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"Climate of Fear" Part 1
The Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear #1 (Dark Horse)
Script by John Arcudi
Pencils by Jim Somerville
Inks by Robert Jones (though mistakenly credited to Brian Garvey)
Cover by John Higgins |
MacReady awakens after his ordeal on the sub.
Story Summary
Continuing from the end of
"The Thing
from Another World" Part 2, MacReady is found
unconscious floating on a chunk of ice by the Argentines.
They pick him up and take him back to the station, but one
of their number straggles behind to help what appears to be
an injured young seal. Of course, it turns out to be the
Thing, which has also survived the sinking of the submarine
from the previous story. The man is attacked and,
presumably, assimilated, unknown to the rest of his group
ahead of him.
Some time later, MacReady awakens in a paranoid state and
fights his way out of the military-style hospital in which
he finds himself. Outside, he realizes he is no longer in the
Antarctic. He's informed by Dr. Viale that he's at an
isolated base in Tierra del Fuego, moved there to save him
from the severe frostbite from which he had been suffering
after his night on the ice flow. MacReady remains paranoid
and insists that no one touch him, while chastising the
Argentines for having potentially brought the Thing in some
form to the mainland. Viale tries to calm him and she tells him they are aware of the
blood test and have all taken it and that they can contain
any problem that should arise, due to the isolation of the
station.
Later, MacReady becomes convinced that one or more of the
sheep raised for meat on the base is one of the Things and
begins shooting them. When the base personnel come out to
investigate, he insists they bring gasoline so the bodies
can all be burned. But MacReady is shot with a tranquilizer
dart instead and taken back into the hospital.
The young cook at the base, Pablo, is assigned the task of
salvaging whatever meat possible from the slaughter. While
cutting through the sheeps' bodies, a young lamb walks up to
him and is revealed as a Thing as its substance starts to
invade the young man's body. The base personnel hear the
commotion and come out to see the transformation taking
place. Another soldier is grabbed up by the Thing as well.
Finally, they dump gasoline on the Thing and ignite it with
a flame thrower, destroying the creature. But they realize
that, since none of the sheep had been in the Antarctic, the
lamb must have been infected by someone who came up with
them. But who is it?
CONTINUED IN THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD: CLIMATE OF
FEAR #2
Didja Notice?
The introductory narrative on the inside front cover of this
issue recaps the events of The
Thing and the mini-series
The
Thing from Another World. But it erroneously says
that MacReady was the one to blow the sub's hatches (in
"The Thing
from Another World" Part 2)
in order to destroy the Thing; it was actually Childs who
did so.
On page 1, panel 1, one of the rescuers says in Spanish, "Aqui!
Encontre a uno!" This means, "Here! I found one!" In panel
3, two others say, "Cuidado. No queres gopiarlo," and "Yo se
lo que hago." These mean "Careful. Don't do anything
gopiarlo," (I've been unable to translate the word "gopiarlo")
and "I know what I'm doing."
|
On page 2, a number of Spanish
sentences are spoken: |
- "Maldita! Parece
esta congelado."
|
"Hell! He seems frozen." |
|
|
"He must be crazy." |
- "Tenemos que
llevarlo al
campamento. Rapido!"
|
"We need to bring him to the
camp. Quickly!" |
- "Ay, Pobresito.
Talvez pueda
romendarte..."
|
"Oh, poor little guy. Maybe you
can
romendarte..." (I've been
unable to translate the word "romendarte".) |
|
|
"Ah! You are very heavy." |
The Thing emerging from the ocean water as a seal suggests
that it assimilated one as it swam by the wreckage of the
sub.
On page 4, one of the Argentines says, "Que diablos es su
problema?" This is Spanish for "What the
devil is your
problem?"
On page 5, the doctor says, "Socorro! El Americano se ha
vuelto loco!" This is Spanish for "Help! The American has
gone crazy!"
Doctor Viale tells MacReady he's been relocated to a former
military base 15 miles south of Bahia Thetis on the Tierra
del Fuego peninsula. This is a real place, basically right
on the tip of the South American continent. The region of
Tierra del Fuego itself is controlled by Argentina and
Chile.
On page 11, panel 3, we see that Dr. Viale has a bandage on
her index finger, presumably an indication that she has
recently gone through the blood test for Thingism.
On page 18, Pablo shouts, "Cono!" as he is being attacked by
the Thing-in-sheep's-clothing. This is basically Spanish for
"Damn!"
On page 20, Dr. Viale says, "Dios Mio!" This is Spanish for
"My God!"
Notes from Readers from Another World
Readers from Another World is the letters column that
appeared in the various comic book mini-series of The
Thing. In the lettercol of The Thing from Another World:
Climate of Fear #2, editor Randy Stradley issues a
correction stating that the inker for this issue
(#1) was mistakenly credited as Brian Garvey when it should
have been Robert Jones (who inked all four issues).
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