- "That's what you're up against, Commander. The Thing could be inside anyone -- or any living thing."
- ―R.J. MacReady
"The Thing from Another World" | |
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The Thing from Another World | |
Title: | "The Thing from Another World" |
Volume: | 1 |
Number: | 1 |
Cover price: | $2.95 |
Cover date: | 1991 |
Publisher: | Dark Horse Comics |
Credits | |
Chief: | Mike Richardson |
Ex. Ed: | Randy Stradley |
Writers: | Chuck Pfarrer |
Pencilers: | John Higgins |
Inkers: | John Higgins |
Cover artists: | John Higgins |
Cover inker: | John Higgins |
Cover colorist: | John Higgins |
Letterers: | Richard Starkings |
Editors: | Randy Stradley |
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Next: | The Thing from Another World #2 |
"The Thing from Another World" is the untitled first issue of the The Thing from Another World comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It was written by Chuck Pfarrer with painted artwork by John Higgins and lettering by Richard Starkings. The story was edited by Randy Stradley. This issue shipped in late 1991 and carries a cover price of $2.95 per copy (US).
Synopsis[]

MacReady has a rude awakening.
R.J. MacReady and Childs wander far out onto the pack ice - far away from the burning ruins of U.S. Outpost 31. MacReady passes out, but when he awakens, he finds himself in the medical bay of a whaling vessel called the Misaki Maru. The attending physician prepares to inject him with something, but MacReady stops her. She tells him that his compatriot went back to his camp to retrieve the others. Convinced that Childs has been assimilated and replicated by an alien thing, MacReady decides that he must stop him at all costs. The Maru staff restrain him to his bed, but after they are gone, he manages to reach for scalpel and cuts his way to freedom. He finds a helicopter on the bridge of the ship and steals it. He flies it until he picks up Childs' trail, which leads him back to Outpost 31. The helicopter barely makes the journey, and MacReady is forced to crash it.

When he reaches the ruins of Outpost 31, he finds the bodies of his former colleagues and burns them with a flamethrower. He finds the Split-Face Thing and lobs a grenade that he recovered from the base at it, causing a massive explosion.
A Navy SEAL detachment led by a squad leader named Erskine appears on the scene and surround MacReady. They ask him about what has happened, and MacReady confesses to burning all of the bodies because they had been infected by a parasitic shape-shifting alien. Naturally, no one believes him until a soldier named Pybus finds a frozen Thing remnant. MacReady tries to stop him from touching it, but it is too late. Feeling that MacReady's story has some measure of merit, Erskine orders a soldier named Masher to uncuff him.

Pybus attacks!
They reach the landing zone and are prepared to take off in the military chopper when the replicated Pybus attacks. He opens his machine gun on the helicopter, which causes it to crash. MacReady opens fire on the Pybus-Thing until it falls to the ground. Erskine gets too close to it, and it springs to life again - a mass of rolling flesh and tentacles that bursts out of Pybus' body. Erskine shoots it several more times.
MacReady's intent is for everyone to stay put and just wait to die out here in the frozen tundra. At least that way, the Thing will be contained. Erskine has no intention of leaving his wounded men to die. He speaks of an Argentine research station thirty kilometers away. At gunpoint, he tells MacReady that he is going to help him find it.
As night falls and the temperature drops, MacReady and Erskine pull the wounded soldiers on sleds across the snow. One of the wounded soldiers does not survive the journey. By the time the sun rises, Erskine realizes that MacReady has led them in the wrong direction - intentionally. The two men begin fighting until they hear a loud mechanical sound coming from behind them. As they turn around, they see that it is Childs on a snow-dozer with the Argentine research team.
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Bazooka
- Erskine
- Leslie
- Masher
- Pybus (Only appearance; dies)
- Split-Face Thing
Minor characters
- Blair (As a corpse only)
- Childs
- Clark (As a corpse only)
- Copper (As a corpse only)
- Nauls (As a corpse only)
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
- Crevasse Fields
- Dronning Maud (Referenced only)
- Eternity Mountains
- Marguerite Bay
- U.S. Outpost 31
Items
Vehicles
- Misaki Maru
- Bombardier skidozer
- Bulldozer
- Helicopter
Powers
Miscellaneous
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Thing, and all related concepts are based on ideas originally presented by author John W. Campbell in the short story "Who Goes There", which was first published in the August, 1938 edition of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. The idea was expanded upon by directors Christian Nyby & Howard Hawks for the 1951 film The Thing from Another World and again by director John Carpenter in his 1982 horror remake, titled The Thing.
- Per the indicia, the actual title for this series is THE THING (From Another World).
- The title logo for this series was designed by Steven Birch.
- This issue is reprinted in the Thing from Another World and Climate of Fear trade paperback collection, published by Dark Horse Comics in September, 1993.
- This issue is reprinted in the Thing from Another World Omnibus hardcover collection, published by Dark Horse Comics in August, 2008.
- The helicopter that MacReady finds on the Misaki Maru is a Hughes 500.
- This issue confirms that MacReady is not infected, but it is still up in the air whether or not Childs is infected.
Recommended Reading[]
- Dark Horse Comics Vol 1
- Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear Vol 1
- Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows Vol 1