Gorging On Gorgo!

This collection of vintage Charlton classics showed up on my doorstep the other day. I've had it on order forever, so it's a sweet treat when these kinds of items just appear. This YOe Books collection brings together the Joe Gill and Steve Ditko stories about the giant monster Gorgo. Gorgo stories were produced by other talents in the Charlton stable, but it's only the Ditko material which is on display here.

The first story ably adapts the film itself, one of my favorites. Read my review here. I first encountered it in the totally awesome comic Fantastic Giants way back in the swinging 60's. In that Ditko opus, both Gorgo and Konga get top billing.

Likewise, both monsters are getting the collected treatment from YOe Books and IDW Publishing. The Konga collection, which is even larger  that the pretty hefty Gorgo book, is due to arrive in a few months.  The stories by the ever-ready scripter Joe Gill are solid and as illustrated by Steve Ditko, give the reader a incredible but entertaining thrill ride as the monster Gorgo, almost presented as a stranger-in-a-strange-land, deals with the wide world.

It's a lot of Gorgo to read, and truth told not all of the stories are gems. But they are all a hoot, an echo from a time when comics were such plain unabashed fun, that stuff like this could be published without apology or qualm.

All of the Ditko Gorgo stories are here, as well as all the covers he produced for the series. Also showcased is some really great info on the classic movie and how the comics were an integral part of the marketing of the flick. Great Gorgo lore for any fan of the movie indeed.

Here's a cover gallery. Enjoy! The debut cover is by Dick Giordano if I'm any judge.

This final cover is by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. These artists did a gaggle of Gorgo stories themselves and they did the cover here for an issue featuring Steve Ditko material inside. It might be heresy, but I actually prefer the Montes and Bache version to Ditko's.  Sadly I doubt we ever see a collection of those stories, but there's always hope.

Rip  Off