From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update and for this one I will be taking a look at the battle of the worlds two most popular Kaiju those being Godzilla and King Kong and their battle that took place in 2021 in the theaters thanks to Legendary Pictures, and like all good monster movies this film spawned not one but two comic graphic novels to help promote the film and each one showcased the individual monsters before they even meet up on the silver screen. And before we get into this update I want you to think about which of these Giant Monsters is your favorite now and growing up even, as truly here in America these two are the Titans that made the biggest impact in not only movies but culture and they still have massive loyal followings and both have made impacts worldwide. So with that let’s take a look at Godzilla vs. Kong and the two graphic novels this film spawned.

So to start this off right lets take a look at both Godzilla and King Kong and their styles of battle and killing! And we will start off first with Godzilla who stands at 393 feet tall and weighs over 90,000 tons and is a massive destruction Kaiju who lets nothing stand in his way. He is very aggressive as he wants to be the Alpha Titan and will attack any creature or human base that stands in his way of ruling as if he views you as a threat he will kill. Godzilla is massive in size and can crush people and things under his feet, his massive tail can also kill and destroy people and can be used as a weapon against other Kaiju’s that he comes across. Godzilla’s look also is very scary and this can freeze people in fear and this could lead to their deaths. While Godzilla don’t target humans for the most part those who are in his way learn that he can deal them the death card. Godzila also has super powerful atomic breath that can burn through the Earth, can level buildings and can burn humans to bits as well as can cause serious damage to fellow Giant Monsters that get into his way. Godzilla will also use his teeth and claws to attack and they both as well can cause some big damage to his fellow monsters. He can be fast on land when in a rage, but is always super fast in the water swimming. Godzilla is also smart but one of his weakness is that he is driven by instinct and as well ego as he wants to be the top Alpha among Kaiju and will kill any other creature that gets in his way and opposes his rule. But because of this drive he also heads straight into battle and will not stop until he or the other creature is dead. Godzilla can be hurt as well by atomic blasts, giant battle axes as well as attacks from other Giant Monsters. Godzilla does not have much weakness and this is why many call him King Of The Monsters.

King Kong while more friendly to mankind still is a Kaiju and can deal death to those that cross him or those he cares about. Kong is super powerful as he can use his strength to overpower his fellow Kaiju as well as can smash human war machines like planes. And do to his size standing 335 feet and weighs around 50,000 tons and this size alone makes him a wrecking machine if he chooses to be. Kong’s look that is a massive gorilla can also strike fear in the hearts of humans as they fear that he could smash them with his feet, hands and his razor sharp teeth is a frightful sight as Kong lets out his massive roar. Kong is super fast and moves much faster then Kaiju like Godzilla, and Kong is also very smart and can use his environment to his advantage. Kong also uses weapons wither it’s something like a tree or his trusty battle-axe that he finds in Middle Earth he is truly a force of nature that can deal death to humans and Kaiju if he chooses. He is an Alpha when it comes to Kaiju and he knows that he really is a King among them. But while Kong is massive he does have some weaknesses like that fact he is caring towards humans he bonds with, he can be hurt via atomic breath, he can be cut by fellow Kaiju’s teeth and claws and because he has normal skin he can be hurt badly by this. Kong also can be sent into a rage as he is a Alpha and that means he does have an ego that can lead him into fights that he might not win if not planned out. Kong also can hold his breath for a while but can be drowned and smothered, as he does need air in his lungs to survive. While Kong has some weakness it’s a matter of luck in order of getting the best of him and he truly is one of the most powerful Kaiju’s due to his smarts, strength and speed.

As you can see both Godzilla and Kong as super dangerous if they want to be to humans, but to be honest they both in the Legendary Monsterverse series acts as protectors to humans and only kill them when attacked or protecting…and well by accident. But as you can see when it comes to other Kaiju’s they can and will kill them to be the Alpha and to be the protectors that their instincts tell them to be. Well I think its time to take a look at the film that pitted these two against each other from 2021 and as always the films write up will be taken from our pals at IMDB and after that I will write about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s chat about Godzilla vs. Kong an epic Kaiju film for the ages.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

“Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash on the big screen in a spectacular battle for the ages. As a squadron embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans’ very origins and mankind’s survival, a conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.”

