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Swamp Thing
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Anybody else here familiar with Gorgo, Konga or Reptilicus (later changed to Reptisaurus)? These comics, published by Charlton in the early-mid 1960s, were based on movies. The first two were British, while the latter was Danish.
Gorgo is my favorite of the 3, and quite possibly my all-time favorite comic book. (I know it's probably not the best from an objective standpoint, but who's objective about childhood favorites?) The 1961 movie features a 65-foot dinosaurian monster (somewhat remniscent of Godzilla sans nuclear breath) who is freed by an underwater volcanic eruption. It does some destruction but is captured and displayed in a London circus under the name Gorgo. Then Gorgo's much larger mother turns up & trashes the city looking for her offspring. My favorite scene is when she takes down the Big Ben. In an unusual twist for this type of movie, the monsters are still alive at the end as they swim back out to sea. The comic series continued their adventures.
I've never seen Konga (1960)but by all accounts, it's a pretty cheezy King Kong ripoff. Konga starts out life as a normal chimpanzee, but is enlarged by a scientist's experiments, first to a normal gorilla, then to a 100-foot giant. He is killed by the British army's weapons. In the comic, Charlton adapted the movie for the first issue (having him start out as a monkey rather than a chimp), then had another monkey in the 2nd iss. The experiments were repeated, but this time the serum was treated with radiation and the new Konga was much more durable. Both these series ran 23 issues, plus 3 special editions (6 total), titled variously "Gorgo's/Konga's Revenge" & "Return of Gorgo/Konga."
Reptilicus (1961) is about a frozen reptilian tail which is dug up by explorers digging for oil. It thaws and grows into a giant serpentine monster that menaces Copenhagen & the surrounding countryside. It dies at the end but the final scene focuses on its foot, which was blown off by bombs, floating at the bottom of the sea. Definitely a setup for a sequel but none was ever made, other than the 2nd issue of the comic. Then there was some sort of contract dispute, so with the 3rd issue the name was changed to Reptisaurus & the beast's color changed from green to red. The weakest of the 3 titles, it folded after 9 issues.
So again: Anyone besides me ever read any of these?
Gorgo is my favorite of the 3, and quite possibly my all-time favorite comic book. (I know it's probably not the best from an objective standpoint, but who's objective about childhood favorites?) The 1961 movie features a 65-foot dinosaurian monster (somewhat remniscent of Godzilla sans nuclear breath) who is freed by an underwater volcanic eruption. It does some destruction but is captured and displayed in a London circus under the name Gorgo. Then Gorgo's much larger mother turns up & trashes the city looking for her offspring. My favorite scene is when she takes down the Big Ben. In an unusual twist for this type of movie, the monsters are still alive at the end as they swim back out to sea. The comic series continued their adventures.
I've never seen Konga (1960)but by all accounts, it's a pretty cheezy King Kong ripoff. Konga starts out life as a normal chimpanzee, but is enlarged by a scientist's experiments, first to a normal gorilla, then to a 100-foot giant. He is killed by the British army's weapons. In the comic, Charlton adapted the movie for the first issue (having him start out as a monkey rather than a chimp), then had another monkey in the 2nd iss. The experiments were repeated, but this time the serum was treated with radiation and the new Konga was much more durable. Both these series ran 23 issues, plus 3 special editions (6 total), titled variously "Gorgo's/Konga's Revenge" & "Return of Gorgo/Konga."
Reptilicus (1961) is about a frozen reptilian tail which is dug up by explorers digging for oil. It thaws and grows into a giant serpentine monster that menaces Copenhagen & the surrounding countryside. It dies at the end but the final scene focuses on its foot, which was blown off by bombs, floating at the bottom of the sea. Definitely a setup for a sequel but none was ever made, other than the 2nd issue of the comic. Then there was some sort of contract dispute, so with the 3rd issue the name was changed to Reptisaurus & the beast's color changed from green to red. The weakest of the 3 titles, it folded after 9 issues.
So again: Anyone besides me ever read any of these?
