The term ‘monster’ is about as subjective as they come.  It could be applied equally well to Ted Bundy, Frankenstein, and Sesame Street’s lovable blue Muppet, Grover.  The only unifying concept behind the word is that a monster is someone or something who is radically different from what we are used to.

Someone or something with the potential to scare people based on either their looks, actions, or the overall psychology of their personality.

Movies often play up the visual aspect of a monster – big budget special effects, creative lighting angles, and ample scenes of over-the-top blood and gore characterize many modern horror movies.  Books, on the other hand, by necessity must rely more on the psychology behind a monster – what their motives are, how their thinking might differ from that of an ‘average’ person, and maybe creepiest of all, in what ways can they be related to on a human level?

At the end of the day, Frankenstein’s monster was characterized as much by his loneliness and need to reach out to another like himself as anything else.

Comic book monsters, when handled by the right authors and artists, can embody the best of both worlds. Visually, they could be as imaginatively striking and memorable as the most unique movie monster -  without detracting from a literary emphasis on the psychology behind their subject’s actions.

For this list, The Fabler Blog looked at a few semi-recent (meaning you won’t find any EC Comics here, though they are by no means unworthy) monsters that made their debut appearance in comic book form.  These monsters aren’t necessarily all evil, but they do embody the essence of the ostracized ‘other’ that has the potential to spread fear wherever they go.

In addition, they are all arguably compelling in their own right. Each ‘monster’ has a psychological depth all of its own, and each is portrayed graphically in a creatively unique way that sticks with you for a long while after.

Without further ado, Five Compelling Comic Book Monsters:

1. Grigori Rasputin (Hellboy) – reinterpreted by Mike Mignolia and John Byrne

First appearance: The real Rasputin was born in Russia, in 1869. Mignolia and Byrne’s take on the character makes his first appearance in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, issue # 1, in 1994.

Origin: After Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 by Prince Yusopov, he was brought back by the immortal creatures known as the Ogdru Jahad to serve their will on Earth. His primary concern was to bring about the apocalypse, which he tricked Hitler into funding  by deceiving him into thinking he was actually building an occult weapon of mass destruction which would win World War 2 for the Nazis.

What makes Rasputin compelling: Really, Rasputin’s success as a compelling comic book monster  is the result of a convergence of several powerfully creepy themes. The sinister Nazi connotation, the real life Russian ghost story, the underlying themes of satanism/occultism… when the reader first sees Rasputin with his arms prostate in front of a group of Nazi SS, his image clouded by Mignolia’s signature shadowy style of art and an upside-down emblazoned on his robe, the imagery is powerful.

Aside from the iconic rendering which Mignolia casts Rasputin in, the character’s religious obsession with the Ogru-Jahad and Hellboy’s role in the apocalypse are huge elements of what makes him a memorable monster that stands out from the pack of occult comic villains out there.

2. Swamp Thing (Saga of the Swamp Thing) – created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson, made legendary by Alan Moore

First appearance: Swamp Thing Vol. 1, issue #1, 1972.

Origin: When Swamp Thing was first introduced, it was with the understanding that he was really scientist Alec Holland, transformed after a laboratory explosion in the Lousiana swamps.  This was retold by Alan Moore with a different twist – in his retcon, Alec Holland had died in the explosion, and Swamp Thing was a plant-creature that mistakenly believed he once was a man.

What makes Swamp Thing compelling: Alan Moore made Swamp Thing compelling. Not to knock Len Wein’s work on the character, but Moore’s run on Saga of the Swamp Thing re-envisioned the character as less of a paranormal super-hero detective with plant powers, and more as a tragic monster in a chillingly dark vision of the outskirts of the DC Universe.

Swamp Thing is not a monster because of its actions, but a monster because of circumstance.  Throughout his run on the title, Moore consistently upped the ante in terms of deep, textured storytelling that was uncompromisingly geared towards adult readers. Steve Bissette, who illustrated most of that run, lent an unnervingly detailed darkness to Moore’s saga.

