EC Comics continue to push the envelope of shocking imagery in its latest comic, Shock SuspenStories #1 (November 1951). While “The Neat Job!” is somewhat infamous (having been featured in the 1973 anthology film) and has its own particular grotesque imagery (a neat freak tortures his wife until she snaps and arranges his body parts neatly in jars), I found “The Monsters!” to be the most interesting use of comic books as a unique medium up to this point.
In “The Monsters!”, aliens land a ship on our planet but then change their mind about a cultural exchange, refusing to leave their ship. As an explanation, they tell the story about disgusting mutants that were born on their planet and proceed to describe in gory detail what the mutants looked like, punctuated by imagined grotesque images alongside the description.
The mutants are further described as selfish, ruthless, sadistic, egotistical, only interested in reproduction, feeding on other forms of animal life, and prone to mis-treating life forms inferior to their own. The aliens leave behind an example of these mutants as they flee Earth. In a twist ending, the humans are shocked to discover that these mutants are actually human beings.
Such a story depends on a visual medium to express the imaginations for its twist and could have also worked as a television show or film a la The Twilight Zone.