Indie Squid Kid

Adventures Into The Unknown was a horror comic published by B&I Publishing/American Comics Group. It ran for 174 issues from Fall 1948-August 1967. Cover art for the series depicted pretty typical horror fare—ghosts, vampires, zombies, dinosaurs—but monstrous cephalopods were given the spotlight on three separate occasions. Enjoy.

Adventures Into The Unknown #47

Does the Sargasso Sea exist? And does this legendary graveyard of ancient ships contain a dread, eerie secret too terrible for the mind of man to encompass? Thrill to a story that dares to tell all…”The Derelict Fleet”!

Is that Perry Mason?

Adventures Into The Unknown #49

Who knows what dread horrors the fathomless ocean depths may hide? Here’s a pulse-pounding story which tells of the KRAKEN–an awful being which rose from out of the unknown itself–and how science struck back against the fearful onset!!

“Laser bathysphere” is totally going on my Christmas wish list. Also, I had no idea the Kraken looked like Zombie Betty Davis!

Adventures Into The Unknown #157

Nemesis—pitted against terror from the deep! It’s all in the great thriller…”The Case of the Tittering Texan!”

I have no idea what Texas, or tittering, for that matter, has to do with this octopus.

design by XiaoFei Li

It took me a second to get what was going on here. At first glance, what seems like the floating head of a Bugs Bunny-esque cartoon rabbit soon reveals itself to be a giant blue octopus gripping what I imagine must be a very startled diver. This guy takes the Mimic Octopus‘ M.O. and turns it up to eleven!

Currently available in all Guys and Girly sizes for $18. Buy it from Threadless.

Truthfully, I don’t plan to get this one because it isn’t really my style, but it’s always good to see a new cephalopod-themed shirt from Threadless.com!

Eight Arms Cellars is winemaker Iain Bolton, who specializes in wine handcrafted from organically/sustainably grown grapes. One of his current offerings is The Tentacle:

This one really wraps it’s arms around you! It’s big and juicy with bright fruit flavors, a spicy palate and a dollop of vanilla on the end. This Syrah is best enjoyed with a hearty meal. Beware! Once you are caught in the tentacles of this wonderfully delicious Syrah, you may have trouble pulling yourself away.

The Tentacle is $12 a bottle, and to purchase it, or find out more about it and Eight Arms, visit www.eightarmscellars.com.

I have to admit that I don’t have a very sophisticated palate when it comes to wine. However, I know two things: 1) I enjoy a good Syrah, and 2) THERE IS AN OCTOPUS ON THE BOTTLE.

If any ISK readers live in the Bay Area, you should totally pick up a bottle of this and report back! Good idea, right?

This T-shirt design is by the same artist that did “Diver’s Haul” (featured last week), and it is up for voting on Threadless for ONE MORE DAY. So, if you want this to be a real shirt that you can buy with real money, GO VOTE NOW!

To see more works by Julie Dillon (both with and without tentacles), visit www.jdillon.net and her gallery at deviantART.

Tip o’ the tentacle to Jason of the Cephalopodcast for bringing this to my attention!

We’ve been having some serious connectivity problems with our home WiFi network, so I’m only just now able to get to this week’s Wednesday Comics post. (I’d better make it quick too, since the modem could decide to crash at any moment!) Normally, I’d probably just skip it, but I really wanted to mark the birthday of comics legend Jack Kirby, who was born on August 28, 1917. He died in 1994, and his indelible influence still shapes the genre today.

Kirby was instrumental in defining the superhero renaissance of Marvel Comics’ Silver Age, co-creating (with Stan Lee) such notable characters as the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and the X-Men. He also helped create a number of lesser known Marvel characters, such as Metallo, who was actually a suit of high-tech armor worn by human criminal Mike Fallon. Metallo’s first (and only?) appearance was Tales of Suspense #16 (1961), in the story “The Thing Called Metallo.” In it, Fallon acquires the suit, tests its capabilities, robs a bank, and finally attempts to break all the prisoners out of Alcatraz. The panel below (which actually comes from a 1974 reprint of the story in Where Monsters Dwell #26) shows Metallo’s encounter with a giant octopus.

©Marvel Comics

The marine monster strikes! His huge powerful tentacles encircle your struggling form–he tries to destroy you–to crush you as he has crushed so many other creatures…

If you found it upsetting that Metallo punches the octopus to death, know that Fallon gets his in the end. Learning that he has been stricken with an ailment (cancer?) that is fatal without radiation treatments, Fallon must choose to either leave the radiation-proof Metallo suit and get arrested, or stay in the suit and die. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but the story ends with Metallo heading off to the mountains to ponder his dilemma.

Victory Through Air Power is a WWII propaganda film made by Disney in 1943. This clip of the film’s final sequence shows American forces, represented by an eagle, fighting (and defeating) Imperial Japan, which is depicted as a giant evil octopus.

(via Vulgar Army)

I’ve previously addressed the issue of the proper pluralization of “octopus,” but it’s good to see independent confirmation from no less than the editorial staff of Mirriam-Webster!

Sighted by Able.

design by thedansterwashere

You will believe a cephalopod can fly!

Hey, remember how the government said that 75% of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico had magically vanished in a puff of rainbow pixie dust? Well…it turns out that 70-79% of the oil is still there. You know, UNDER THE WATER. So yeah, if I were a jet-propelled, ink-producing invertebrate, I’m pretty sure I would try to figure out a way to get airborne and give surface-dwellers a taste of their own black, gloopy medicine.

“Air Defense” is $15.00 and comes in Mens, Womens, and Kids sizes. Buy it now from Shirt.Woot!

©DC Comics

This image was posted recently on the Tumblr site Octopus Watch, but no info on the original source was included. So far, I haven’t been able figure out exactly which comic and issue this panel is from, but I do know that the characters here are Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and super villain Major Force. Unlike Earth’s other Green Lanterns, Kyle doesn’t have a military background. Instead, he is an artist whose power ring constructs are a bit more creative than giant baseball mitts or hammers. Exhibit A: this monstrous octopus.

I’ll keep trying to figure out which comic this comes from (that’s just the kind of completist nerd I am), but if anyone out there happens to know, please leave a comment!