# Which EC Comic inspired Kang and Kodos? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687 "2009-01-30T05:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/1 "2009-01-30T05:11:31Z")
I was watching the old sci-movie, [The Atomic Submarine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052587/) the other night. The one-eyed, tentacled antagonist in the flying saucer instantly brought to mind everyone’s favorite aliens from The Simpsons. An earlier movie, [Monster from the Ocean Floor](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047244/http://) had a similar creature that looks even more like a proto-monster from Rigel 7 (on the lobby card, anyway–it looks like crap in the film). According Wikipedia and other uncited sources, the inspiration for Kang and Kodos was a cover of **EC Comics Horror Tales**. My google fu isn’t up to finding an image of that particular cover. I’ll bet a Comic Book Guy-type Doper probably has a copy–or knows where it is online. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/2 "2009-01-30T05:30:41Z")
There was no EC comic entitled Horror Tales. Kang and Kodos are _vaguely_ similar to the aliens on the cover of [Weird Science #6](http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/weird-science/6-1.jpg). _Very_ vaguely. Also, [Weird Science #16](http://www.piercemattie.com/blogs/weird_beauty_tests_science_.jpg) has aliens with oversized bubble helmets like Kang and Kodos. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/3 "2009-01-30T06:05:26Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > There was no EC comic entitled Horror Tales. Yeah, I must have misread the reference. Weird Science #6 appears to be a likely candidate, though. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/4 "2009-01-30T06:06:50Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Also, [Weird Science #16](http://www.piercemattie.com/blogs/weird_beauty_tests_science_.jpg) has aliens with oversized bubble helmets like Kang and Kodos. “Alien-like procedures! On just a few boys!” is wrong on so many levels. (Interesting that the comic was published nine years before the Betty and Barney Hill abduction.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/5 "2009-01-30T13:59:22Z")
Well, Kang and Kodos were created as a one-shot parody of Damon Knight’s “To Serve Man.” As for their appearance – it’s a pretty generic mashup of alien monster cliches of the 50s – tentacles, big eyes, and helmets (the latter two were used, for instance in **[Mars Attacks!](http://www.bubblegum-cards.com/Mars-Attacks/imagepages/image1.html)**. I doubt it could be pinned down to any one source. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/6 "2009-01-30T14:20:32Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > “Alien-like procedures! On just a few boys!” is wrong on so many levels. > > (Interesting that the comic was published nine years before the Betty and Barney Hill abduction.) “Alien-like procedures! On just a few boys!” has been added to that cover. It does not actually appear on the original EC comic. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-ec-comic-inspired-kang-and-kodos/483687/7 "2009-01-30T14:24:32Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > “Alien-like procedures! On just a few boys!” has been added to that cover. It does not actually appear on the original EC comic. Ah. Right you are. [Here’s the original.](http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/weird-science/16-1.jpg)