Godzilla vs. Kong had seeds planted in 2015 when Legendary Pictures was able to get Universal to let Warner Brothers release the King Kong reboot that they were working on as they had already done Godzilla with WB in 2014 and fans knew that Kong would be joining the planned Monsterverse and finally they announced that yes a Godzilla vs. Kong film would be in the works after a few films would be released based on them both in order to build up the showdown. And this caused Kaiju fans to be cheering so loud for this giant monster showdown, but they were told it would not come out until 2020…so a wait was in store for us all as they confirmed this in late 2015. The next major news came in 2017 when they hired Adam Wingard to direct the film and he was a good choice as he already had films “A Horrible Way To Die (2010)”, “You’re Next (2011)”, “Blair Witch (2016)” and “Death Note (2017)” under his belt and at one point he was even selected by Peter Jackson to be the director of his never made sequel to the 2005 King Kong remake. Next they started working on the script and after many ideas and rewrites it was Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein who got the job based on the stories of Michael Dougherty, Terry Rossio and Zach Sheilds and they all added elements from the past three films in the shared universe. And in 2017 through 2018 they started also casting parts in the film with Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler coming back in their roles and names like Julian Dennison, Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Eiza Gonzalez and Brian Tyree Henry among others all getting roles in key parts. The film began filming on November 12, 2018 and took place in Hawaii and Australia and was your normal big budget film shoot with reshoots coming later to even add and help to the story. And from there the film had the visual effects added by a massive team-up from companies Moving Pictures Company, Scanline VFX and Weta Digital and this had to be done by so many companies as Warner Brothers really wanted to release the film in 2020 like they first promised. And then the film was scored by Tom Holkenborg who did a fantastic job of adding new sounds to already iconic songs in some pieces and his new songs are fantastic. The film had big promotion around it and posters were shown and Comic Con even got to see a clip and the buzz around the film was at a fever pitch as fans wanted to see it bad, and when pictures of the toys by Playmates based on the film leaked on line it was on as new character where shown and fans started wondering what these new Kaiju were. But sadly Godzilla vs. Kong was not released in 2020 due to the pandemic and movie theaters world wide had to shut down in order to slow down the virus. And the film was pushed to 2021 and even then people thought that it might not even be release until 2022! But the film did make it to the theaters on March 31, 2021 and even with the annoying pandemic still being around it did really well at the Box Office, but on the same day released in theaters Warner Brothers and there parent company AT&T also decided to put the film on their terrible streaming service HBO Max and this was cool for people who was scared to go to theaters due to the virus and was understandable at the time. The film did $467,863,133.00 worldwide via its theater run and was # 2 for the year at the Box Office in America and was released alongside other films like “The Conjuring: Devil Made Me Do It”, “The Suicide Squad”, “Candyman”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Snake Eyes”, “The Green Knight”, “Chaos Walking” and many more. The film was pretty well loved by both critics and fans and was the first big movie for theaters once they were able to open once more. And once on home media I of course bought it and have watched a couple of times sense its release.

Godzilla vs. Kong was one of the films of 2021 that I was most looking forward to as it was one that my gal Juliet and I would talk about all the time as well as many of my friends as we all debated and took sides on who they wanted to win the big fight! And our household was split as Juliet was team Godzilla and I was team Kong and even before the films release I ordered us both shirts that featured the Kaiju we were cheering for, and yes, we wore them when we went and seen the film at a Cinemark Theater. I invited many of my friends as well to watch the film and it was a blast seeing it in the theater and all of us had a great time eating popcorn, snacks and having some drinks all the while watching the monsters battle on the silver screen for our entertainment. And while Kong should have won the fight I enjoyed the heck out of the film and that’s why it ranked #2 on my Matt Goes To The Movies 2021 update in the Horror section. The film made me feel like a kid again in the theater as watching two of cinemas biggest iconic giant monsters fighting on the screen was something very magical and truly was a film that needed to be seen in theaters and not at home via streaming! And it was great as everyone of my friends who came with me to watch the film enjoyed the hell out of it and the best part really being is how split we all were on who should have won, and even in the end when the winner was shown no one was rubbing it in the other sides face. The effects of the film were great and I think that Legendary Pictures has done a great job of showing the age progression of both Titans in each film and have done a fantastic job of also giving them personality and growth over the films that make up the Monsterverse. The thing that really worked in the film is that several times Kong and Godzilla fight and after each battle one of the Titans has the upper hand given fans of each of them something to cheer and feel good about and making neither look weak. I am glad that Legendary Pictures was able to get Toho, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures to come together and allow this and the other films in the series to be made as they truly are “Event” films that are super enjoyable to watch in the theater and with friends. I hope that this is not the last we see of Godzilla or Kong as both have many more battles to be had in the Monsterverse. To sum it up I really enjoyed Godzilla vs. Kong and while in my opinion the wrong Kaiju won the battle it took the two to really bring down the threat that was a giant tech company and their Mecha monster.

