Angry Apes 'N' Leapin' Lizards!

This month is all about giant monsters, especially those illustrated in strong style by "Sturdy" Steve Ditko. I've had the above Paragon book titled Steve Ditko -- Angry Apes 'N' Leapin' Lizards in my collection for many years. It's a dandy black and white gathering of some of Ditko's strongest monster material for Charlton in the early 1960's, produced at the same time he was cranking out mystery yarns for Stan Lee at Marvel. Ditko worked in tandem with the indefatigable Joe Gill on these monster stories. 

In addition to stories about Konga and Gorgo, look for Reptilicus as well. Ditko never drew any of that less successful series, but it's a lot of fun anyway. Other artists aside from Ditko drew Konga and Gorgo stories and I'll get into that a bit as the month rumbles along. All monsters all month. 

Rip Off

Introducing Captain Atom -- Ditko At Charlton 1960!

Introducing Captain Atom - Ditko at Charlton 1960 is as the title advertises. It gathers together the work by Steve Ditko produced for Charlton during that year. All of the work here was also written by Joe Gill and he is the focus of the collection as much as Ditko himself. In this year, Ditko was working for Marvel and Charlton as well as others from time to time. 

For those who might not know, Joe Gill was a writing workhorse for Charlton Comics. When I first discovered Charlton, I saw his name so much, I assumed it was a house name like "Kenneth Robeson", a name shared by many writers. Little did I realize the fecundity of Joe Gill's mind. He wrote with precision and skill, but mostly speed, hammering out scripts for Charlton's array of artists for wages at their cheapest in 1960 since this was after the company's famous flood, an event used by the owners to slash pay to the talent. 

Beneath this wraparound cover is an essay titled "Into Outer Space" highlighting the fascination with space which marked the era and the historical events which sparked that fascination. "Introducing Joe Gill" offers up a short bio of the great writer himself. "The Life Story of Steve Ditko" offers a nifty chronology of the artist from his beginning right up to his demise and beyond. In between we are offered a bevy of stories by Gill and Ditko arranged by the titles in which they appeared. 

Below is a cover gallery of those issues involved which featured Ditko artwork on the cover. At this stage, art from interior stories was rearranged by the editors for covers. 

Much more on Captain Atom in April, but March will be for monsters. The Dojo welcomes one and all. 

Rip Off

Ditko Cover Classics - Space War #8!

Space War #8 was published in late 1960. Ditko drew only "The Contaminated Spaceman" for this issue. You can read it at this link. 

And here's that same constructed cover on a British reprint. 

Rip Off
 

Ditko Cover Classics - Space War #6!

Space War #6 was published in 1960. Ditko drew "The Blue Men of Bantro" for this issue which is where the cover art is derived. You can read it at this link. 

Here's another look at that artwork in a British reprint. 

Rip Off
 

Ditko Cover Classics - Space War #5!

Space War #5 was published in 1960. The comic features one story by Ditko titled "Exiled to Earth". You can read it here. 

Rip Off

Ditko Cover Classics - Space War #4!

Space War #4 was published in 1960. It features one Ditko drawn story titled "Dreamer in Space". The cover is made up of panels from that story. You can read it here. 

Rip Off

Space Western Comics #45!

Space Western Comics #45 was published in 1953. It's the last round-up for Spurs Jackson. The art is by Stan Campbell and at least one story is by Walter Gibson. You can read it at this link. 

Rip Off