[Theodore Sturgeon]'s story, "[It]," first published in [1940], tells the tale of the once-wealthy [Roger Kirk], who died in [1929]. Gradually, the plants and elements of the earth gathered around his skeleton and become a semi-living thing-- and the foreshambler of a monster that has lurked in the dark places of popular culture ever since.

It did not take long for a comic book to plagiarize and popularize the concept.

In December [1942], the third issue of [Air Fighter Comics] (Later [Airboy]), a title dedicated to adventuring pilots and flying aces, took a turn for the bizarre. Harry Stein and Mort Leav told the horrific (and, to readers of Sturgeon, familiar) tale of Baron von Emmelman, a German fighter pilot shot down in [1918] over Wassau Swamp in [Poland]. Emmelman did not die; rather, over the years, he transformed into a humanoid mound of swampy matter, and crawled out from his apparent grave. It needed flesh to survive, and often consumed animals. Its human opponents might be from either side of the [World War II|Second World War], but it was the [Axis], invariably, who suffered most. The creature did not have heaps of intelligence and it lacked the Baron's memories, but it had a simplified personality of its own.

Although intended as a one-shot character, the Heap reappeared and in [1946] Airboy made it the star of a regular feature, the misunderstood monster for whom the title became best-known. Later, the Heap received his own series. The [Seduction of the Innocent|anti-comics crusade] of the [1950s] came down particularly hard on [Horror Comics], and Hillman Comics ceased publishing the character, and then their comics, by the middle of the decade.

When the influence of the [Comics Code Authority] waned in the early [1970s], another company, Skywald, began publishing stories about the Heap. Skywald never formally acquired the rights, and its Heap differed in some ways from the original. In [1986], [Eclipse] Comics purchased several old Hillman properties, and began issuing new, legitimate adventures of the animated vegetable. In the [1990s], [Image] took over the rights and set a revised version against their star, [Spawn]. This Heap was formerly Eddie Becket, a street person transformed after he found a supernatural substance.

The Heap has had many imitators, who owe at least as much to it as to Sturgeon's original character. [DC comics] introduced a Heap/[Frankenstein] Monster named [Solomon Grundy] in the [Ten Years of Terror: The 2010 Halloween Horrorquest|October] [1944] issue of [All-American Comics] (#61). He remains a part of the [DC Universe], his variable strength pitted against many different [superhero|superheroes]. Over at [Marvel Comics], [The Incredible Hulk|The Hulk] carries more than a little of the Heap in his irradiated soul. Marvel, in fact, has a [the thing|thing] for hulking monsters, and heaps of them have lurched through its history. Even closer to the source come DC's [Swamp Thing] and Marvel's [Man-Thing], both introduced in [1971]. In [1972], Marvel directly adapted Theodore Sturgeon's "It." [Mad Magazine] #5 (June-July [1953]) featured a story called "Outer Sanctum," which parodied [Inner Sanctum], [EC Comics|EC's] own [horror comics], and the Heap. [Dungeons and Dragons], meanwhile, features the [Shambling mound] among its many monstrosities.

The Heap may have stolen its life from a pulpy Sturgeon story, and many no longer know it by its most famous name, but its mucky matter has been integrated with the broader culture. Likely, it will continue to shamble on in our nightmares.

Heap (thing)