As you long time readers know, both Godzilla and King Kong are big time favorites here at Rotten Ink as both are characters I grew up watching and will always be covered here and with Legendary Pictures and Legendary Comics making new media about both of them this is great news as they will always be covered here. And I want to thank Amazon for having both of these graphic novels in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you readers that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So with that, let’s head to the world of Titans and see who has the better graphic novel!

Godzilla: Dominion # 1  **1/2
Released in 2021     Cover Price $16.99    Legendary     # 1 of 1

Godzilla is trying to protect his territory and find a new home and comes across the Titan Scylla who has been driven mad with hunger and has set her sights on a bomb at the bottom of the ocean and Godzilla knows that if the bomb goes off it will hurt the Earth as well as people and fights Scylla and makes her retreat into the ocean. Godzilla next appears to break up a fight between Amhuluk and Behemoth as they two are fighting over territory as well as are both hungry and as Amhuluk takes down Behemoth with plans on eating him Godzilla steps in and breaks up this could be feast and Amhuluk and Behemoth go their separate ways. Godzilla returns to the ocean and lets a strong current carry him as he rests and remembers back to a time long ago before man took over the world, and he then is attacked by meat eating giant fish that he ends up using his atomic breath and fries them. And as he continues his quest to find a new home Godzilla even remembers back to Mothra giving her life for his and that is when he runs into the Titan Na Kika as well as Warships and Helicopters that are attacking him once he surfaces, after defeating the war machines he once more finds a place to rest and recharges. Godzilla then finds his new home and must fight the Titan Tiamat in order to claim it and after a big fight Tiamat bows down and leaves Godzilla deep in his thoughts that is all about his real rival the one known as Kong.

Godzilla Dominion is a fun read and has some cool fights as well as features some other Titans that make up the Monsterverse. The Idea of this basically being a day in the life of Godzilla as he tries to find a new home is kind of a fun concept, but it is also flawed. While I really do want to stress that it’s a fun read and fans of Kaiju or should I say Titans will really enjoy all the monster fights as well as seeing many of the ones we are briefly introduced to in the 2019 film “Godzilla King Of The Monsters”, but the downside is that the comic feels like just scenes put together and at times it feels slightly underwhelming and also disjointed in spots. But while flawed in my opinion the comic still is a fun time if you love monster fights. Godzilla in this graphic novel is very much trying to be a protector to Earth as well as King of the monsters as he is trying to get them to behave as well as understands that their food source and territories are over lapping causing them to be at odds with each other. He also shows that he is a Titan who is always thinking as his past as well as the past of his bloodline is always on his mind and his hatred for Kong and his race is also boiling in his blood. The GN also has many other Titans with the coolest one for me to see being Behemoth the giant wooly mammoth with the long tusks, even though he looses a fight with a fellow Titan and almost becomes a meal, he still is my favorite of the other original Titans shown in this comic. I also like that this really feeds into the hatred that Godzilla has for Kong and it really does have to do with the history of war between the two races. The cover is really cool and has artwork by Art Adams and showcases Godzilla in all his glory. The interior art by Drew Johnson is really good and I love the way he draws all the Titans and also the way he draws battles is pretty interesting and well done. Over all this is a good read if you are a Godzilla fan and I cannot wait to see what the Kong graphic novel has in store for me. Check out the artwork below to see the style of Drew.

So now that we see what Godzilla has brought to the table in this Graphic Novel showdown lets head to Skull Island and see what Kong has in response.

Kingdom Kong # 1  ***
Released in 2021     Cover Price $16.99   Legendary     # 1 of 1

