Membership: A multitudinous flock of undetermined numbers (none identified)
Purpose: Seemingly harmless creatures that merely scavenged to survive, they were exploited by the Yellow Claw as a weapon against America.
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Captain Rak, unidentified scientist, Jimmy Woo (Woo Yen Jet)
Enemies: Fritz von Voltzmann (Karl von Horstbaden), Yellow Claw (Plan Chu)
Base of Operations: An unidentified island off the coast of New Guinea;
originally from a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean
First Appearance: Yellow Claw#4/2 (April, 1957)
Powers/Abilities: Apparently mutated from a flock of
seagulls (see comments), the
Screemies (so called because of the
shrill sounds they made) were small avian humanoids; they stood perhaps 12 inches tall, and the wings upon their backs
allowed them to fly.History:
(Yellow Claw#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - Although their origins are
shrouded in mystery, apparently a flock of seagulls was somehow mutated
into intelligent and vaguely humanoid forms.
The mutant birds eventually settled on one of a remote group of atolls in the Pacific Ocean, where they were discovered by Captain Rak--Rak called the creatures "Screemies" and found he could use a high-pitched whistle to cause the creatures to swarm.
(Yellow Claw#4/2) - Rak brought the Yellow Claw to the atoll
to show him the Screemies; using his whistle, Rak made the flock of
Screemies swarm around an American jet passing overhead--the plane was
forced to divert its course to escape the cloud of mutant birds.
One of the Screemies alighted itself upon the Yellow Claw's shoulder, and
Rak speculated that the mutant birds were the descendents of a flock of
seagulls that flew too close to the atomic tests at Bikini
Atoll.
When Rak mentioned that the Screemies had an unending
appetite and had to keep eating, the Yellow Claw felt that training the
mutant birds to attack aircrafts was a waste of effort, but their ravenous
appetite presented better possibilities for his schemes against
America...
A month later, the teeming flock of Screemies swarmed down upon a
freighter bound for Japan--the mutant birds snatched every bit of food
they found aboard the ship.
A few days later, the ever-hungry mutations reached the rich farmlands of
America and swooped down to feed, stripping fields bare. The
Screemies not only threatened the nation's crops, but they also sought
food in the cities.
(Yellow Claw#4/2 - BTS) - At some point, one of the Screemies was captured
and given to a scientist in Washington, DC to study. The scientist
found the creature to be quite intelligent, and even discovered a way to
communicate with it.
(Yellow Claw#4/2) - FBI agent Jimmy Woo met with the scientist, who had
learned to talk with the captured Screemie; the scientist reported to Woo
that the little mutants were quite intelligent, and even had a sort of
organized society, so it would be a crime to destroy them. Woo
understood the Screemies posed a threat to the nation's food supply, but
he was confident that if they could talk to the mutants, they could work
out a solution.
(Yellow Claw#4/2 - BTS) - The scientist and Woo learned from the Screemies
that the Yellow Claw was the instigator of the avian mutants' raid on
America, so Woo had the scientist teach the Screemies the principles of
agriculture.
(Yellow Claw#4/2) - A week later, Woo sent the Screemies to an island off
the coast of New Guinea--this island was being used as an outpost by the
Yellow Claw and Fritz von Voltzmann.
In his island headquarters, the Yellow Claw gloated over the success of
his scheme--undoubtedly, the Screemies had picked America clean by now,
and the starving nation would be ripe for conquest. But then von
Voltzmann warned his master about a moving "cloud" headed their
way--hearing the shrill noise coming from the "cloud," the Claw knew it
was actually the Screemies. Realizing that the island would be
unlivable once the flock of mutants arrived and picked it clean, the Claw
and von Voltzmann climbed aboard an aircraft and quickly flew away--the
Claw assured von Voltzmann that although this scheme failed, he would brew
up others.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Jimmy Woo was congratulated by his superior
and the scientist for his
more successful scheme that solved everything--Woo had come up with the
idea to train the Screemies to farm, so they could raise their own food,
then he had them settle on the Yellow Claw's island (which
Woo thought to be poetic justice).
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby (writer and artist).
This was only a 5-page story, so the Screemies' origin was never elaborated upon, and it was only theorized by Captain Rak; maybe the Screemies were actually an early experiment by Herbert Edgar Wyndham (later, the High Evolutionary), who had earlier mutated his dog Dempsey into a humanoid form.
I wonder whatever happened with the Screemies' farming community on that island--maybe it's time for Jimmy Woo and his Agents of Atlas to investigate.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Screemies have no known connections to:
Captain Rak has no known connections to:
The unidentified scientist has no known connections to:
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Apparently an agent of the Yellow Claw, Rak discovered a large flock of mutated avian creatures on an atoll in the Pacific Ocean. He called the creatures "Screemies" and learned that he could make them swarm by blowing a high-pitched whistle. Rak later brought the Yellow Claw to the atoll and demonstrated the usefulness of the Screemies as potential weapons--Rak blew his whistle and caused the mutations to swarm around an American jet passing overhead, forcing it to divert its course. When one of the Screemies alighted on the Yellow Claw's shoulder, Rak gave his theory about the origin of the mutant birds--he speculated that they were the descendants of a flock of seagulls that flew too close to the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. Rak also told the Claw that the Screemies had an unending appetite, and they were always eating--the Claw found this interesting, and rather than training the Screemies to attack aircraft (which he considered a waste of effort), he told Rak that the Screemies' voracious appetites presented better possibilities for his plans against America. Captain Rak's subsequent activities are unrevealed. --Yellow Claw#4/2 |
|
 
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Stationed in Washington, DC, he studied one of the scavenging Screemies that had been captured. The scientist almost immediately found that the little mutant was quite intelligent, and he even discovered some way to communicate with the creature. He learned that the Screemies had families, and a sort of organized society. Later, the scientist told FBI agent Jimmy Woo about his findings; although the Screemies were a menace to the nation's food supply, the scientist considered it a crime to destroy them. But upon learning from the Screemies that the Yellow Claw had sent them to America, Woo had the scientist teach the mutants about the principles of agriculture, so the Screemies could farm and raise their own food; Woo then had the scientist send all the Screemies to settle on an island that the Claw was using as an outpost. --Yellow Claw#4/2 |
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images: (without ads)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p1, pan1 (Main Image - some Screemies flying past a scarecrow of the Yellow Claw)
Yellow
Claw#4/2, p2, pan1 (a Screemie about to alight on Yellow Claw's shoulder)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p4, pan1 (Screemies invade a farm)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p4, pan2 (farmer and his wife find their field stripped bare by Screemies)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p2, pan4 (Captain Rak blows whistle to make Screemies swarm airplane)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p3, pan2 (Yellow Claw with a Screemie upon his shoulder (left); Captain Rak (right) speculates about origin of Screemies)
Yellow Claw#4/2, p4, pan4 (unidentified scientist with captured Screemie perched on his hand; Jimmy Woo (background))
Yellow Claw#4/2, p4, pan6 (unidentified scientist with Jimmy Woo; captured Screemie feeding (foreground))
Yellow Claw#4/2, p4, pan7 (unidentified scientist tells Jimmy Woo not to destroy Screemies)
Appearances:
Yellow Claw#4/2 (April, 1957) - Jack Kirby (script and pencils), John Severin (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First Posted: 04/15/2019
Last updated: 04/15/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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