Vault of Horror #22
In "Fountains of Youth!", Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines deliver a chilling Arctic tale of hubris and horror, where two explorers uncover a frozen monstrosity that defies death. Graham Ingels' stark, haunting artwork brings the icy dread to life, while Johnny Craig’s cover captures the story’s eerie, foreboding tone. As the men dig deeper into the ice, they awaken something ancient—and the frozen past begins to claw its way back.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
As Gerald Dawson sits as his desk in a shack in the Arctic, Herbert Campbell enters, telling him that their Eskimo guide refuses to take them any further. Dawson goes to see Lomo in his igloo, and the Eskimo tells him of the monster in the ice, and that no one who sees it comes back in their right mind. Dawson & Campbell rig up a dog-sled and go to the site, spot the monster and dig its ice-encased body out and take it back to their shack. They show the body in ice to Lomo and he freezes in fear, especially when he is ordered to chip the body out of the ice! While that is happening, Dawson and Campbell kick back, telling themselves that this whole thing reminds them of Mary Shelly's book about Frankenstein. Suddenly, they hear a scream and a crash, and enter the adjoining room and see the window broken out and Lomo shaking in fear. Now they know the creature must be put back into the ice, so they go out and dig through the ice to water, and they hope to lure the monster into the trap. The monster shows up....jumps into the hole and drags both men down with him. One year later, the U.S. Air Force decides to build a base near that very spot and two airmen happen to spot the bodies trapped in the ice. So......they start digging out the bodies to see what they can determine what happened to them.....
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).