Monarch have called in their top pilots and are sending them to Skull Island on a secret mission as they might have found a new entrance to the Hollow Earth and they need a team to go in and secure the area so that scientist can enter and study the believed birth place to all the Titans. Audrey Burns a woman with a past dealing with Titans is selected to lead the group and they all run drills on Skull Island to get ready for the mission. Meanwhile Kong is around and a little annoyed by the new group of humans but still protects them from the likes of a Spirit Tiger that he ends up breaking the neck of. Worse a massive storm is heading the way of Skull Island and if it reaches the island it could cause death of many of the species that live on the island including the tribe of humans. The scientists also are starting to wonder if Kong is out growing Skull Island as he seems to be growing to large for the land to supply him with enough of a food source among other issues. When the drilling team starts to uncover the cave that could be the vortex to lead to Hollow Earth they soon find out that they have all made a big mistake as the winged Titan Camazotz is what was in the hole and he wants to challenge to make Earth his Kingdom! Meanwhile Captain Audrey and her men have a moment to chat about how Titans have effected all of their lives before they are sent out to check on the drilling crew that has went silent…and to make things worse the massive storm is now at Skull Island! Kong fights off Camazotz as Burns and her team enter the fight to help Kong against the Titan and his smaller minions while other get the drilling team out and safe. After Burns uses her airplane to hit Camazotz with a sonic boom, Kong finishes the beast off with a hit that crushes his skull and kills the evil creature. Once the battle is over Burns takes a leave to visit her best friend who was hurt in a Titan attack, the Skull Island Hollow Earth portal is closed as its unstable, Dr. Ilene Andrews takes over as head scientist watching over Skull Island and Kong and Kong himself gets fired up when he thinks about his bloodline’s past and knows Godzilla is out in the world.

Kingdom Kong feels more like your traditional Kaiju comic and follows humans on a mission as well as the featured giant monster doing what they do best and that’s fight, protect and be a giant scary creature in the eyes of humans. And in this comic Kong is as awesome as ever as he tries to protect life but also has no regrets on taking lives of threats to him or what he views as those in need of his help. The way he snaps the neck of the Spirit Tiger shows that Kong does not mess around, and the fact he fights off another Alpha Titan shows that he is not one to turn away from a fight. The main evil Titan in this issue is the winged terror called Camazotz who hides in the dark and wants to make the planet Earth his kingdom and also feels that by beating Kong he as well will become a Alpha Titan, and while he is a threat to Kong he ends up dead thanks to a crushed skull! The human parts of the story do drag a little mostly in the Scientist stuff, with Captain Burns and her crew being a little more interesting due to their PTSD over Kaiju attacks they faced in the past. The Titan fights are great and while at times in some panels the fights do loose a little of the impact as the art sometimes is mudded up with other elements. It was cool to see characters from the film make appearances like Dr. Ilene Andrews, Jia and we even see Dr. David Lind the brother of Nathan Lind who dies trying to enter the Hollow Earth as spoke about in the film. The cover is great and eye catching as its Art Adams artwork again and his stuff always looks amazing. The interior artwork is done by Zed and is solid stuff and I love the way he drew Kong as he captures the Titan very well. Over all this is a really good comic that captures that magic of Kong and tells a pretty interesting story that leads into the events of the film pretty well and also builds the hatred that Kong has for Godzilla. Check out the artwork below to see the style of Zed used in this comic.

So as you can see, while Godzilla might have won the battle in the film Kong won the showdown between the two Titans in the world of Graphic Novels as his was just a better read and had a more solid plot that did not have that random scenes thrown together feel like Godzilla’s did. But I do feel that if you are a fan of either or both of these classic giant movie monsters you should give these graphic novels a read for sure as both are entertaining in their own ways and are a great lead in to the epic film and act as a fill in for the gap that takes place between the film series. But with that we have all survived another Kaiju attack here at Rotten Ink and our next update will take us all to a place to relax around a camp fire enjoying a bowl of chili and watching a classic western film released by Alpha Video and the first of our new Wild West Round Up update theme. So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Kaiju film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you on the ranch for a War Of The Range!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Godzilla King Of The Monsters (2019)

Kaiju Month comes to an end with none other than Godzilla King Of The Monsters.  He is probably the world’s most famous Kaiju Movie Monster as he has spawned so many films and is a household name all over the world! In fact I have even heard people refer to all giant monsters in movies as Godzilla, showing just iconic he is to the world’s culture. And again as we wait till November for Godzilla vs. Kong, I think Rotten Ink Kaiju Month at least can help add some giant monsters into your life and make the wait a little better. For me, one of the biggest movies announced so far for 2020 is Godzilla vs. Kong as watching these titans clash will surly be a great experience for all us monster movie fans. So let’s not waste anymore time as The King Of The Monsters doesn’t like to be left waiting.

