Friday, October 17, 2025

Rowlf And Other Fantasy Stories!


Rich Corben was a fantastic artist who fashioned images which linger in the mind decades after first encountered. Corben had a style unlike any other artist, one which weirdly created heft and weight in a way that proved particularly effective when presenting women gifted with bountiful bosoms. Several such dames can be found in the pages of Rowlf and other Fantasy Stories from Dark Horse. 
 

Rowlf is the story of a girl and her dog. In the fanciful kingdom of Canis there is a princess named Maryara who possesses a loyal pooch named Rowlf. Her father rules a poor land but nonetheless there are suitors for Maryara's hand. One such is Raymon who is less than a scrupulous fellow, and one Rowlf distrusts immediately. 


Raymon takes Maryara and Rowlf to a sorcerer named Sortrum who is able to turn one animal into another. But Rowlf is suspicious, and he and Maryara soon leave so that she can bathe in a cool pool. But she is spied upon by a demon, part of a military unit on a mission of destruction and plunder. 


She is kidnapped and Rowlf in desperation returns to the tower of Sortrum where in order to get the truth from him he is transformed into a creature both dog and man. Rowlf uses this new form to pursue Maryara's captors. 


Rowlf catches up to the demon army and we are treated to the naive man-dog hero using their own tanks against them as he fights doggedly to save his mistress. 



Rowlf originally appeared in the fanzine Voice of Comicdom and later was collected by the underground Rip Off Press. 


It was in a Rip Off's Grim Wit that The Beast of Wolfton first appeared. This is a two-part story which is more firmly rooted in classic werewolf tradition, and it is the second of three proposed stories about werewolves that Corben planned. In this tale a knight and his wife, who hates him ferociously, travel to a remote region to rid it of a predatory creature. This creature turns out to be a man-beast named Wulv who is among the last of a tribe called the "Krind". This story is wildly violent and has a bizarre ending. 


To complete the trilogy Corben gave us The Spirit of the Beast, in which we encounter the son of the previous werewolf named John Wulv. He finds a woman being assaulted by three men and drives them off. Then she agrees to lock him up because of his dangerous change in the full moon's light. What happens then is quite a surprise. Both of these stories were reprinted in Heavy Metal in, though we get them in the original black and white format in this collection. 


Oteg is the third tale in this collection and is based on a Japanese folk tale. In this tale a man schemes to wait for his dead wife's resurrection, while thieves attempt to steal the riches he has accumulated over the years of his vigil. 

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Thursday, October 16, 2025

The Return Of Gorgo!


Gorgo remains one of my favorite movies. It's a hoot of an old-fashioned monster movie that oddly enough tugs at the heartstrings amidst all the incalculable death and mayhem. In fact, one of the very first VHS movies I ever bought was a cheap version of Gorgo and it's been that muddy dark version I've known the movie from ever since. Earlier this year I picked up a nifty volume by Bill Cooke which offers up a tasty essay on the background and production of the movie. We also get a copy of the shooting script as well as the press book for the film, though that requires a magnifying glass to enjoy. And then there's the novelization. 


I first chanced across the Gorgo tale in the reprint of the first issue in the awesome Fantastic Giants special which featured not only the adaptation of the Gorgo movie by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko, but it also included an adaptation of Konga by the same team as well as a few more recent Ditko tales. The Gorgo adaptation is a brisk retelling of the movie story with some additional scenes featuring an octopus and a killer whale, which while in the screenplay did not make the final cut of the film. 


If you don't know the general story of Gorgo either as a film or as the comics story adapted by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics way back in 1961, it's a classic tale of giant monster terror. Two likeable but tough-minded salvage divers find themselves stranded off Nara Island and after some bother about treasure and such find that a monster called "Ogra" by the little boy who attaches himself to them might make a pretty good penny for them back in civilization. They capture the critter, bigger than several elephants and haul him back to London where he's put on display for all to see. There's some angst about what's right and all that, but before anything really can happen, Gorgo's mother who is ten times his size shows up looking for her baby and crushes Nara Island before heading off the London to get back her boy. The British military has no chance, and she demolishes lots of landmarks like the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and more. People die like crazy in this one as debris falls on crowd after crowd. Eventually she gets to her baby, frees him and they walk off into the sea and the movie is over just like that. It's a spectacle!


