"It" is a horror

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by American writer

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...

, first published in ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film and television Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), Australian silent film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film), American silent drama ...

'' of August 1940 (volume 3, number 6). The story deals with a muck-monster that emerges from a swamp, and terrorizes a family who lives nearby. The creature has no emotions, and is simply curious about the things that it observes. Its terrifying strength allows it to grab animals and people and tear them apart, to see how they work. Ultimately, the creature is revealed to have formed around a human skeleton. P. Schuyler Miller described "It" as "probably the most unforgettable story ever published in ''Unknown''". The story was published in book form in Sturgeon's first short story collection, '' Without Sorcery'' (1948). The story inspired many similar characters in comic books, including

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

and

Man-Thing The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in ' ...

Similar characters

Plant-based swamp monsters similar to that in the story appear in various comic books. Among these characters are Hillman Comics' the Heap in ''Airboy Comics'', who debuted in what was intended as a one-time appearance in the feature "Skywolf" in ''Air Fighters'' #3 (December 1942). Early depictions of the Heap look highly similar to the

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

character Gossamer, an orange-furred, practically featureless monster in

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

who menaced

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

in the 1946

animated short Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

" Hair-Raising Hare" before going on to other appearances (and named "Rudolph" in one). Solomon Grundy in ''

All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' is a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Gree ...

'' is the result of a criminal having fallen in a swamp, though he did not have a plant-like appearance. Sturgeon's story continued to show influence after the relaxation of the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of American comic book, comic books in the ...

's restrictions on horror late in 1971. The

first appeared (in an unrestricted black and white magazine-size comic) from

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

in May 1971, and

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

introduced the

in the anthology comic ''House of Secrets'' #92 in June 1971. A different character, based upon the ''House of Secrets'' story and also called the Swamp Thing, debuted in issue #1 of its own title (November 1972). Marvel also published an adaptation of the original story in '' Supernatural Thrillers'' #1. Supernatural Thrillers #1 sold very well; Marvel wanted an "It!" comic book.

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

and

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

discussed this and determined they could not do a continuation of the Sturgeon story since they were already publishing Man-Thing as an ongoing series. Isabella suggested he and Thomas look at the sales of their monster reprint titles and discovered that the two issues that reprinted the Colossus stories by Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby had sold better than other issues of those titles. Isabella started developing what became It! The Living Colossus. The 1980s saw the introduction of Bog Swamp Demon and two Swamp Thing movies, as well as

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, known for his comic book ''Cerebus the Aardvark, Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political an ...

's Man-Thing and Swamp Thing parodies, Woman-Thing and Sump-Thing, in the pages of '' Cerebus''. The 1990s introduced more parodies, including Swamp Beast in

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

' '' Monster in My Pocket'' and Man-Thang and Swamp-Thang in Marvel's ''

What The--?! ''What The--?!'' is a Marvel Comics comic book series self-parodying the Marvel Universe as well as characters from the DC Comics Universe. Similar in vein to the 1960s series '' Not Brand Echh'', it was billed as "The Marvel mag of mirth and mayh ...

''.

References

{{Theodore Sturgeon 1940 short stories Horror short stories Short stories by Theodore Sturgeon Works originally published in Unknown (magazine) Swamp monsters Comics set in swamps