Real Name: Inapplicable

Identity/Class: Unrevealed (see comments)

Occupation: Predator

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Kid Kaiju (Kei Kawade);
temporarily Abominable Snowman, Blip, Bruttu, Creature from Krogarr, Creature from the Black Bog, Fin Fan Foom, Googam, Goom, Gorgilla, Green Thing, Insect Man, Klagg, Kraa, Metallo, Monsteroso, Monstro, Monstrom, Moomba, Oog, Orrgo, Pildorr, Quogg, Rommbu, Sporr, Thing that Crawled by Night, Tim Boo Ba, Ulvar, Vandoom's Monster, Zetora, Zzutak

Enemies: Walter Carter, Leviathon Tide (Leviathon Mother, others), primitive men

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Grand Canyon; originally "The Cavern of the Black Pool," in the tunnels of Subterranea

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish#22/1 (August, 1961)

Powers/Abilities: Apparently amphibious, this large carnivorous reptile resembled an "oversized alligator" (as per an unidentified helicopter pilot); although slow moving, it was strong enough to crush rocks.

Its tough hide was resistant to spears and gunfire, but it was repelled by large quantities of salt.

Height: 7' (by approximation)
Length: 30' (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red
Hair: Inapplicable

History:
(Tales to Astonish I#22/1 (fb) - BTS) - The origin and past of the Crawling Creature is largely unrevealed, but it dwelt within the "Black Pool" in a subterranean cavern.

   It would periodically emerge from the pool and enter a larger cavern illuminated by glowing rocks, where it menaced a tribe of primitive men and stole their livestock. At some point in the past, the primitives learned that the Crawling Creature was bothered by large quantities of salt, so they always kept a supply of it on hand to drive the monster away.

(Tales to Astonish I#22/1) - Teenager Walter Carter volunteered to test a new drilling machine for the U.S. government. Starting from the Grand Canyon, the machine bored down a dozen miles, where Carter found a natural tunnel; he got out and followed the tunnel to the larger cavern. After he encountered the primitive men in their village, they told Carter about their troubles with the Crawling Creature (see comments); when they mentioned that their spears couldn't penetrate the monster's hide, Carter volunteered to hunt the creature with his handgun.

   Carter began his search by going into one of the network of tunnels; but after finding the Crawling Creature's home, he discovered his handgun to be useless, for even bullets couldn't pierce the monster's hide. Fleeing back up the tunnel with the creature in pursuit, Carter returned to the village, where the primitive men overturned sacks of salt to block the monster.

   Fearing that the Crawling Creature might someday find a way to the surface on its own and threaten mankind, Carter resolved that he had to destroy it, but he had to lure it to the surface first, where he would have an advantage. Carter fired two shots at the Crawling Creature at close range, which only annoyed it and made it chase after him. Climbing back aboard the drilling machine, Carter sent a signal to have it raised back to the surface, while the slower moving monster climbed up the guide cable after him. When he finally reached the surface, Carter told everyone at the drilling site that he found nothing of significance so they would leave, and no innocent bystanders would be harmed by the creature.

   Some time later, after everyone had left, Carter watched as the subterranean monster climbed from the hole and came after him. Using a small mirror, Carter reflected sunlight into the creature's eyes--after living so many years in dimness, its eyes had trouble adjusting to the light; as the temporarily blinded monster charged at him, Carter stepped out of its path, and the Crawling Creature fell off the edge and into the Grand Canyon. Sure that the monster was finished, Carter saw that it had actually landed on a ledge, and it began to crawl back up.

   Concluding that there was only one way to make sure the creature would stay imprisoned in the canyon, Carter slowly and carefully began to climb down himself, and the monster followed him. They made the perilous descent until they both slid down into the vast chasm below, in an isolated valley where the walls of the canyon were too steep and slippery for either one to ever climb out.

   Carter realized they were both now trapped, and although it would cost him his own life, he thought it was a small price to pay to rid the world of such a menace. Then, just as he prepared himself to meet the creature's final charge, Carter heard the droning roar of a helicopter passing overhead. The helicopter pilot spotted Carter, then hovered and lowered a rope ladder for him; as the pilot and Carter flew away, they saw the Crawling Creature trying to slither up the smooth walls of the canyon, but it was seemingly trapped forever.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Monsters Unleashed II#2) - The Inhuman Kid Kaiju summoned the Crawling Creature, along with numerous other monsters, to an area outside San Diego, California in defense against the Leviathons.

(Monsters Unleashed II#3) - The Crawling Creature joined the fight against the Leviathons. Earth's heroes watched the monsters summoned by Kid Kaiju defeat the Leviathons. After the battle, the Crawling Creature and the other monsters were teleported back to where they came.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.

The Crawling Creature doesn't appear to be any form of prehistoric reptile that I know of, although it somewhat resembled a dimetrodon without a back fin; it seemed to have human-like "hands" (four fingers and opposable thumb) on its front legs, while it had two toes on its back legs--maybe it was a Deviant mutate.

So how was Walter Carter able to clearly understand that isolated primitive tribe? In X-Men: The Hidden Years#4 (page 7, panel 4), Magneto stated that radiation in the Savage Land made the inhabitants of the land mildly telepathic, which explained why everyone there seemed to speak English--perhaps there was similar radiation in the glowing rocks of the primitive men's cavern.