3. John Griffen “The Invisible Man” (The Nobody) – created by Jeff Lemire

First appearance: The Nobody, a graphic novel released by Vertigo Comics in 2009.

Origin: Rather than reveal too much about the plot, we’ll just say that The Nobody opens up with Griffen, a mysterious bandaged stranger, hiding out in a motel in a small fishing town.

What makes John Griffen compelling: The Nobody is (obviously) a retelling of H.G. Wells’ classic novel The Invisible Man, only with Lemire’s uniquely Lynchian vision stamped all over it. That’s read, I said Lynchian – as in Twin Peaks, which Jeff has said he is a huge fan of and largely informed his work on this title. Lemire’s art and dialogue-light method of storytelling leaves a wonderfully disturbing sensation that something is somehow off in this small community, like a familiar song that seems to be a half-step slower than you remember it.

Lemire paces the book well, weaving a story of isolation and small town prejucide against a lone, troubled individual that ultimately keeps you turning each page with a rising sense of genuine anxiety.

4. Skinner Sweet (American Vampire) – created by Scott Snyder, with Stephen King’s initial support

First appearance: American Vampire # 1, 2010.

Origin: Skinner Sweet was the first true American vampire,  an outlaw of the Wild West cursed with a thirst for blood. The twist is, even vampires are subject to the laws of evolution, and Skinner  is the first of a whole new breed of bloodsucker.

What makes Skinner Sweet compelling: Despite his origin story (which was written by none other than horror master Stephen King) taking place in the American West of the 1880’s, the present tense of American Vampire is set in 1920’s L.A. Skinner Sweet is a quintessential American desperado out for revenge in an era of early Hollywood glam and high society.

This comes at a time when Vampires are known in pop culture for the cheezy romances they seem to crave more than blood. King and Snyder’s take on the mythos is refreshing, to say the least. Skinner is a well-written, layered character that isn’t necessarily truly evil, but doesn’t really have any redeeming qualities to speak of either.

Rafael Albuquerque’s art is a perfect complement to a story that is one part classic vampire tale, one part portrait of American history, and one part well-written Western.

5. Dr. Moses Lwanga (Unknown Soldier) – created by Joshua Dysart, though the original Unknown Soldier was created by Rober Kanigher and Joe Kubert.

First appearance: Moses Lwanga first appeared in Unknown Solider # 1, in 2008. The original Unknown Soldier first appeared in Our Army at War # 168, in 1966.

Origin: Dr. Moses Lwanga was a pacifist and a philanthropist with a keen interest in the conflicts in Uganda. When he is faced with real, human horror during a trip with his wife to the Northwest Region of Uganda, a voice in the back of his head guides urges him into violence. After his murderous rage subsides, he shears the skin from his face in a fit of self-loathing. He later awakes bandaged in a girl’s school, and unbeknownst to him at the time, the second Unknown Soldier is born.

What makes the Unknown Soldier compelling: Of all of the monsters on this list, Moses Lwanga is potentially the most disturbing. He exists because of real horrors that actually exist in our own world, and his violence is but a reflection of what’s actually out there.  He is a monster in the truest sense of the word in that his actions are brutal and horrifying, his psychology is foreign to us and frightening in and of itself, and his visage – much like the Invisible Man’s – is distorted by the mystery of a face covered with bandages.

Yet despite all of this, he is on some level relatable. His humanity perseveres, and on some level coexists with the monster he finds he has become.

Thanks for reading our list of Five Compelling Comic Book Monsters. Stay tuned for more regular Fabler interviews starting next week!

-Written by Kevin de Vlaming

Well folks, Halloween is just around the corner.

Frenzy-eyed scavenger children are preparing to scour the streets in search of sugared sustenance to fill their insatiable hunger.  But seriously, with bite-sized festive Coffee Crisps up for grabs, who can blame them?

Horror-genre comics are enjoying a month in the limelight, with titles new and old generating substantial buzz across the comic book internet. (A couple of titles worthy of mention here would be Calgarian Todd McFarlane’s project with Robert Kirkman, ‘Haunt‘, and the recently announced Stephen King/Scott Snyder title, ‘American Vampire‘.)

