My favorite images from Monster Brains

I've spent an inordinate amount of time over at Monster Brains, a blog filled with thousands of scans of comic books, movie posters, science fiction paperbacks, model kit boxes, and other media starring monsters. Here are a few noteworthy ones.

A rather unusual weapon to have on the cover of a kids' comic book from the 1960s.

In 1966, people preferred thoroughly modern monsters.

"Oops. Didn't mean to do that. Sorry"

Magnus, dude, what's with all the robohate?

What's she worried about? She's not in a red uniform.

Shame on you Samson -- you could give a monster a complex doing that to it.

I'm sure I missed some other amusing images. If you find any, post 'em in the comments!

Monster Brains

• [Antinous / Moderator]

  I don’t want to tell Lieutenant Redsuit how to do her job, but that is not how artificial insemination works.

  • [Brainspore]

    Maybe she knows something we don’t about the anatomy of the four-armed Gorillaclops.

• [GawainLavers]

  The Woman with the Golden…um…

  • [David Carroll]

    We have to give the “The Woman with the Golden…um..”  (thanks for that Gawain) credit.  At least she is doing something besides running and watching.  

• [Brainspore]

  Since when have women been allowed to wear pants on Kirk’s Enterprise?

• [chellberty]

  The third image shows Lizzy inventing golf, well at least that is what humanity let’s him think.

• [Bucket]

  Magnus Robot Fighter and the girl on the Star Trek cover are wearing the same boots.

  • [RuthlessRuben]

    But she is wearing more pants. Discuss.

• [liquidstar]

  I love those old golden key comix.  I actually had the Lost in Space issue shown.  The big, fat, omnibus collected issues they did of Star Trek were awesome.  I have one, but it looks like it’s been chewed by a denebian devil.

• [Cowicide]

  In the top picture, the creature looks totally shocked and grossed out.  Poor thing just wanted to find some pants to wear.

• [Stefan Jones]

  I remember, as a kid, reading Lost in Space comics in a barber shop and being utterly baffled and disappointed. They had nothing to do with the TV show. Much later I read that they (and the tie-in toys) were produced before the show had “gelled.”

  The Star Trek comics were a little closer to canon, but still puzzling. I think I read the “Vulcan Furies” article . . . turns out the wise ancient Vulcans figured out a way to hide their emotions in colorful glass bottles.

• [kentkb]

  Mmmm, white gogo boots on a dude with red short-shorts…. is that an “M” on his belt buckle? mmmmm macho….

• [Greg Silk]

  I remember Robot Fighter. I don’t know if there was ever a backstory explaining his strength, his little tunic, or his white go-go boots, or why it was necessary to take on the criminal robot menace with his bare hands. You’d think there would have been a more effective tool than a knuckle sandwhich, like maybe a five iron.

  The karate chop decapitation was one of his signature moves.  

• [gwailo_joe]

  That space lady totally just splooged that cyclops!  

  (where else can you say that?  I heart BB!)

• [Greg Silk]

  Anyway the lizard beast is the Ymir from Ray Harryhausen’s 1957 movie “20 Million Miles To Earth.” In the movie trailer he breaks the lampost.
  http://youtu.be/6VOCoubmS2Q

  That picture of Sampson reminds me of Brock Sampson, right down to the blonde mullet. Did he like Zep?

• [Vengefultacos]

  Welcome to the year 4000, where humans have evolved past the need for “pants.” Now please start punching robots.

• [planettom]

  Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson!

• [Phikus]

  I just love that there was a Modern Monster mag.  Did it have a centerfold?

• [Phikus]

  To the horror of Dr. Deets and Sally the Dental Hygenist, Sampson was determined to show off his style of veterinary dentistry.

• [Ian Wood]

  That thing does NOT work. At all. I got my ass kicked the first time I used it to try to immobilize a sentient banyan tree.

• [Frank Diekman]

  At first I thought the tag line on the Star Trek mag was about “Vulcan Furries”. *shudder*

• [Cicada Mania]

  Amazing, but everyone knows you can’t kill the Cyclops with a hot mayonnaise gun.

• [randallu]

  Is that a Georgia O’Keefe work I see on the monitor behind the woman shooting the space goo?

• [Nadreck]

  Every one of those gorgeous, painted Russ Manning “Magus” covers was a winner.  One of the first comics that I owned was the one whose cover you have here.  The robot being tackled as he tries to blast the Fu Manchu type is rebelling because he’s fallen in love with Magnus’s girlfriend.

  By the way, there was a brilliant reboot of the series called “Steel Nation” wherein your concerns about robo-hatred were addressed.

• [Bruce Diamond]

  Magnus Robot Fighter is why I cannot accept “squee” as a noise signaling delight. It’s the noise a robot makes when it dies.

• [JhmL]

  Poor creature, lost in spunk.

• [Klaus Æ. Mogensen]

  Magnus was raised by a stern, robotic father – maybe that explains his robot issues?
  @Greg: He has bionic arms, hence the strength. I read in an article that his boots were supposed to be blue-black, but the colorist forgot to color it in in the first story, and then they decided to go with the white look. Absolutely wonderful artwork by Russ Manning in the books, BTW – far better than this cover.

• [notasheep]

  The problem with that weapon on the first cover is that you have to work so hard to cock it.

  Reloading takes a while, too.

• [Jose]

  “What’s she worried about? She’s not in a red uniform.”
  True, but you just know that as soon as Kirk is done with that purple thing, he’s going after her.

• [DaveBrooks]

  I remember tracing Magnus panels onto onion-skin paperas a kid, then tracing other comics over them to make a new drawing. (Sort of photoshopping in the pre-digital era.) The only one I remember had Linus, from Peanuts, decapitating a robot.

  I had forgotten about Magnus’ “Village People” look …

• [GregS]

  The world is a poorer place now that Modern Monster magazine has ceased publication.