Originally Published In Issue 64
Reprinted In Issue 123
First published back in April of 1976, Issue 64 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘The Night Of The Cactus’. The comic was later reprinted under the same title within Issue 123.
DLS Synopsis:
The men of science had chosen the desert lands as a home for their earth-shaking experiments. Lands that had once been inhabited by the Redmen. It was said that the Redmen’s spirits still roamed these ancient hunting grounds and that they’d been brought back into a half-life by an atomic holocaust.
DLS Review:
This one’s some insanely crazy sci-fi horror if ever there was some! We’ve got an ancient Red Indian tribe whose eternal spirits have been disturbed by a bunch of scientists experimenting with atomic bombs on their sacred hunting grounds. So, Mowgi, the spirit’s leader, vows to wreak a terrible vengeance on these scientists. This involves obtaining a crystal of eternal light and then using this crystal to give unnatural life to the desert cactus, so as to mutate the head scientist at the facility – Rex Mahler – into a monstrous cactus beast! Only then, can Mowgi destroy this beast and ultimately rid the land of these pesky scientists.
During the 1970s the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ was a pocket-sized mainstream horror comic which ran for 137 issues between 1971 and 1977. From issue 86 onwards the publishers simply started reprinting the earlier stories, the first 28 of these reprints retitling the story. As such, there were only a total of 86 different stories within the series.
Unfortunately, each issue was undated, making it difficult to be sure of the date for first publication of each issue. However, it is widely understood the comics were monthly publications, with the original stories running between 1971 and 1977, therefore the above date of publication is a reasonable assumption. Additionally, each issue was uncredited to either the writer or the comic artist(s).
DLS Synopsis:
The men of science had chosen the desert lands as a home for their earth-shaking experiments. Lands that had once been inhabited by the Redmen. It was said that the Redmen’s spirits still roamed these ancient hunting grounds and that they’d been brought back into a half-life by an atomic holocaust.
Now a great anger had been wakened. A terrible anger at the horror that had been wrought in the name of civilisation. Gathering in an old, deserted village, on the edge of the desolation, the spirits planned their terrible vengeance.
A medicine man and high priest of the Redman’s after world, named Mowgi was the spirit ruler of these half-ghosts. The spirits demanded the destruction of the one responsible for the destruction of their lands, or they will find no peace in their once happy hunting grounds. So, upon the spirit of Mowgi, medicine man of this ancient tribe, rested the burden of their perpetual unrest.
Amid the dying desert stood a research facility. It was there that the atomic formula had been devised. Where scientists still worked, unaware of the awful powers they had unwittingly unleashed. And whilst the scientists worked, Mowgi, the spirit which their experiments had conjured back from eternity, entered the body of a latter-day Redman – a cleaner at the facility named Shaman.
Mowgi, now again in physical human form, vowed to devise an experiment of his own that will rid the desert of the outsider’s presence forever…
This one’s some insanely crazy sci-fi horror if ever there was some! We’ve got an ancient Red Indian tribe whose eternal spirits have been disturbed by a bunch of scientists experimenting with atomic bombs on their sacred hunting grounds. So, Mowgi, the spirit’s leader, vows to wreak a terrible vengeance on these scientists. This involves obtaining a crystal of eternal light and then using this crystal to give unnatural life to the desert cactus, so as to mutate the head scientist at the facility – Rex Mahler – into a monstrous cactus beast! Only then, can Mowgi destroy this beast and ultimately rid the land of these pesky scientists.
Sounds wild, huh?! It frigging well is. There’s so much that’s been crammed into this furiously paced storyline. Not only do we have the aforementioned plot involving ancient Red Indian vengeance, but we also have a secondary plot involving the lead scientist’s brother – Chris Mahler – who’s been drawn to the facility by Mowgi, to become an instrument of their revenge too!
Honestly, with so many bodies being taken over by spirits, and such a wildly elaborate plan for revenge being enacted by these pissed off spirits, the storyline quickly becomes a veritable quagmire of chaos and sudden, almost unexplainable twists. Why do we have Rex Mahler turning into a Cactus Beast at all? Why do we have his brother rocking up to the research facility to assist with this elaborate ploy? What’s poor Chris done to evoke such vengeance being wrought upon him as well?
The whole thing is wacky as hell, but there’s just so much fun with these strangely interconnecting threads. That said, personally, I would have wanted a tad more involvement from the Cactus Beast. He stalks about the desert a bit but doesn’t really get up to any of the beastly behaviour you’d hope or expect from such a monster. Sadly, there’s no terrorizing the other scientists (which is where I assumed the story was leading us to). No prickly deaths at the hands of the Cactus Beast. Kind of feels like a missed opportunity for some classic Mutant Beast horror!
Nevertheless, the illustrative artwork throughout the story is superb. Loads of taught, agonised facial expressions, and wonderfully exaggerated stances as the possessed characters plot their next devious move. Our Cactus Beast is also gloriously presented with his oppressive stalking and prickly arms pretty much permanently held aloft in an intimidating way. Textbook beastly behaviour as far as that’s concerned.
For the sheer creative imagination on show throughout this wild story, you can’t help but love the comic. Again, you absolutely need to suspend all disbelief and just go with the wackiness of the story. Yeah, so many pieces in it don’t really make all that much sense when held up to even the vaguest amount of scrutiny. But who cares?! The insanely elaborate ride it takes you on is all you need. This one’s sheer unadulterated entertainment from start to end.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