Comic blogs and news sites are getting in the spooky spirit of All Hallows as well, with distinctly Halloweenish-themed posts popping up over the interweb.

For instance, Sequential Tart posted their list of Comics That Go Bump in The Night, and Robot 6 has shared a top six list of Vampires They’d Like to Share a Drink With, another of Six Great Paranormal Investigators, and a list of creeptacular webcomics.

IGN has been working on a list of comics they’d like to see made into horror movies, over on 13 Days of Fright: Horror Comics-to-Film.

With October 31st just a few days away, it’s only appropriate for the Fabler to get in on the action.

While vampires are the undisputed trend-leaders this Halloween, and zombies are receiving their usual star treatment, another devilish horror sect is, sadly, falling by the wayside.

Witches just don’t get the coverage they used to. When I think witches, I think witch-hunt – and it just so happens that witch hunts aren’t an uncommon phenomenon in comics.

In fact, an example of a recent witch hunt was reported by WTVQ just last week. If you hadn’t heard about it, two librarians were fired for refusing to allow a young girl to read a particular graphic novel, on grounds of the book containing pornographic content.

So, without further ado, the Fabler Blog presents Five Famous Comic Book Real Life Witch Hunts, beginning with the recent kafuffle surrounding two librarians in Nicholasville.

1) Librarians Fired for Deeming Alan Moore Graphic Novel not Gentlemanly Enough.

The details: As I mentioned, last month two librarians were fired from the Jessamine County Public Library for not allowing a girl to check out Alan Moore’s book, “the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (vol.1).

The girl was allegedly eleven, and the two librarians in question, Beth Bovaire and Sharon Cook, decided the book’s content was too ‘pornographic’. They were fired due to strict library policies which state the responsibility to deem what books are suitable for what age group lies with the parents, not with the library.

The response: Contrasting opinions on the incident came pouring in from around the net, both on WTVQ’s actual page for the article and on a multitude of comic-related blogs. People seem to generally be in agreement that the book probably isn’t suitable for an 11 year old, but divided as to whether the librarians were in the right.

Much ado? This is a more subtle form of witch hunt than comics have faced in the past. Yes, the comic does contain a degree of sexual content – such as several panels in which an invisible man ravishes a woman in a boarding school. The big issue here is that the graphic novel was targeted because of the visual depiction of sex, when countless other non-pictorial books with far worse subject matter could be checked out indiscriminately.

To suggest that graphic novels should be an exception to a policy implemented across all other forms of literature is to play to a misconceptions that they don’t have the balancing literary value which other books possess to offset the sexual content.  The funny thing here is that if it was a comic by anyone other than Moore, I’m guessing we wouldn’t have seen nearly as big a deal made.

2) From Seduction of the Innocent to the Iron Fist of the Comics Code Authority.

The details: THE most-cited example of a comic book witch hunt revolves around a Dr. Fredric Wertham and his book, Seduction of the Innocent.

In 1953, behavioural psychologist Wertham asserted that comics were corrupting the minds of America’s youth. He saw comics solely as children’s novelty items, and ones which were increasingly filled with offensive depictions of sex, violence, and general indecency. Horror and crime genre comics were on the rise thanks to an increase in adult interest in comics, and EC Comics (which notably published Tales from the Crypt, alongside other titles) was at the forefront of the industry.

Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, in which he drew links between comics and juvenile delinquency; between ‘funny pages’ and the steady decline of society.

The response: Wertham’s assertions were heard loud and clear by the general public, who were already nervous to a degree about the relatively new medium which many didn’t fully understand.

The outcry against the comic industry led directly to some severe changes – most notably of which was the establishing of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 by a U.S. Congressional Committee.  For a long while after, the CCA had tremendous influence in the comic book world: many distributors would only carry comics with the CCA’s hard-won stamp.  This led to DC adopting a much lighter approach to its character properties, and eventually drove EC Comics out of business entirely.

Much ado? Fredric Wertham’s name still haunts the comic book industry decades after his passing. The impact his diatribes had on the industry is both immeasurable and enduring.

