Fred Kelly’s Mr. Monster is best remembered today as the inspiration for one of the best independent comics of the 1980s (and – sporadically – to this day), Michael T. Gilbert’s Mr. Monster.
The legend goes that Gilbert found a coverless copy of the Golden Age Mr. Monster comic – Super Duper Comics #3 – and was so taken by the character and primitive allure of the story itself to devise a new mythology that recast the Doc Stearne’s alter-ego as a hereditary title i.e. Lee Falk’s Phantom.
The original Golden Age comic even featured prominently in an excellent Dark Horse miniseries that chronicled the origins of the modern Mr. Monster.
Reading the “Terror Of Trezma” today, it’s easy to see what Gilbert found so invigorating. While there were certainly more complex and slick super-hero comics by 1947, there’s definitely an addictive rush to the tale of a masked hero taking on a mummified Frankenstein with nothing more than his fists and a trusty revolver.
Super-Heroes vs. Super-Horrors Week continues with Fred Kelly’s Mr. Monster! The “Terror Of Trezma” originally appeared in Super Duper Comics #3 (F.E. Howard Publications, May-June 1947).
Dang .. Doc Stearne could show The Punisher a thing or two. Coming tomorrow: Matt Baker’s Phantom Lady vs. an army of zombies!
The Time Bullet 