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)...
TOMORROW!
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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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Monday, October 14, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju STRANGE TALES "Fin Fang Foom!" Part 1

You Know Him!
You Love Him!
You Can't Stop Saying His Name!

And now you're going to see his introduction (though not his origin) exactly as it appeared in Atlas' Strange Tales #89!
To be Concluded...TOMORROW!
You may wonder why we're going to break away.from the story just as the Chi-Com Clobbering is about to begin!
There's a very simple reason!
It's because editor/plotter Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers ended the first chapter here!
You'll also note that Fin Fang Foom is orange, yet most fans are used to seeing him green, like this...
...and since the reprint (above) in Marvel's Where Monsters Dwell #21 (1973), he's been some shade of green!
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Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju KONGA "Evil Eye" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...exiled, disgruntled, and disgraced Russian scientist Osvydni Otogorki utilizes his newly-developed hypnotic abilities to entrance Konga, who wanders near his Siberian prison.
Having already enslaved his Soviet captors, Otogorki schemes to use the giant primate to avenge himself upon the Presidium!

Otogorki was never seen again, so we can assume he was eaten by the ants before the events of the next issue!
Next Monday:
Another Kaiju Steps up to Battle a Communist Threat!
Who?
You'll Have to be Here to See!
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Monday, October 7, 2024

Commie-Clobbering Kaiju KONGA "Evil Eye" Part 1

We Begin Our Countdown to Halloween 2024 Blogathon participation with a non-Asian Kaiju...
...who began "life" as the star of a 1961 British movie!
To Be Concluded TOMORROW!
Konga (1961) was one of England's two entries into the blossoming kaiju genre begun with the coming of Gojira (aka Godzilla) in 1954.
(The other was Gorgo (1961), who also had an American comic adaptation from the same publisher as Konga...Charlton Comics!)
Steve (Spider-Man/Dr Strange/Captain Atom II) Ditko illustrated the first issue of Charlton's Konga, which adapted the movie, then some, but not all, of the two sequel series which ran 25 more issues!
Besides battling other kaiju and extraterrestrials, Konga fought humans, including Commies (both Russian and Chinese) as in this issue, #15 from 1963, illustrated by Ditko and likely written by Charlton workhorse scripter Joe Gill!
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