini-series, making it last about as long as the cartoon. In the first issue we get a plant giant, the first of the monster race to be called The Inhumanoids. Our heroes fight but fail to stop the plant from freeing its fellow monster, an giant skeleton creature.
Conclusion
I won’t go on about my theory that plant monsters usually appear in the Spring (April-May-June also known as Allergy Season) which many of these comics do. I won’t mention the terrible green nose and itchy eyes I am myself suffering from this May. Or that they say Climate Change is making allergies worse. (Of course!) I’m not going mention any of that.
Instead, I’d like to point out the Science Fictional aspects of most of these comics as well as the Pulpy-ness. There is nothing here that we haven’t seen a hundred years earlier. The space plant is a staple of Pulp SF, like the space dinosaur. Brave spacemen go to a planet and, of course, they run across man-eating plants and dinosaurs. I’m not sure why. Parallel evolution, I guess. (Oddly, when they travel back in time or go into the sub-worlds of the atom, they find the same thing.) Jungle stories are even older, with the classic South American man-eating plant beginning as early as the 1870s. Jungle comics have to offer something similar. The few supernatural tales are often done for laughs in an age that has both the Munsters and the Addams Family. And finally, the superhero punch-up with giant plant villains is I guess the most recent beginning in the 1930s and 1940s as well with characters like Green Arrow, The Black Terror and Batman.
Of all these comics presented here, my favorite is the first one, “The Lost World” (Planet Comics #37, July 1945) partly because I love Lily Renee’s work but also because it reminds me of Pulp stories like David H. Keller’s “The Yeast Men”. The Hydrads of Venus are atypical and where else can you beat the bad guys with a sprinkler? So…until next time…
Mythos Horror & Ghostbreakers at RAGE m a c h i n e
Leave a Reply