The Little Monster That Grew

[Andy Lambert]

I have a long distant memory of reading a one-off comic strip but I can't remember where I saw it or what it was called - perhaps someone can put me out of my misery.

The strip in question may have appeared in an annual or special - I don't think it was in a regular Prog. It involved a very small alien creature that came to Earth and started to eat just about everything. The more it ate, the more it grew, eventually growing to a colossal size and becoming a threat to mankind. I think the army was brought in to stop the creature but was unsuccessful in stopping it.
Just when it appeared that all was lost the alien eventually had one bite too much, and in true Mr Creosote fashion - exploded. Crisis over.

I'm pretty sure the strip was in black and white, and I think the creature walked on all fours and had a sort of beak for a mouth. I don't think it had any eyes. I've remembered this strip for years, but I've never come across it - I'm no longer sure it appeared in 2000ad now.

Anyone have any ideas...?

[Andy Lambert]

Not to worry, I've been doing some digging and I think I've found it - it was in Starlord. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any pictures to be found.

[Brian Corcoran]

I've a feeling this was a P.E.S.T story, drawn by Gary Leach? I'm fairly sure it was in a prog, not Starlord.

[Leigh S]

Certainly Gary Leach, though I thought in one of the Starlord annuals? Certaanly thought a special or annual.....

[Leigh S]

Prog 58 has a story called the Juggernaut, which might fit the bill - otherwise, I can;t see anything Annual or Special wise that fits the bill

[Leigh S]

OK - Lesson learnt, always trust yoursself! It is indeed in the 1982 Starlord annual and is called Exterminator - will scan a page in mo -

As an aside - why was Garry Leach not as huge as Bolland or Gibbons - he has that very clean and realistic sytle- for my money he is perhaps the best of the lot of them back in the early progs.

[Leigh S]

[Jim_Campbell]

It remains a constant mystery to me why Garry Leach didn't become a Bolland-level superstar artist. There's a superficial similarity in the quality of his inks but, for me, his design sense far exceeded that of Bolland.

[Andy Lambert]

Aw brilliant! Thank you, Leigh! I was a little bit off with some of the details of the story as I remembered it, but I was right about that beak...! Brilliant stuff - the artwork by Garry is way better than I remember it! Absolutely stunning! I'm going to have to track down the Starlord annual now... apparently, this particular strip was reprinted in the 1987 Dan Dare annual.

Thanks so much, guys

[norton canes]

Loved Gary Leach's work too. He was one of those artists that had a superb mastery of human anatomy, which he used to depict characters in all kinds of impressively contorted poses.

Was it Gary Leach that did the illustrations for the 'wandering monster' pictures that appeared in the text sections of Time Killer?

[sheridan]

Prog 58 has a story called the Juggernaut, which might fit the bill - otherwise, I can;t see anything Annual or Special wise that fits the bill

I think Juggernaut was about a big truck or tank, though haven't read it for a few decades!

[norton canes]

Loved Gary Leach's work too. He was one of those artists that had a superb mastery of human anatomy, which he used to depict characters in all kinds of impressively contorted poses.

Was it Gary Leach that did the illustrations for the 'wandering monster' pictures that appeared in the text sections of Time Killer?

(Sorry - meant Tomb of Terror)