The primitive men mentioned to Carter that they had lived in the subterranean depths "for countless ages"--perhaps they and the Crawling Creature had access to the same life-prolonging waters that could be found in Tyrannus' "Fountain of Youth" (@ Incredible Hulk I#5/1), and they were all extremely long-lived, if not immortal.

I wonder if the subterranean home of the Crawling Creature had some connection to that underground jungle earlier discovered by Henry Burke.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Crawling Creature should not be confused with:

Walter Carter should not be confused with:

The drilling machine should not be confused with:

The primitive men should not be confused with:

Walter Carter

A shy and studious high school student, Carter was a bookworm who was fascinated by ancient legends of creatures that lived under the world's surface; due to his slight build, he (much like Peter Parker) was often mocked by his more-athletic peers.

During his summer vacation from school, he learned of a government project that would be testing a new drilling machine in the Grand Canyon--since they needed someone who was young and thin, Carter eagerly volunteered. For his subterranean expedition, Carter was equipped with a flashlight and a handgun (...so he could fire a signal to have the drilling machine raised back up, in the event that the machine's signal buzzer malfunctioned).

After Carter climbed aboard, the machine began to drill downward; when it reached a depth of a dozen miles, he found a large cavern inhabited by primitive men, and learned that they were being menaced by the Crawling Creature.

Concerned that the monster might someday find a way to the surface on its own and threaten the world, Carter returned to the drilling machine and lured the Crawling Creature to the surface; during his final confrontation with the monster, he tricked it into following him and descending into a valley where the walls were too smooth for it to climb back out. Carter was subsequently rescued by a passing helicopter, while the Crawling Creature was seemingly trapped forever.

After he was flown to safety, Carter asked the helicopter pilot not to tell anyone about the giant reptile, because it would only lead to a lot of questions that he couldn't answer; the pilot agreed to keep quiet about the whole affair.

When his summer vacation was over, Carter headed back to school with a sense of satisfaction, for he had conquered the Crawling Creature and saved the subterranean primitives; he had also learned that a man's strength was not measured by the size of his muscles, but rather by the courage in his heart.

--Tales to Astonish I#22/1

(Comments: Carter went back to the same school at the end of the story, so he was probably a high school junior returning for his senior year.)

drilling machine

Built by the U.S. government, it was an exploratory vehicle used to bore into the subterranean depths below the Grand Canyon. The interior included a signal buzzer, which was the only means for the occupant to communicate with the support crew on the surface--its intended use was to alert the support crew to raise the machine back up.

But due to the confined space within its interior, the person traveling inside would have to be young and thin, so teenager Walter Carter volunteered for the journey.

The drilling machine took Carter down a dozen miles beneath Earth's surface, where he discovered a large cavern inhabited by primitive human and animal life, including the Crawling Creature.

Later, after he pressed  the signal buzzer button, Carter and the vehicle were eventually pulled back to the surface. Carter reported to the drilling machine's support crew that he found nothing of significance below the surface--one of them remarked that there was a promising-looking spot in Canada where they would try to dig the next month; however it is unrevealed if the drilling machine was ever used again.

After all the support crew left, Carter faced the Crawling Creature in a final confrontation.

--Tales to Astonish I#22/1

(Comments: The Wizard/Bentley Wittman once used a similar device [@ Strange Tales I#102], so possibly he originally designed this one and later modified it for his own use.)

primitive men

At least six cavemen (possibly Neanderthals), they dwelt "for countless ages" in a large subterranean cavern that was illuminated by glowing rocks; despite being isolated from the surface world, they were able to speak English (see comments).

A peaceful and contented group, they had a small village and survived by farming vegetables and livestock. They were periodically menaced by the Crawling Creature, but used large quantities of salt to drive it away.

When Walter Carter journeyed to their cavern with a drilling machine, they told him about their troubles with the Crawling Creature, so Carter eventually lured the monster back up to the surface and trapped it in the Grand Canyon.

After Carter returned to the surface, he lied and told everyone at the drilling site that he had found nothing of significance below--he felt the primitives were peaceful enough, and that the people of the surface world had no right to interfere with their lives.

--Tales to Astonish I#22/1

(Comments: The livestock they raised seem to be some form of palaeomastodons.)

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p1, pan1 (main image - Crawling Creature chases Walter Carter)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p12, pan4 (headshot - Crawling Creature)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p8, pan1 (Crawling Creature; Walter Carter [foreground])
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p9, pan1 (primitive men use salt against Crawling Creature)
Monsters Unleashed II#2 p28-29, pan1 (Crawling Creature, flanked by other monsters)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p3, pan2 (Walter Carter)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p7, pan1 (Walter Carter in subterranean tunnel)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p3, pan6 (drilling machine bores downward, Walter Carter inside)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p9, pan6 (drilling machine being pulled back to surface)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p5, pan1 (Walter Carter meets primitive men)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p5, pan2 (primitive men explain their source of light to Walter Carter)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p5, pan3 (village of primitive men)
Tales to Astonish I#22/1, p8, pan2 (primitive men)

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#22/1 (August, 1961) - Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Stan Goldberg (colors), Artie Simek (letters)
Monsters Unleashed II#2 (April, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Monsters Unleashed II#3 (April, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Leinil Francis Yu (pencils), Gerry Alanguilan & Michael Jason Paz (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Monsters Unleashed II#4 (May, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Salvador Larroca (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Monsters Unleashed II#5 (May, 2017) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Adam Kubert (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)

First posted: 08/28/2025
Last updated: 08/28/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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