When you've been a
yeti-blogger for as long as I have (10+ years), it's not often that you get surprised by what you discover in your searchings. Recently, I found out something that kind of blew my mind.
Way back in the early days of this blog (Oct. 2006), I
posted this image:
I had no idea until recently that it was actually an illustration by Michael Whelan of
the Apt, a predatory alien beastie from Edgar Rice Burroughs'
Barsoom books. I'd heard of the Great White Ape, of course, and
made a big deal in 2008 of how it was a kind of proto-
yeti in the popular culture
. I had never heard of the Apt! It's way more of an
apt progenitor.
The Apt is a snow creature with white fur, six limbs, tusks, and giant bug eyes.
I had always assumed that the Wampa was inspired by the
Yeti. What I didn't realize is that the Apt was likely an even bigger inspiration. Comic book writer
John Rozum pointed out on his blog that versions of the Wampa actually have the Apt's bug eyes and tusks:
 |
| Early version of Wampa (note Apt-like bug eyes) |
Here are some more visualizations of the Apt:
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