The Monarch Books (a Charlton brand) novelization of the Gorgo saga by Carson Bingham (the pen name of Bruce Cassiday) is much different from the movie. The story is told from the point of view of Sam Slade and his partnership with Joe Ryan is much more tempestuous than in the film. They first joined forces in the Korean War and later as gun runners for the Cuban revolution. Both are rough and tumble, but Joe is much more imposing and dangerous than in the film. The biggest change is the addition of Moira, the sister of Sean, the kid from the film. We get some exceedingly sexy scenes between her and Sam as he is smitten immediately. (She has a very difficult time keeping her clothes on.) She's presented early in the book almost as a mystical figure, mysterious and strangely aloof. But the description of their lovemaking is very salacious in the spirit of that era. I'd imagine more than a few kids had eye-popping moments as they awaited the monster to emerge. The attack on Nara Island by Gorgo's mother is much more impressive in the novel though there is a limitation to the descriptions of the destruction of London as we are hampered by seeing only through Sam's eyes. I'm very glad I finally got to read this little gem. 


Gorgo was promoted with great vigor by the King Brothers. After securing the services of Eugene Lourie who was working on his third giant monster movie in a row after The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and The Behemoth, the producers wrought more than a few changes to the story. But everyone knew a new monster was on the block with scuds of money going into the advertising, not the least of which was getting Gorgo a cover on Famous Monsters of Filmland, rendered by the great Basil Gogos. 


And then there's Waiting for Gorgo. This 2010 short film is a hoot. Imagine how the British military might have responded to the threat of giant monsters long ago. They might set up a Department of Monsters and Over-Sized Animals or DMOA for short. They might staff it well at first but over the decades, things might fall off. To learn more, check out the link below. 




Ditko Monsters - Gorgo was released from Yoe Books in 2013. It's a handsome volume featuring the misadventures of the movie monster Gorgo and his mother as they attempt to live life and co-exist with modern man, who often seems to want to kill them both, though lacks any real means to do so. Of course, the comic series by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko is based on the movie Gorgo by director Eugene Lourie, a fabulous romp about giant monsters tramping through London. In the comic Gorgo goes to New York. The initial adventures of Gorgo find him in situations similar to what is found in London, but soon the stories get a broader feel and humor is injected into the series.

To read the stories contained within the Yoe Book collection follow the links below. Although other artists than Ditko drew Gorgo stories over time, only those stories are of interest here.


Go here to read this issue. 


Go here to read this issue. 


Go here to read this issue. 


Go here to read this issue. 


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.


Go here to read this issue.





PS Artbooks has also reprinted the Charlton Gorgo series in four volumes which include all the stories in addition to the Ditko ones. I have most of these in some form or other, but I have to confess I crave these four volumes. I'm becoming something of a Gorgo completist I fear. But there are worse things to be. 

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

My Side By King Kong!


Everybody's got a story, and as it turns out King Kong has a big one as related in My Side by King Kong. This 1976 farcical little "autobiography" is told from the point of view of the giant ape and as one might suspect his perspective on the whole caper is quite different. Walter Wager was a writer who wrote spy thrillers, but he's just a lowly sailor on the U.S.S. Venture when he met Stanley Harold Kong and became his friend. We learn that his dad was a gorilla named Arthur Kong, and his mother was Rose Saperstein from Philadelphia. 
 

To give you a sense of what this book is all about here are a some of my favorite passages.

"A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Empire State Building, as you may have heard. Here is the whole story: what happened before the movie, the truth about the picture crowd, how I was ripped off, and what I did after that fall off the building -- which was, by the way, filthy."

"To keep history straight, its name was Zumdum Island. The first thing that Mom said when she got a good look at the place was...well...unprintable. The second thing was a terrible scream, and the fourth (remember no thirds) was This is some dump. The faithful natives changed this just a bit to Zumdum, and it has remained that ever since."

"The people who lived there hadn't invaded and they weren't savage at all. They were a road company for Porgy and Bess shipwrecked en route from Chicago to Dallas."

"She [Fay Wray] was one of the most dedicated, decent, and respected stars of that marvelous era. She never beat her servants, abused Fatty Arbuckle, or went to orgies unless there were two separate sets of dishes."

"Bruce Cabot was more than met the eye. J. Edgar Hoover had personally selected him -- picked him over Pat O'Brien and Bing Crosby -- to make this journey into the unknown."

"There's one thing I can tell you about the Empire State Building. That first step is a bitch."


That's just a few of the insights given by Stan as he tells how he didn't kill any natives (that was Willis O'Brien's model's handiwork as was the train attack in NYC) and he only wanted to show Ann Darrow his etchings. He did reprise his role in King Kong vs. Godzilla, but he had no paw in the sequel Son of Kong. He continued to live in the United States and made money in yoghurt. He served eight years in the California legislature and even six in the U.S. Senate. He married a few times and claimed to have eighty-three children.

