Tuesday, October 29, 2024

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

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!
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Monday, October 28, 2024

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!
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Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju GORGO "Deadlier Than Man" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...well the scene in this Bill Montes-penciled and Ernie Bache-inked art doesn't actually, occur, but it's the perfect symbolic cover to visualize what's going on!
The Soviet Union is arming fellow Communist country Cuba with nuclear missiles.
However, an American trapped on the island manages to radio a warning to the American military, which results in the US warning the Russkies to stop what they're doing!
The Russkies refuse and things get tense!
Meanwhile two large kaiju, just minding their own business, are attracted to all the activity going on in the sea over them..
Did Gorgo and son stop the Cuban Missile Crisis from escalating?
Only these three (along with writer Joe Gill and artist Steve Ditko) know...and they ain't talking!
Next Week:
Another Marvel kaiju takes a crack at Commies!

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Monday, October 21, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju GORGO "Deadlier Than Man" Part 1

Besides Konga, another cinematic kaiju who battled Commies in comic pages was...
...who was also published by Charlton, and who was often illustrated by the legendary Steve Ditko!
Let's look in on the mother and son who frightened the world for 26 issues during the 1960s!
Don't worry, the kaiju cavalry is coming!
Good thing JFK didn't have to deal with kaiju along with the Cubans and Russians during the real-world Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, eh?
Writer Joe Gill and artist Steve Ditko continue their interpretation of those events from Charlton's Gorgo #14 (1963)...
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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju STRANGE TALES "Fin Fang Foom!" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Favorite Comics Kaiju...

Aroused from his centuries-long slumber, Fin Fang Foom pursues the human who awakeened him, not realizing the human has an ulterior motive...using the kaiju as a living weapon against a Communist invasion force!
Yes, we know FFF was green on the cover, but orange on the inside!
It's another of those screw-ups that occur because covers (on slick magazine stock) and comic book interiors (on newsprint) are printed on different presses on different schedules, so they don't get processed or leave the publisher's offices at the same time!
And considering Editor Stan Lee was handling the entire Atlas/Marvel line all by himself, it's lucky FFF wasn't purple on either the inside or outside of Strange Tales #89!
When Fin Fang Foom began appearing in new stories, starting with Marvel's Astonishing Tales #23 (1974), he consistently remained green, though with red, purple or green shorts!
(BTW, you'll be seeing FFF's fellow kaiju It: the Living Colossus later this month!)
He's been a part of the Marvel Multiverse, numerous animated Marvel TV series and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe (named "Great Protector") in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings!

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