Tuesday, November 16, 2010

"Tendril" in a Simpsons comic

I just uncovered an old "Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror #8" comic I originally bought for the way cool art in one of its three segments, a horror-themed alphabet illustrated by a Hilary Barta. Flipping through it again, something obscure just caught my eye:



For the letter P, we get a Portal full of pretty awesome Lovecraftian entities, but one of them is very oddly familiar.



This is "Tendril," one of the massive monster figures from the "Inhumanoids" line and one of my favorite monster toys. Our artist changed his mouth and modified his tentacles, but otherwise, there he is hanging out in a Simpsons comic for some reason.

While I wouldn't have the patience to scan and post the whole horror Alphabet, there are a couple others I'd like to share from this:



I support the Bleeding Heart. I agree with its politics and I agree with disembodied pulsating organs.



You know I love garbage creatures, though I think this guy is obviously more fecal than anything else. The eyeless pits are a cool touch.

Really, why can't the Treehouse of Horror episodes be as cool as this? They've gotten lamer and more rushed every year, when they used to be hilarious and creatively morbid.

5 Comments:

Blogger Lee said...

"Inhumanoids!" What a random slice of history. I had a friend with those cool toys, but I didn't learn there was a show until recently. I also don't think I ever saw the Tendril toy as a kid, because I'd remember something like that. Looks like Brundleswampthing. : )

9:38 PM  
Blogger Scythemantis said...

Same with me, I even HAD some of the toys as a kid but never knew Tendril existed, somehow. If I did, it would have been a massive part of my childhood as I know I'd have killed for a slimy squid-plant monster like him, even if it wasn't that huge.

3:03 PM  
Anonymous Ziggywolf5 said...

Speaking of a decline in quality, I found last year's Treehouse of Horror comic pretty lame from being forced out or something. I don't know how this year's was.

6:50 PM  
Blogger ronnoc said...

He also pops up in the (pretty bad) game Painkiller Overdose, although I didn't recognize him until this post

12:00 PM  
Blogger surly hack said...

Scythmantis,

Thanks for the kind words about the Lurid Lexicon. I would have sworn I made that critter up--but I can't remember if something inspired me. I don't have the Mantis toy, but maybe I saw one somewhere. Weird!

My only regret here is poetic: My editor changed a few of the limericks, adding words and syllables which threw threw off the already shaky meter.

Hilary

9:52 PM  

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