Strange Adventures #28: "The Indestructible Giant"

Strange Adventures #28
 "The Indestructible Giant"
 January, 1953

 Story: Jack Miller
 Pencils: Gil Kane
 Inks: Sy Barry

 He came from out of the unknown, a mountainous creature! Many fell beneath his trampling feet and man-made structures were but toys in his enormous hands! How could mankind fend off this unusual monster, whose chest was able to withstand bullets? For nothing had stopped... "The Indestructible Giant!" In a mid-western state, a train is making its cross-country trip, and as its passengers settle down for dinner... they see a giant hand reaching for their car...

 The passengers feel the train leaving the steel tracks and they see a giant who utters an impatient roar, and who drops the train cars into the lake below... News spreads throughout the country, and that day at the Pentagon... there is speculation regarding the giant's origin! Did he come from the fourth dimension or from the center of the Earth? He may even be an alien invader and the weapons worn on his belt look far more deadly than anything the army's got! Three days later, a B-36 is making a test flight... when the radar bombardier notices something strange!

 The giant is in their path and both the forward and nose gunners... fire at will! The bomber's .50 caliber bullets bounce off of him! The giant reaches out and grabs the bomber... whose engines are now running at full power... and are trying desperately to tear free! As the giant tears the right wing off, he notices the slow-moving ships in the nearby harbor and sets the bomber down! If the giant were to move his foot any closer, he would crush the ships against the river bed!

 When a luxury liner brushes against the giant's leg and scratches it.... AAAAAAA It is hurled over the bridge by the angry giant! A warship enters the harbor with all hands to battle stations, and ready to use their shells to bring down the monster! As the warship unleashes its firepower upon the giant... the crew soon see the ineffectiveness of their assault! The pentagon is contacted, with scientists and military men striving to arrive at a solution to combat this unusual menace! The following days finds the giant leaving a path of destruction in its wake...

 One day as the giant approaches, a storm begins overhead, and he is struck by lightning! The pentagon is notified and Professor Brunning is considered for his experimental gun which is capable of firing an electrical charge ten thousand times more powerful than natural electricity! As the Brunning Gun is ordered for distribution, there is speculation regarding the weapons the giant is carrying, and their possible effects on mankind. The giant is soon spotted in a mid-western city and the dynamo station is now on full alert. As the giant's footsteps are heard, the Brunning Gun is aimed at him...

 As the giant closes in on the dynamo station, the two spotters wonder what would happen if the giant were to open fire with his weapons first! Man-made lightning strikes the giant dead in his tracks! Less than an hour later, the military men and scientists arrive to examine the dead giant. They find his weapons to be made of wood and to be more like a giant toy! These toy weapons belonged to a giant child who got lost and soon found himself on Earth! The trains, the B-36, and the ocean liner were as toys to him... If it were not for the terrible destruction, those gathered would almost pity the child.

 This story was reprinted in DC Special #19 (December-January, 1975/1976).

 This particular DC Special was devoted to the "War Against The Giants!"

 "Out Of The Unknown" was a British science-fiction anthology series.

 Ace, Prof Haley, Rocky Davis, and Red Ryan were the charter members of the Challengers of the Unknown.

 The giant alien child has pointed ears and wears a yellow tunic.

 Its eyes are similar to the inhabitants of the anti-matter universe of Qward.

 Lightning played an important part in the origin of the Flash.

 The Weaponers of Qward used their yellow lightning bolt weapons against Green Lantern.

 The Golden Age Green Lantern was vulnerable to wood.

 One wonders what happened when the parents of this lost child arrived on Earth?

 Steve Chung
 "The Indestructible Review!"