There were four of us aboard a spacecraft somewhere in the solar system. Two of the crew were killed in a decompression accident. And then a horrible alien monster showed up. It got the third crewmember early on, leaving only me.
I started the ship back towards Earth. The creature was grey and slimy and slow. It would gnaw little bits off its prey, because then it could mimic these bits and thus create, eventually, a duplicate of its victim.
The ship gets back to Earth and I go down to find help against it. First person I see is Superman, so I ask him. He says he's willing to help, but first he has to stop an uncontrolled nuclear conflagration in the Middle East. "Back in an hour," he says.
So I try talking to the creature for the first time, and it turns out to be a very sentient and friendly (and even affectionate) beast. Unfortunately, it still wanted to eat me, and while I was waiting for Superman to return, it gnawed off my ear, nose, and upper lip. I kept trying to get it interested in eating other people, including at least one ex-girlfriend of mine, but it simply would not go away.