Commie-Clobbering Kaiju TALES OF SUSPENSE "Power of the Colossus!"

When Last We Left Commie-Crushing Kaiju Colossus...

...the Russkies, unable to stop the rampaging kaiju through "normal"military means, decide to use a nuclear bomb...

Judging by the closing caption, this story from Atlas' Tales of Suspense #14 (1961) was apparently meant for Journey into Mystery!

At any rate, it received enough reader response that a sequel appeared in Atlas' Tales of Suspense #20 (1961)...

...though it only involved Commies at the beginning, when they shipped the statue off to America for an international exposition, not realizing the aliens who animated it would return, only to be beaten by good ol' Yankee ingenuity!
BTW, please don't think that Colossus didn't have the cover to himself, but the splash pages were so kool that we didn't want to use them as the post headers as we usually do in multi-part presentations...

Here's Tales of Suspense #14 (note they mis-colored him orange on the cover)...

...and here's the cover (by Herb [Incredible Hulk] Trimpe) from his reprinting in Marvel's Monsters on the Prowl #17 (1972)!

A year later, the character, whose reprints had sold better than other issues of MotP, was given a brand-new ongoing series, continuing the storyline from the end of the second appearance!

Since no Communists were involved in any of those tales, we're nor presenting them here!
But, there's one thing we'd like to mention...

Fellow Commie-Clobbering Kaiju Fin Fang Foom made his first new appearance since his original Strange Tales story (which we showed HERE and HERE) over a decade earlier, in the final two issues of Colossus' series!

(Can you tell it was during the Kung-Fu craze of the early 1970s?)

Next Week, We Return to Our Usual Russkie-Smashing Fun!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

Atlas Era Tales of Suspense

Volume 2

(which reprints this story)

Paid Link

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju TALES OF SUSPENSE "The Colossus Lives!"

We Have Already Seen...

It's a story as old as time.

Sculptor is ordered by evil rulers to create tribute to their "greatness".

Flying saucer crashes nearby.

Alien pilot, seeking shelter until rescue, enters statue to protect itself.

Evil rulers' troops arrive.

Alien, believing they are after him/her/it, lashes out!

As they used to say in TV Guide, "hilarity ensues!"

Things get even wilder when this tale concludes...

TOMORROW!

Plotted by editor Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Dick Ayers, this cover-featured story from Atlas' Tales of Suspense #14 (1961) is prime "giant monster" material...except for a really kool, alliterative name like, say, Fin Fang Foom!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

Atlas Era Tales of Suspense

Volume 2

(which reprints this story)

Paid Link

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju TALES OF SUSPENSE "I Created the Colossus!"

For Our Final Commie-Clobbering Kaiju...

...we return to Marvel's predecessor, Atlas Comics, where kaiju (although we didn't call them that back then) rule!

The monstrous mayhem continues...

TOMORROW!

Plotted by editor Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Dick Ayers, this cover-featured story from Atlas' Tales of Suspense #14 (1961) is prime "giant monster" material...except for a really kool, alliterative name!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

Atlas Era Tales of Suspense

Volume 2

(which reprints this story)

Paid Link

Russkie-Smashers CAPTAIN ATOM II "An Ageless Weapon"

When You Need Vitally-Important Defense Plans Safely-Delivered...

...Only One Man Can Do the Job...Guaranteed!

Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this is a short-but-sweet tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #39 (1961) about beating the Commies at their own game of deceit and deception by utilizing something...or rather someone...they don't expect!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Action Hero Archives

Captain Atom

Volume 1

Paid Link

Viet-Cong Wallopers TOD HOLTON: SUPER GREEN BERET "The Curtain Rises!"

Never failing to capitalize on a pop culture trend...

...numerous comics publishers, noticing the popularity of the 1966 hit single Ballad of the Green Berets (by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler and Robin Moore) quickly produced comics series featuring the elite Army unit.
Most were standard war comics, but one stood out from the rest for sheer weirdness...

What do you get when you combine
the Green Berets

with Teenagers and SuperHeroes?

Why,

SUPER GREEN BERET

of course!

Using his new-found powers of teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation, time travel, invulnerability, and super-strength, Tod decides to fight Enemies of Our Country, mostly in present-day Asia, but also traveling through time to the American Revolution and World War II, during his two-issue run!
Yes, it's as hokey as it sounds!
Created by writer Otto Binder (who co-created the Golden Age Captain Marvel and the Silver Age Supergirl) and illustrator Carl Pfeufer, who was a busy artist in the Golden Age doing superhero and western strips at both Fawcett and Timely (Marvel Comics' predecessor), the series ran for only two Annual-sized (64-page) issues.

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Tales of the Green Berets

by Robin Moore and Joe Kubert

Paid Link

Russkie-Smashers SPACE ADVENTURES "Captain Atom II '...on Planet X' "

Despite the misleading title, Our Russkie-Smashing Hero never leaves Earth orbit...

...as you'll see in this tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #36 (1960)!

WOW!

Writer Joe Gill and illustrator Steve Ditko jammed a lot into just five pages!

These days, that'd be a whole issue, if not a two-parter!

As you saw, "Planet X" was, in fact, an artificial satellite, not another planet!
But the code-name made for a catchy title for an extremely-action-packed tale, eh?

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Action Hero Archives

Captain Atom

Volume 1