Astonishing Tales #21 (1973)

A show producer showcases news footage of "It!" to special effects creator Bob O'Bryan and actors Diane Cummings and Grant Marshall. Dorian explains that the power and spectacle of what is going on in the world will surely outshine any fantasy that he could create. Bob ensures the producer that these spectacles can be recreated; he does this by showing him a newly created scene taking place in Washington D.C. that features a re-creation of "It!" using special effects. The producer is so pleased that he insists O'Bryan's name should get top billing right under the star of the picture and Bob's fiancé, Diane. Grant, the leading man of the series, voices his displeasure of such a thing, which causes the producer to insist that if he does not get on board, he will start cutting his lines. Grant, now jealous of the special effects creations, drops some equipment from the ceiling towards O'Bryan in an attempt to scare him, but instead accidently causes him to be crushed underneath it. Not being seen, he sneaks away and the ordeal is chalked up to being an accident. Bob survives the mishap, but is left crippled in the process. This new complication causes Bob to get depressed, break up with Diane, and dive into his work. His obsession over his work continues until one night, when a group led by a man named Dr. Vault attempt to steal "It!", whose stone body is located on the set. Bob witnesses the hijacking and, somehow, upon viewing the statue is able to shift his consciousness inside of "It!". Bob, now in the body of "It!", fights off the henchmen successfully until a special gas used by Dr. Vault causes the statue to go inert. Once inert, Bob returns to his body. Struggling with his situation, Bob continues his focus in an attempt to reconnect with "It!", which he does sometime later. When Bob awakens in the stone body of "It!" again, it is inside of Vault's base of operations. Dr. Braun, a subordinate of Vault, states that Vault is dealing with a terminal illness and questions why he is messing around with "It!" instead of working on a solution to his own problem. Vault explains to Braun that he intends to use "It!" as his new body, thus curing him of his illness by placing his consciousness inside the statue. Vault finishes his explanation and the two men look on as some machines fire a beam at "It!", causing "It!"'s form to shrink significantly to 30 ft. tall. Bob uses this chance to break free from the beam and start fighting off the henchmen. Dr. Vault acts quickly by having his men cause a cave-in, trapping "It!" inside the scientists' lair. Bob finds a water vault entrance and makes his way through it into the ocean and continues the fight with the henchmen on the beach outside. Vault flees and many of his men desert his employ. Bob chases after Vault and Braun, but sees that one of his men is driving erratically and goes for him instead. The man crashes into a resort and causes a massive fire. "It!" abandons his initial plan of pursing the crooks and instead saves some children who are caught in the fire. Police arrive shortly after and start shooting at "It!". Bob attempts to flee with "It!" but soon loses control, which causes "It!" to fall over, immobile. Nearby, a stone-like gargoyle figure looks on at the scene before flying off to inform his master of the events that have transpired and that "It!" has returned.