Ditko Classic Covers - Gorgo #4!

Gorgo #4 was published in 1961. You can read the issue at this link. 

This cover was derived from the splash page of the debut issue. The interior art on this issue was by Charles Nicholas and Nick Alascia. 

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The Charlton Gorgo

Gorgo was Charlton's other monster comic. Like Konga it began as an adaptation of a movie, then transformed into an ongoing series. It was a tougher go than Konga because the monsters were less identifiable and lacked an ability to show much emotion if any, unlike Konga. They couldn't be humanized in the same way. Also, the comic lacked the talent of Steve Ditko after the first several issues. Ditko illustrated Joe Gill's scripts at first but stepped away when the comic was first picked up by the Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia team then by Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta. The latter duo produced several issues of the run early on and most all of them are poor even by Charlton's rather lax standards. Later Ditko returns for several issues before handing the comic over to Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, the same team that took over Konga after Ditko's departure. If anything, the Montes and Bache version of the great monsters was successful at finally giving the monsters some character. 

One aspect of the Gorgo saga which makes it difficult for the comic is that there are two monsters -- Gorgo and Gorgo's Mother. It reminds me of the monster Grendel from Beowulf who also had a more powerful and deadly mother. Having to work in both monsters is difficult given the space allowances in a comic tale, and often Gorgo's mom just sleeps for most of a story. The stories are strongest when just Gorgo is the focus. Like Konga, we are often presented with human lovers who find one another amidst the conflicts which Gorgo's presence generates. Gorgo battles aliens (two separate invasions from Venus for instance) and Commies. He and his mom find lots of other monsters above and below the sea to fight as well. Reptilicus (or as he's renamed Reptisaurus) even makes a guest appearance in the Gorgo comic run, showing the only instance of continuity inside the Charlton monsterverse. 

Here's a cover gallery of the complete run of the comic. 

Gorgo's Revenge is a strange comic, in which Gorgo is associated with the dragons of myth. This story is drawn by Charles Nicholas and Nick Alascia. 

The two issues of The Return of Gorgo were both illustrated by Steve Ditko though as usual he only creates one cover. Many of the covers in the main series and otherwise were created by Dick Giordano. This series seems to be a continuation of Gorgo's Revenge. 

The Gorgo comic saga is well captured in these two volumes which reproduce the stories from scans of the comics. Some of those scans are pretty meager, but it's still nice to have all the issues at hand. 

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The Charlton Konga!

Of all the great apes in science fiction, including the great King Kong himself, the humble Konga from American International was the one to find success in comics. Konga was picked up by Charlton Comics and offered at first as a compliment to the film itself. But it became a relative success for Charlton and ran for nearly half a decade. Much of that success was due the fabulous artwork of Steve Ditko who was at the same time making his mark at Marvel on science fiction stories, ghost yarns, and superheroes such as the Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. 

The comic stayed reasonably close to the set up in the film for the first several issues of its run. In the comic the side characters Sandra and Bob are not killed as they are in the movie and Doctor Decker is a much more reasonable man, though no less a tragic one. Through Sandra and Bob, we get a second Konga, using Decker's theories and it is this Konga who is the focus of the remaining issues of the run. Eventually this second genesis is forgotten and Konga is again presumed to be the original, though it's murky. Joe Gill wrote the Konga stories and in these tales, he spends his time fighting sea monsters, space aliens and the Red Menace. He also is the reason for many young couples to find love, as it is the people around the lonely figure of Konga who is at the center of our attention. 

Artists other than Ditko worked on the series. Dick Giordano drew many of the covers and the fine team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache took over the series after Ditko withdrew after a lengthy run on the title.  Their take on the giant ape made him a cuter figure despite his great bulk, and their charming style always makes everyone resemble dolls somehow. It works very well on this series. Other artists are Charles Nicholas and Nick Alascia who created the second issue between Ditko's run. Bill Molno even drew The Return of Konga. 

Here are the covers for the run. 

This reprint from 1968 was the final issue of Konga from Charlton Comics. 

I read the series this time in the two-volume reprint series which offers a barebones reprinting of the stories scanned from the original copies. The quality of some of the scans is suspect, but it's handy to have all of this epic tale in a couple of handy volumes. 

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