Title : Gorgo #1 Publisher: Charlton Comics Featuring Gorgo Cover Credits Pencils: Dick Giordano, Inks: Dick Giordano Content Genre: Science Fiction; Monster Publication Date: 1960, Price: 0.10 USD, Pages: 36 Notes Based on the motion picture by King Brothers released by MGM. Comic Story: Monsters of the Past (1 page) Synopsis: Facts about dinosaurs. Credits Script: Joe Gill, Pencils: Sam Glanzman, Inks: Sam Glanzman, Letters: Jon D'Agostino Content Genre: Fact Notes Inside front cover. Comic Story: Gorgo (22 pages) Synopsis: A giant lizard-like creature is spewed from the bottomless depths by a volcanic eruption only to wreak havoc on the modern world. Featuring: Gorgo Credits Script: Joe Gill, Pencils: Steve Ditko, Inks: Steve Ditko, Letters: Jon D'Agostino Content Genre: Science Fiction, Characters: Gorgo Comic Story: Wonders of the Deep! (4 pages) Synopsis: Various facts about undersea creatures. Credits Script: Joe Gill, Pencils: Charles Nicholas [as ChaSal], Inks: Sal Trapani [as ChaSal], Letters: Jon D'Agostino Content Genre: Fact Activity Captain Corey's Curiosity Corner (2 pages) Credits Letters: typeset Notes Things to make, things to do, things to know. Comic Story: Fear! (4 pages) Synopsis: Professor Hemlin explains superstition. Credits Script: Joe Gill, Pencils: Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio, Inks: Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio, Letters: Jon D'Agostino Content Genre: Fact Comic Story: Strange People Who Are Real (1 page) Synopsis: Various facts about carnival people. Credits Script: Joe Gill, Pencils: Charles Nicholas, Inks: Vince Alascia, Letters: Jon D'Agostino Content Genre: Fact Notes Inside back cover. Full page backcover pinup of Gorgo smashing London Bridge. (At right.) Charlton's Monster from the Deep After a seaquake a huge lizard like creature walks out of the ocean and almost destroyers a fishing village in Ireland, fortunately for the village the same quake that brought the 65 foot monster to land has also grounded a salvage ship, the crew of which proves up to the task of capturing the beast. Instead of killing it, or turning it over to the government, they decide to take it to London and put it on display for profit. Looking to be a huge success things become more complicated when it’s discovered that the monster, which has been dubbed Gorgo, is really just a youngster and it’s 200 foot tall mother is coming for him. After a pitched battle with the British army Gorga’s mother Orga able to free her child and they both go lumbering back to the sea. That however is not the last the world has heard of Gorgo, apparently having found a taste for the land the young monster begins to make regular visits there. At the same time governments, scientists, and even would be world conquerors pursue Gorgo and his mother for their own ends. This leads to Gorgo finding himself in a succession dangerous situations, from battling other giant primitive monsters, to control by mad scientists, to even at one point inadvertently preventing World War III. Update from IDW
STEVE DITKO’S MONSTERS VOL. 1: GORGO - Gigantic Preview Hey gang! We're really excited about the recently released STEVE DITKO'S MONSTERS VOL. 1: GORGO and thought it'd be awesome to give you guys a GIGANTIC preview of the monster-fueled mayhem within. So, here for your viewing terror, is the classic GORGO #1 in its entirety!
