MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 005

You won't catch me not having a whole lot of monsters to show you.

the Elipticoon:

True to his name, the wicked Sophus, the Mad Philosopher engages in a slightly more abstract version of villainy in which he traps people in a pan-dimensional maze and delights in their despair (okay, this is pretty standard villainy, I'll admit it. I just like the name). A major feature of this maze is the Hall of the Elipticoon, which houses its namesake, a "giant time entity." Despite the lofty setting and terminology, the Elipticoon seems to be just a big lizard/insect thing that operates purely on predatory instinct, as seen above when it gobbles up Sophus after he attracts its attention with a bit too much evil laughter. (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

Finned Python:

The finned python is just one of the weird creatures encountered by Chuck Hardy and his pals in the underground lands beneath the Marquesas Islands. Just what the fins are for is left as an exercise for the reader. (Amazing-Man Comics 012, 1940)

Firebat:

We have already seen the Golden Knight defeat a dragon in the last Monster, Critter and Creature Round-Up, and here we can see that that was not his first rodeo. On the very first step of his journey to the Crusades, Sir Richard wanders off into a cave and is confronted with a creature that the comic calls a firebat but is clearly some sort of dragonoid. Modern dragon pedants would probably call it a wyvern, but who needs to be so prescriptive? (Fantastic Comics 001, 1939)

Fire Dragon:

Sir Richard faces another dragon somewhere in Europe after the evil Hag of Blackamoor kidnaps his lover Alice and compels him to seek out the mystical Golden Stallion of Ice Mountain. This fire dragon stands even less of a chance than the firebat did, as the Golden Knight is now loaded down with magical items, including a magic cloak that protects him from fire.

Sir Richard completes the voyage to Ice Mountain, completely destroys a giant, and takes possession of the Golden Stallion.

As we all know, the fabulous Golden Stallion is in fact the magically transformed true Queen of Blackamoor Forest, who breaks her own curse by trampling the Hag. What a story to tell your royal court on a cold evening! (Fantastic Comics 007, 1940)

Vulkite:

While tracking a diamond thief in the badlands of Mercury, Nick Nelson and Kodi of the Space Patrol are confronted with a vicious vulkite - note the weird skin-flap wings. You don't see those a lot nowadays. Weird wings or no, the vulkite is no match for Space Patrol Atom-Needle Guns.

This dryak that the space pirate unleash to protect their booty is a different story, and Nick Nelson almost succumbs to its caterpillar/lizard ferocity before Kodi takes it out with their spaceship's Flame-Blast Cannon. I really like this critter's weird front-facing fangs. Are they for digging? For poking prey? Perhaps they are used in courtship displays or to regulate temperature. (Amazing Mystery Funnies v3 003, 1940)

War Eagles and Oryx-Beasts:

Both the Lion- and Dragon-Men of planet Ligra make use of trained war-eagles as battle steeds, but only the former employ oryx-beasts. I don't know if I've encountered the concept of a war-ungulate before!

Jago, king of the Dragon-Men, also has this very spherical alien octopus that he attempts to feed the queen of the Lion-Men to before Electro takes a hand. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 009, 1940)

MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 004

Everyone likes a good monster now and then.

Horned Cat:

With every one of these round-ups I accrue more evidence that the Slightly Different Big Cat is one of the classic monster types, as seen here when Congo Jack is confronted with this horned green feline in the mystical Valley of Vango in the Congolese jungle.

As a bonus, a few steps later he has to deal with another classic: the carnivorous plant, or in this case flesh-eating bush. (Lightning Comics v2 004, 1941)

Croco-Tiger:

As further evidence, here's Power Nelson fending off a strangely plush-looking croco-tiger in the wilds of the planet Pluvius in the far-flung year 1982 CE. For those like me who like to see a comic book creature survive now and then, worry not for the yellow pool this beast is being flung into merely shrinks it to kitten size, which is hopefully something that it can adapt to.

Pluvius also features its own type of carnivorous plant, in this case some sort of tentacle (or possibly tendril?) based predator. (Prize Comics 003, 1940)

Cannibal Tree:

Rex Dexter of Mars and gal pal Synde have their own run-in with a carnivorous plant, the so-called cannibal tree, on an unnamed extrasolar planet. (Mystery Men Comics 018 1941)

Dodman's Serpent:

Though the practice is now frowned upon in zoological circles, I can't help but love the sound of an eponymous species name, and especially when the species in question is some sort of monster. Dodman's Serpent is great because it has the lovely rhythm of an eponym without actually being named after some guy named Dodman who will later be cancelled and require a lot of textbooks to be reprinted. Instead, it is named after its hunting grounds near Dodman's Point in Cornwall. Or its former hunting grounds, I suppose, since it made the mistake of attacking a ship containing the Black Knight. (The Funnies 049, 1940)