In addition to forcing countless creative minds to either limit their idea output or cease production entirely, Wertham proposed some downright offensive ideas that live on in popular culture for years. He argued that Batman and Robin’s relationship had distinct homosexual connotations, which  encouraged a breakdown of family values in society. He similarly asserted that Wonder Woman’s strong, independent personality identified her as a lesbian, and that comic artists frequently hid depictions of genitalia in their pictures.

3) The Trials of Omaha.

The details: Omaha the Cat Dancer is an alternative comic book that was illustrated by Reed Waller and written by his significant other, Kate Worley. It stars as its titular character an anthropomorphical  cat who works as an exotic dancer, and is notable for its lewd depictions of sexual acts between characters.

It’s exactly for that that fact that Omaha, which would go on to become a well-loved and near legendary indie comic, has been met with such discrimination throughout its publication.

One example of this occurred in 1988, when Diamond Comics refused to carry the title on grounds of its obscene content. Many retailers didn’t carry the title in the first place for the same reason, completely overlooking the pro feminist subtext and well woven plots about meaningful, realistic depictions of relationships.

Omaha again found infamy in 1989, when Canadian police raided a Toronto comic shop and confiscated Omaha (among other titles) on grounds of it being ‘bestiality’. This wasn’t the first time Omaha had been the target of a police raid on a comic shop.

The response: Fan outcry and backlash from First Amendment advocates led Diamond Comics to back down from its ban of the title. Curiously, while North American authorities continued to decry Omaha up until its extended publishing hiatus in 1992, New Zealand  authorities famously ruled that the title be given a ‘G’ rating, since behind its sexual content there were substantial plots and ongoing emotional relationships.

Much ado? The controversies around Omaha the Cat Dancer presented a new spin on an old theme – unfamiliar concepts in comics being targeted because of their visual content by authorities unwilling to look at the value of the message or story in a given title. The fact that North American authorities were so judgemental of Omaha while other nationalities had no problem with it just goes once again to show some of the lingering impacts left on the comic industry here from Dr. Wertham’s personal crusade.

4) Mike Diana – Convicted for Comics

The details: This is an interesting case that dates back to March of 1994, when indie comic zine distributor Mike Diana became the first artist ever to be convicted on charges of obscenity in the States. He had been creating and distributing a zine called ‘Boiled Angel,’ which featured graphic depictions of various subjects generally considered offensive; rape, extreme violence, scat, aggressively anti-religious sentiments, et cetera.

His limited run material somehow found its way to the office of a Florida State’s Attorney, who deemed his material not only obscene, but also capable of inspiring and being appealing to serial killers. He was convicted on three counts of obscenity; for publishing, for distributing, and for advertising his material.

The response: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a not-for-profit group designed to protect the First Amendment rights of comic creators, rushed in to assist Diana with court fees and preparing/financing a defense. Despite a costly battle that was waged in Mike’s defense, he was sentenced to three years of probation with community service, and a $3000.00 fine. He was also required to undergo (and pay for himself) psychiatric evaluation.

In 1997, the CBLDF tried to have Diana’s case appealed, but their efforts were denied.

Much ado? Censorship in any artistic medium is worth taking note of, and in this case it hits especially close to home as the creator in question was arrested for charges relating to comic books. Allegedly, the prosecution used comparisons to Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Picasso’s “Guernica” to discredit the literary and artistic value of Diana’s work.

Seriously ridiculous. The judge said that Diana should be using non-offensive vehicles to convey his messages about some of the raw, horrible problems that plague society.

As Mike has said himself, “child rape & abuse has been around way before I was born, I just get ideas from real life”.

Now there’s a positive note to go out on! But really, folks… while the comic book world has ample examples to draw from when we’re talking about comic book witch hunts, it obviously isn’t all gloom and doom. There are plenty of examples out there of comics increasingly receiving more and more attention as a valid literary/artistic medium. Why, even just recently 14 libraries in New Jersey were given a $3000 grant to expand their graphic novel collection. So keep your chins up, kiddies! And most of all, have a spooktacularly rad Halloween this weekend. The Fabler wishes it so.