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Giant Classic King Kong Comic Book Art: Alberto Giolitti Publisher: Whitman Released: 1968 Cover Artist: George Wilson This Whitman Giant Classic featured terrific cover art by George Wilson of King Kong atop the Empire States Building. And the excellent interior art was by Alberto Giolitti. The familiar story itself was split into seven short chapters, and all the familiar characters are present, from Carl Denham (here with gray streaks in his hair, and a moustache), and Captain Englehorn, to Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, and Kong himself. In Chapter Two, the voyagers reach Kong’s island, and the adventure really begins. Interestingly, the comic version features some sequences deleted from the film. For instance, a Styracosaurus chases several sailors onto the log over the chasm, a moment not in the final cut. And also, in the comic-book version of the tale, Englehart’s ship is named The Wanderer, not Venture. Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe #1 Writer: Dave Chipps Penciller: Mozart Couto Inker: Mike Sellers Letterer: Clem Robins Colorist: Art Knight Editor: Randy Stradley Designer: Mark Cox Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Released: 1996 Cover Artist: Mitsuaki Hashimoto In 1996, Dark Horse, high on the success of their Godzilla line of comics, decided to see if it could strike monster gold twice with the only other giant Japanese monster with a long-running movie series—Gamera. The monolithic monster tortoise had recently celebrated his big thirtieth, and Gamera's parent studio Daiei produced a celebratory film, bringing back and reinventing the be-shelled beastie and one of his more popular enemies. The film was greeted by an adulatory public, and even the critics loved it; pretty quick, Daiei was scooping in some considerable cash, and Dark Horse smelled the green. Thus, Dark Horse, to test the waters, planned and executed a four-part mini-series continuing the story of Daiei's beloved reptile reboot. The comic, borrowing the movie title (and adding “the”), was called Gamera: the Guardian of the Universe, or, simply,Gamera (a title I will use here so as to avoid finger strain). The story picks up a year after the events of the film. Asagi Kusanagi, the girl with the psychic connection to Gamera, and Mayumi Nagamine, the ornithologist/reluctant kaiju expert, are on a trip to Mexico, where Mayumi has been invited to investigate another giant rare bird on an island, and Asagi gets to tag along because “travel is very educational.” While Mayumi goes off to visit the island and look for the latest exotic big bird (this time, the fictional “emerald-crested dapplinger”), she apparently lets Asagi just bounce around Mexico by herself, and thus Gamera's priestess finds herself alone with a bone-headed conman named Lutz, taking a tour in a busted seaplane. Soon, we discover that the folks who invited Mayumi to the island have sinister plans of “mad science.” They are cooking up monsters in their monster lab, and want Mayumi's help in dealing with their newborn Gyaos... Which has escaped and has already grown to Super Gyaos size. Soon, Asagi and Lutz witness Gamera's arrival to fight Gyaos in the city of Guanajota, and in the confusion, Lutz abandons Asagi to a crowd of fleeing Mexicans. Cliffhanger! Right from the start, Gamera does something right that few Godzilla comics have ever accomplished: It takes likable main characters from the movies, and continues their stories. I recently viewed Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) again, and I genuinely liked Asagi and Mayumi, and wanted to learn more about them (even if Asagi's personality seems to disappear once she gets the amulet). It was great to see more of them here, and the story by Dave Chipps (who apparently is the Dark Horse manga editor, with his lone story credit being Gamera) moves at a rapid clip with plenty of nods to the movie, visually and in the dialogue, including references to the monster fights from before, as well as the slab upon which the prophecy was written, and another mound of Gyaos excrement complete with another pair of glasses. On the other hand, having Mayumi Nagamine go to another island to research another large bird only to discover another Gyaos is taking “inspiration” too far. Nevertheless, like with Godzilla: Legends #3, bringing in familiar cast members does wonders to spike up reader interest. Granted, the familiar characters don't get to do a great deal here. Asagi meets Lutz because she is interested in seeing the “monster” advertised on Lutz' sign. (Lutz was trying to drum up business by dressing up a Chihuahua with an extra fake head.) Lutz is the focus, and Asagi is along for the ride. Mostly, we get that she is an adventurous, beautiful girl. Mayumi, similarly, is along for a different sort of ride—she has been kidnapped by real monster makers, instead of the fake Lutz. Mayumi basically gets to react to being kidnapped with outrage and defiance, but that's about it. The new characters receive the focus, and they are admittedly colorful, but not immediately likable. Lutz is a criminal trying to escape from his past—and an idiot. The story immediately strikes a farcical tone with his double-headed