Dragon:

I really like this dragon, which spent its days peacefully eating maidens in an unnamed European kingdom until the Golden Knight showed up and slayed it. It has all the weird goofiness of the dragons that you see in Medieval illustrations from before the concept of what such a beast looks like was really codified. (Fantastic Comics 010, 1940)

Dragons:

These dragons, by contrast, are just a bunch of weird lizards that the Green Sorceress keeps in a cave and throws her enemies to. I really like them. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

Drazil:

Here we see Neptina associate Norma Kane be ambushed and nearly killed by a very cool-looking undersea reptile called a drazil. As is often the case with long-necked creatures, the drazil is vulnerable to having its head chopped off.

Norma really was having a day of it, as immediately before the drazil attack, she was ambushed by this heinous looking crustacean which is referred to only as a "sea-beast." (Champ Comics 011, 1940)

Dream Plants:

During one of the Green Sorceress' many attempts to conquer the whole of the underground world, she employs dark majicks and weird science to move her armies through the Fourth Dimension. While pursuing her there, Blue Bolt is nearly killed by a Dream Plant, a carnivorous plant with the ability to project sexy illusions to lure its prey closer.

Later, a second, airborne species of dream plant that forgoes the illusory lures in favour of active hunting almost does for the Green Sorceress herself before Blue Bolt spears it in its conspicuous weak point. (Blue Bolt v1 005, 1940) 

Jungle Horse:

Finally we have the jungle horse, potentially the only non-hostile species present on the Gorikon in the Negative Universe, or at least the only one encountered by Meteor Martin during his time there. These peaceful animals just hang around waiting to act as beasts of burden for passing humanoids - a truly selfless species. (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)

MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 001

I've threatened to do it for long enough, it's time for the creatures to have their day.

Alligator Men:

Our very first creatures are also our first tough call. Steel Sterling fights these Alligator Men in Brazonia, South America while on the trail of Dr Yar (aka the Black Knight), and with any group of intelligent humanoids there is the question: did our villain make them using the power of mad science, or did he find them in the jungle and convince them to follow him?

The thing that sways my opinion on the Alligator Men is the fact that Dr Yar also has this swarm of giant mosquitoes at his command. If someone is going to the trouble of overcoming the square cube law to create a not-very-successful trap for his arch enemy then bioengineering a batch of alligator-headed goons has got to be a walk in the park, comparatively. (Zip Comics 003, 1940)

Alligoscerous:

This alligoscerous, a lake monster native to the hidden Diamond Empire in Asia and burdened with a most unlovely name, makes an attempt to dine on the Rocket and his allies and pays for it with its eyes. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

Allosaurus:

Abdallah is a minor Centaur Publications character who has fantastical adventures in 10th Century Arabia, such as in this instance, when a caravan he is leading is attacked by a pack of allosaurus. It's honestly giving me a warm flashback to AD&D adventure modules.

Continuing in the tabletop RPG theme, later in that same story Abdallah must travel through an underground dungeon of sorts to save his father's life, and does battle with this very heraldic griffin. (Funny Pages v3 008, 1939)

Amphisaur:

The amphisaur, an ancient dinosaur hibernating below the sea floor, is awakened by Naval manoeuvres and immediately begins laying waste to the works of mankind. It's very Gozilla-before-Godzilla, though without the poignancy of the nuclear war metaphor.

Though the beast's hide is proof against all conventional weaponry and it is even immune to mummy-turned-super-hero Mystico's arcane power for the slightly contrived reason that it dates from before magic was invented, it is ultimately undone when an entire skyscraper is repurposed into a jumbo-sized spear to impale it. (Startling Comics 004, 1940)

the Sea Dragon:

The Sea Dragon, which pops up to vex and befuddle the US Navy in Hawaii, is in reality a classic (and astonishingly huge) submarine disguised as a monster and operated by an unnamed, not-quite-Japanese, Navy. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

Tangako:

Adventurer Reef Kinkaid and his companions, stranded in a lost valley filled with prehistoric life in the Amazon jungle, must confront a variety of monsters, including the horned cave-ape tangako, which Reef grapples to death...

... the cave-dwelling alagasaurus, which he grapples and beats to death...

... and the annoyingly-spelled pterodactl, which he grapples to death. (Amazing-Man Comics 016, 1940)

Bonus Dinosaurs!

 

These random dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals are encountered by the Black Hood during a confusing trip through time. (Jackpot Comics 003, 1941)