In 1971 I bought Skywald’s black and white
Psycho #2, which had the origin of the Heap, drawn by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, and written by Chuck McNaughton. You can read that version in this 2010 posting at the
Diversions of the Groovy Kind blog.
Surprisingly, a few months later along came a Comics Code-approved 25¢ color comic called
The Heap #1,with the lead story drawn by Tom Sutton and Jack Abel, and written by former DC editor and writer Robert Kanigher! Both stories showed how the Heap was created from a plane wreck into some chemicals, but the stories surrounding the origin were different. The color
Heap was the only issue, although its indicia claimed it to be a bi-monthly. Artistically, the character is drawn a bit differently: this version of the Heap, unlike the black and white version, does not have the long lolling tongue hanging out of the creature’s mouth. That might have been too gross for the Code, or maybe just the artist.
Knowledgeable fans know that the Heap was also a shambling monstrosity from the old
Airboy Comics, and also a classic
Mad comic book story by the one-and-only Will Elder. I'm sorry I can't show you the whole hilarious story featuring the Heap, “Outer Sanctum” from
Mad #5, but here’s the Kurtzman-Elder version of...
HEAP!