Chihuahua, and he acknowledges his own lack of intelligence later on. Basically, he's a dope looking for a way to make a cheap buck, and functions as comic relief—and he's the narrator. Mayumi's kidnappers are a duo led by an evil bombshell babe scientist, and their dialogue maintains a campy core (including how they got their nuclear goods at “rockbottom prices”). The comic takes the humor of the movie and amps it over the top while retaining plentiful action and drama. For this issue, I thought the mixture worked well. The art supports the story as well. Like the Dark Horse Godzilla comics, the linework is strong, with pretty good depictions of the monsters (although Gyaos is a bit iffy), and well-rendered (if far from movie-accurate) humans and backgrounds. (Asagi and Mayumi don't look like they were based closely off their movie counterparts, though Mayumi looks reasonably similar to actress Shinobu Nakayama.) If only the IDW comics consistently looked this good! Granted, Gamera AND Gyaos seem to be breathing fire rather than blasting plasma balls and spitting sonic beams, but the monster action crunches and smashes things up real good, and just about everything looks competent. However, when Gamera the comic was released, the prospects for success were not great. As relatively popular as Godzilla is worldwide, Gamera by comparison is and was obscure, and the movie from which Dark Horse's mini-series is built was not yet released in the States. (According to Amazon, it appears the ADV VHS wasn't released until 1997 or 1998—quite some time after the 1996 print of Gamera.) I remember when the comic came out, I was curious, loved comics, was familiar with Gamera, and I still didn't buy the book, despite flipping through it in the store. I didn't buy the ish for the simple fact that I was wary of movie adaptations, as well as being dirt poor. The first issue includes a two-page introduction to the Gamera mythos, plus a synopsis of the movie, and the cover art is the same gorgeous promo art by Mitsuaki Hashimoto that appeared on posters and video covers, but apparently this wasn’t enough to sustain a property as obscure as Gamera past four issues. Having recognizable characters from the movie doesn't help your product if the consumers are unable to see the movie! Still, after reading this first issue, I was really pleased. Gamera takes the strengths of Dark Horse’s Godzilla interpretations (good art, decent story) and combines them with some of IDW’s strengths (lots of licensed monsters and characters), and makes something fans should really enjoy. Whether that level of quality continues into the rest of the series, however, is another question. For now, I want to bask in the minor joy of a well-done Gamera comic in America, because such a thing is very rare indeed. Godzilla King of the Monsters Special #1 Story & Script: Randy Stadley and Steve Bissetts Artist(s): Steve Bissette and Ron Randall Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Released: 1987 Cover: Steve Bissette Without a doubt, the darkest of the US Godzilla comics. There's no mention of Godzilla's past at all here, except for the fact that he is millions of years old and is full of displeasure of the world he once knew being changed into a bustling metropolis. The only mention of radioactivity pertains to a mysterious stone slab which attracts not only Godzilla to wake up every 3000-4000 years, but two other monsters (and one Anguirus rip-off, not named) called Soran the thunderbird and Inagos the locus king. Godzilla is the "Fire Monster". Basically the monsters show up after the slab is discovered and proceed to make their way to Tokyo where it is. Godzilla lands in the city first and begins his path of destruction. The scientist who discovered the secret behind the slab, along with a friend of his, load the slab onto a helicopter in an attempt to get it out of the city and out into the ocean. The scientist takes one helicopter to buy time for his friend to get away and ultimately ends up ramming his helicopter into Godzilla's head as a distraction in order to keep his wife and daughter out of Godzilla's path. The other helicopter pilot takes the slab out to sea and drops it into the ocean. Godzilla and the other monsters follow the slab into the watery depths, never to be seen again. To put it bluntly, this is one dark comic from the artwork to the storyline. Godzilla really doesn't belong in this story, as his part could have been played by ANY monster. The story seemed very thrown together and the other monsters in the story were just knock offs of other Toho monsters (Kamacuras and Rodan). The cover artwork is especially ugly. Godzilla's slug-like appearance with the evil grin is a far cry from what, in my opinion, the true king of the monsters should look like. The supplemental artwork, found at the end of the comic, ranges from artistic to disturbing, you can finally see what happens when Godzilla steps on someone. When I got this comic as a kid, I had never seen Godzilla in this light before. I had seen the original film and knew that Godzilla was a force of destruction, but with this comic, it was as if all involved in it just wanted to make him into something he wasn't. |
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