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It (Monsterbus p.498)

This is a lovely morality tale. A symbol of how attempts to do bad ultimately fail, and the good takes over. This is true by definition: if morality did not ultimately aid our survival then why would anyone want it? Morality is nothing but cost in the short term, but survives because those who care for others and for truth find they can work more efficiently, so their tribe is more likely to win in any crisis.

So Kirby the prophet has another great sermon.

Also note the details:

  • Nature: Man's attempts to thwart nature do not work (the start of the story). But nature works: in that slime and ooze was the source of primordial life! The creature is only alive because the completely artificial (man's plastic) permanently merges with the natural ooze.
  • Science: Unlike regular comics, a Kirby comic knows that scientific experiments usually fail to give the hoped for response, and often must be discarded: clearly this is a familiar experience for the villain.
  • Sophistication: the villain does not merely lie, he twists events to make himself seem the hero. Kirby understands small "p" politics!
  • Irony: the villain starts by accusing the other guy of being a fraud, is then brought low by his own lies, and his body ends up as a fake: yet this fake at the end is a hero. 
  • Superheroes: The idea of plastic life will come up again in the Hulk: the Leader's androids. And falling to your death, yet being rescued by your puppet, is implied by the first two Puppet Master stories in the Fantastic Four.

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