Dikto's Monsters - Konga!

And then there's Konga, collected up by YOe Books in a quite large volume under the Ditko Monsters title. It has long been established that some of the most invigorating work of Steve Ditko's career was done for the sometimes, hapless Charlton Publications. Infamous for low-quality, the publisher allowed Ditko near complete creative freedom, since for the most part they regarded comics as so limited an endeavor that the powers couldn't be bothered to really care too much about the content. Much of it was rotten, but surprisingly often it was really, really good. Steve Ditko's runs on both Gorgo and Konga with scripts by the indefatigable Joe Gill are among the most entertaining. 

To remind everyone, Konga was an adaptation of an American-International Pictures schlock sci-fi flick which tried to re-fry the classic King Kong scenario by adding in bizarre plants with growth-inducing properties, mad lascivious scientists, and exceedingly perky teenagers. 

It's an entertaining brew, but hardly one would think the stuff for an ongoing comic series. Konga at Charlton was a peripatetic protagonist who finds humans often a bother, sometimes a threat, but always it seems fascinating. While the movie has some lurid scenes of lust, the comic is all about romance. The Monarch novel adaptation adds some raw sex to the scenario, so a Konga fan can have this giant ape story in various styles. In the comic Konga battles monsters, aliens, robots, and whatever could clank, carom, or slither his way. He was drawn by many in the Charlton talent pool, but it's always been Steve Ditko's rendition which captured the imagination best. 

Here's a cover gallery of Ditko's best.

Monsters are at their most fantastic when they are giant. More Charlton giant monster goodness tomorrow. 

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