DITKO MONSTERS: KONGA! (Yoe Books/ IDW, 2013; Hardcover)
Collects
Konga
Nos. 1, 3-15 and Konga's
Revenge
No. 2 (cover dates June, 1960- November, 1963)
Writer:
Joe Gill
Artist:
Steve Ditko
This
is the sister volume to Ditko Monsters: Gorgo! Instead of this
being a book about a reasonable facsimile of Godzilla with artwork by
Steve Ditko, this one is a reasonable facsimile of King Kong with
artwork by Steve Ditko. Ditko's artistic idiosyncrasies, such as the
eyes and hands, are here. In short, if you are a fan of Ditko or
of Silver Age post-code monster comics then this should be right up
your alley.
One of the things about the writing in this series that I enjoyed was the real sense of continuity from one issue to the next. Most Silver Age comics that were not done by Marvel had little to no real continuity going on. Each issue was almost a reset of the main premise. Not so here. Konga has a lingering fondness for the humans who accidentally mutated him into the giant that he is.
My favorite issues are the ones where Konga fights the giant squid, the one with the Atlas (Marvel) Comics flavored Ditko space aliens, and the one where he enjoys playing in the snow and causes an avalanche. Every issue is enjoyable but these are the standouts for me. #15's The Evil Eye is pure Ditko. Everything that a Ditko fan could possibly want is in that one issue. The tension, the paranoia...much like Ragu, it's in there.
I
found this book to be way more enjoyable than Gorgo in spite
of the fact that the scenarios are similar. Konga is a more
sympathetic monster. He merely wants to eat and be left alone.
Foolish humans seek to enslave, destroy, or exploit him, and that is
when things go wrong. The stories run the gamut of typical Cold War
fears. While this is an enjoyable read I found it best to be read in
moderation. Any more than two issues in a row and I was nodding off.
That is not a knock on the quality of these comics, merely commentary
on these dense, text heavy reads. Everything in moderation.
 |
| LOVE those Ditko space aliens! |
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- This being an artist centric collection means that only
the Ditko penciled covers are included. The covers for #4-11, The
Return Of Konga 1962 one-shot, and Konga's Revenge #2. All
of the covers are collected in the front of the book rather than
before the individual issues.
DVD-style
Extras included in this book: Konga!
Introduction by Craig Yoe (8 pages).
The
Clash! Konga and Gorgo: No degrees of separation. (2 pages)
King
Cohen: Author Tom Weaver interviews the writer-producer of the Konga
movie, Herman Cohen (2 pages)
Linework
and Color restoration rating: 4.5 out of 5. High resolution
scans. These are really cleaned up. The drawback to this method is
that you can see all of the imperfections of the original comics.
Line bleed, off register printing, and other such anomalies are
present throughout the book. Many fans actually prefer this to the
frame up restoration found in some lines of Archives-type books. Your
mileage may vary. It's all subjective. Both methods have drawbacks
and advantages.
Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. This book has some stupid thick paper. It is
quite possibly the thickest paper ever used in a collected edition.
Binding
rating: 4 out of 5. Smyth sewn binding, 8 stitches per signature.
While the book lays mostly flat, the binding sounds a bit creaky at
times. There are one or two spots where you can see the crash (cloth)
between the signatures. The liner paper came unglued from the crash
but everything is overall solid and should last a lifetime so long as
you don't handle your books like the Samsonite gorilla handles
luggage.
Hardback
casewrap rating: 5 out of 5. Beautifully designed casewrap with
artistic flourishes which, while unnecessary, add a feeling of luxury
to the proceedings. Highly durable and scuff resistant, Craig Yoe
gets top honors in book design in my opinion. His books are not only
books of art but are works of art themselves.
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