This is a salty bit of fluff and a quick run read. It would have made a wild Mel Brooks movie of that era.  Recommended to all Kong fans. 

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Tuesday, October 14, 2025

The Scarecrow!


One of the most short-lived and weirdest Marvel horrors was The Scarecrow who showed up for a one-time performance in Dead of Night #11.





There have been a lot of scarecrows in comics (see above), but this one was not a super-villain looking to boggle his superhero opponents, nor was he looking for a brain with unusual friends, nor was he saving the downtrodden of England from the burdens of excise taxation. This Scarecrow was a demon who was fit to fight other demons who wanted to take over this dimension from the other side.

Original Scarecrow Design by Byrne
Created by Scott Edelman, the original design for Scarecrow was done by the up and coming John Byrne, who first envisioned the incarnate demon a pumpkin-headed terror.


Later the design was altered to reflect a somewhat more serious horror.


In the two stories starring the Scarecrow (the second being in an issue Marvel Spotlight) we meet the demon who exists in a painting but is able to bond with a human being to become the bane of the Cult of Kalumai which seeks to prey on humanity itself. We meet three folks in our main cast, and two brothers both might be the Scarecrow, and we are left guessing who might have the role, if not both of them.


The story line is abruptly interrupted by cancellation but finds a resolution of sorts (as did so many fractured Marvel stories) in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One where we learn a few of the secrets but not all as the Scarecrow appears to help Ben Grimm repel the demon threat.



The Scarecrow was graced with some dandy artwork. His debut was drawn by Rico Rival and the second story by Ruben Yandoc. The reliable Ron Wilson seemed less able to handle the idiosyncratic character in h is MTIO appearance. 


Years later the character is renamed "Straw Man" and shows up here and there, notably in the pages of Doctor Strange. Of all the Marvel horror characters who rose up during the heady Bronze Age, the Scarecrow remains one of the least developed and least seen.

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Monday, October 13, 2025

Mort Todd's Monsters Attack!


Mort Todd was an editor for Cracked Magazine, MAD's longtime rival during the 80's. A fan of monsters, he incorporated them into Cracked with great success as born out by the Cracked companion magazine Cracked's Monster Party. Then Todd went one step further and created Monsters Attack. According to Todd, he did this without the okay of his publishers and pushed out a few issues before they even knew. They put a halt to the magazine until they saw the sales numbers and then gave it the thumbs up after a half year layoff. 


Todd wanted to create a magazine which was a synthesis of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Creepy. He succeeded, especially in the early issues. He tapped proven pros such as Steve Ditko, Gray Morrow, Pat Boyette, Gene Colan and even the reluctant Alex Toth. The latter didn't draw a new story for the magazine, but did offer up one he'd done for Charlton, but withheld due to the meager pay. (That story titled "Bookworm" was written by Nick Cuti and was given to Nicholas Alascia to draw. That story too is included in this collection for those who want to compare.) Todd took advantage of his position to ink a Ditko story, much to the story's detriment. Todd recognized his error thankfully and most of the Ditko stories are pure. 


But things grew difficult as the final issues began to be produced. Todd eventually left after purchasing stories for the fifth and final issue, but he had little control of the magazine after that. Given that these two collections are titled "Mort Todd's Monsters Attack!", he does not include any work he didn't commission or played a key role in obtaining. Strangely that seemed to also apply to a Poe adaptation by Walter Brogan from issue two. 


In addition to great horror tales by proven masters, we are treated to articles on movies, books, ranging from classic reviews of Universal's Frankenstein films to an exhaustive examination of the Godzilla movies. One of the stranger things in the collections is a detailed chart documenting Jason's kills over the course of several of the Friday the Thirteenth series. Even if like me you already own all five of the Monsters Attack! series, there is still some new-old goodness with "Transformation Flying", a Todd-John Severin effort which for some reason was never used and is delivered here for the first time. 

Here are the covers. 

(Debut cover inspired by the first issue of Creepy.)

(Severin cover meant to evoke that Famous Monsters of Filmland vibe.)

(Another solid John Severin offering of a splitting headache.)

(Severin again, this time it's Godzilla based on an Aurora model.)

(A George Bush --not that one--painting of Karloff's monster.)

These are fun comics produced by an editor who was rich with youth and energy, tapping veterans who were in need of a place to create. 


One great detail I never noticed is that the "Attack!" part of the title was copied from the vintage Charlton classic Fantastic Giants which celebrated the work of Steve Ditko. 

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