Deconstructing Monsters

Joseph Wheelwright, Seated Angel #1 (1987)

The terror of monsters comes from their unpredictability. Sometimes they have three eyes, sometimes they have only one - either divergence from two is terrifying. You never know what mixture of tentacles, scales, horns, claws, teeth, or fur they'll assemble. They could be huge and towering over you or tiny and crawling up your pant leg - either scale is terrifying. But why then, when traits of real animals (like the elk, cow, and boar bones above) are unpredictably rearranged, am I just entertained? A pig nose on a squirrel, tiny aligator legs on a giraffee, wings on a cat... that's just hillarious.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly Waiting For the Monster to Drown (mp3) [one of my favourite band names ever]