While New Yorker readers were asked to come up with their own caption, the original "Tales to Astonish" cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers reads, "Heaven help me - it's true! There is a monster at my window!"

"[Harry Bliss] did it with all good intentions. He thought it was an overt reference, and not an attempt to plagiarize. He thought it was a tribute," [Alexa Cassanos] said. "To people in the comic world, it's a recognizable image."

The incident is reminiscent of an episode of Seinfeld called "The Cartoon," where Elaine gets a cartoon published in The New Yorker after subconsciously lifting it from a "Ziggy" comic.