Thanks for that, Greg! Can't say I knew of The Heap but strange that the two guys who created both Man and Swamp Things would have been roommates! Can't be coincidence..can it?
JB
JB
Is there any lore that Nomad was based on the Daleks?
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I looked it up: Man-Thing debuted in May 1971; Swamp Thing debuted in July 1971, a mere two months later. (So Man-Thing actually came first . . .barely.)
There's some discussion of the publication history and similarities between the characters here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-Thing
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Not quite the same thing: those were film series made in the UK but with an eye on a possible US network sale. Whereas Who, etc, were videotape, and the telecine copies didn't make it to America anytime in the 60s. [Just spotted Chris had already made this point]
Think the first cases of a UK video production reaching the US are probably Colditz and Moonbase 3 in the early 70s; both co-productions with MGM/Universal (I think).
But Sam Rolfe visited the production of Masterplan while making UNCLE, so there was some awareness.
In case anyone is wondering about this possibility (Chris, I know you weren't really), Lucas outlined The Changeling in March 67 and it shot in June to run in September that year, whereas the Dominators was shot in June 68 for transmission in August 68, with the comics following on afterwards. So Lucas would have needed a time machine as well!
Well, makes about as much as the "Gary Seven was a ripoff of Doctor Who" claims from people who don't realize (a) that most of the similar elements in DW were established after "Assignment: Earth" aired and (b) that Roddenberry first developed A:E in '65-'66, when DW bore even less resemblance to it. It's because I'm so sick of hearing that nonsensical assumption over and over that I'm so impatient with any other "Trek copied Who" conjectures.
I think Man thing looks cooler--more Lovecraftian. He should have been the embodiment of the swamp/nature.
Now, I wonder if the Enterprise might have inspired Rorvik's ship from Warrior's Gate--just a tad
https://chancenovember.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/wgthisisnotafireflyatall.jpg
More like the later Serenity/Firefly ship.
Not that anyone in their right mind would want to copy the Quarks.
(There was a really funny comic with them and the 11th Doctor, IIRC, though.)TC
I think Rorvik's ship was maybe going for a vaguely Sphinx-ish look. And I think Serenity was kind of horse-inspired, being from a space Western and all. So they're both trying to evoke a raised mammalian head and neck.
Not that anyone in their right mind would want to copy the Quarks.
I dunno, I kinda like their design. Okay, the bodies are clunky, but the heads are excellent, and the unfolding multifunction arms are a good idea that didn't get carried out well. (If I recall the design drawings on the DVD, they were supposed to have cylindrical bodies instead of rectangular ones.) Really, it's the Dominators who were the lame ones. The Quarks did all the work and all the shooting; the Dominators just stood around and gave them orders. Take the Quarks away and the Dominators would be completely helpless. They were supposed to be this scary race of hyperaggressive, giant warriors, but they were completely passive physically, just standing there with their arms by their sides, which wasn't intimidating at all. That's probably why they flopped as villains and were never seen again.
Wow! I've always thought that Marvel was the copycat rather than DC and I'm a Marvel comics fan rather than a DC fan! Thanks, Greg, it's good to know they had an original idea for once! But then again Roy Thomas did mention The Heap didn't he!
JB
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I can't see how Rorvik's privateer came from The Enterprise to be honest! It looks too odd to be honest and I can't see how it travels in space either! I could never understand if Rorvik's crew were from our universe or from E-space! I used to think they were from ours and became trapped like The TARDIS but a lot of fan theories claim it comes from E-space! I know there were humanoid civilisations there like Terradon but...
JB
I think The Heap is a brilliant character name.
Time for a reboot!
And, of course, there's also Solomon Grundy from DC, who has a very similar origin, even if he doesn't look like a swamp monster.
And all of these characters possibly owe a debt to Theodore Sturgeon's "It!"--which first saw print in 1940. (Yes, the same Sturgeon who wrote "Amok Time" and "Shore Leave.")
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It!_(short_story)