Let’s take a look at the tools of destruction that Godzilla had at his disposal in this film to deal with the enemies he faced. Godzilla stands a massive 393 feet and weighs more than 99 tons, making Godzilla one massive Kaiju that can uses his appearance first and foremost to scare the life out of any human that is silly enough to be in his path. Because of his massive size, his feet also become a weapon of death and destruction as if he steps on a person, it’s instant death! Godzilla’s tail is also a method he can use to dispatch a target and is also very effective against other giant monsters, and would annihilate a human. Godzilla also has razor sharp teeth that he can use to chop down on flesh of his enemies, not to even mention his hands have claws. Godzilla is also pretty smart and uses his brain in his attacks, and even more to his advantage, he does not back down from any fight and will stand his ground. His main attack is his radioactive fire breath that will melt human flesh and bone and even burns and hurts other massive Kaiju, and this power gets even stronger and dangerous when its mixes with the spirit of giant Kaiju moth Mothra! While for the most part Godzilla is unstoppable as he shrugs off bullets and missiles, one human made weapon can zap him and bring him to a very weak state and it’s called the “Oxygen Destroyer.” Godzilla also gets his strength from radiation and if he can find a high source of it, he can heal himself. He can also be hurt by other powerful Kaiju monsters, but as I have stated, only one man made weapon could hurt him. Godzilla is truly one of the most powerful monsters we have covered here on Rotten Ink on one of our From Horror Movie To Horror Comic updates. Godzilla is truly one of the true King Of The Monsters.

So now that we have talked about Godzilla and his power from 2019 we should now talk about the film he is from. So as always we will be taking the films write up from our pals at IMDB and the films production and of course my thoughts & connection will be written by me! So lets seek some shelter and talk even more about Godzilla.

Godzilla King Of The Monsters (2019)

“The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient superspecies, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers once more teamed up to bring the moviegoers another Godzilla rampage for their Monsterverse, and this time around decided to add more Kaiju that fans know and love like Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah to the plot and used this film to build up the clash between King Kong and Godzilla that will now be out in theaters later this year. For this second film, they brought in Michael Dougherty to direct who had built up a name in the Horror genre with films “Trick ‘r Treat” and “Krampus. He also had a hand in writing this massive film. When it came to casting, they did not pull any punches and brought in heavy hitters like Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi, Bradley Whitford, Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler. And like all big budget film (they spent over $200 million on it), they had their fair share of production woes from script rewrites all the way to studio interference, but they pulled it off. When the film was done, they brought in Bear McCreary to score the film and when they started to release the trailers, no joke both Juliet and I thought they were the best trailers of 2019 as they built the hype so well and did a fantastic job of blending the movie footage to classic and creepy versions of classic songs like “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. The film did pretty good for Legendary and Warner Brothers bringing in a worldwide total of $386,600,138.00! The film was released alongside other Horror and Cult films like “IT: Chapter 2”, “Doctor Sleep”, “Happy Death Day 2U”, “Brightburn”, “Black Christmas” and “Midsommar” to name a few.

Godzilla King Of The Monsters was everything I wanted in an American made Godzilla film and was leaps and bounds better that the 2014 attempt as it delivers some amazing Godzilla moments and gives viewers more Kaiju then they could shake a stick at. When the film’s first teaser trailers hit the theaters both Juliet and myself became kids again as we knew this was going to be an amazing movie going experience, and boy we were right as we enjoyed it and it was ranked my # 1 Horror Movie on my Matt Goes To The Movies 2019 update…that you can read right here. When seeing the film, I made sure to buy lots of tickets to bring my friends along with me as this was one of the films I was most hyped for and it really did live up to what I wanted from it. I loved seeing the other classic Toho monsters on the big screen as Rodan has always been one of my favorites and watching him clash with King Ghidorah and Mothra made me feel like a kid again, not to even mention that the use of the original Godzilla theme on the soundtrack put a massive smile on my face. When my friends and I all left the theater all of us really enjoyed it and all agreed it was what we wanted from Legendary Pictures and their Monsterverse. When the film was released on home media I made sure to buy it on DVD and even after re-watching it I found myself very much still enjoying it! So if you have not watched Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, I want to say shame on you and go and see it now and enjoy the monster fights and the great acting.

So let’s get to the review part of this Kaiju update. We will be taking a look at Godzilla: Aftershock a graphic novel that takes place after the 2014 movie and before 2019’s Godzilla King Of The Monsters. I for one can not wait to read this Graphic Novel as I have had it since it was released and want to thank Mavericks Cards And Comics for ordering me it and having it in my file. I want to also remind you that I grade this comic on a scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s find a safe spot to hide, as this is surely going to be a Kaiju battle that will leave building smashed and monsters prowling.

Godzilla: Aftershock # 1  ***
Released 2019     Cover Price $12.95     Legendary      # 1 of 1

A giant Muto is attacking in Guam when Godzilla shows up and the Kaiju fight for a moment, but as the Muto escapes, Godzilla leaves by the ocean. Because of this Monarch is called in to investigate, and Dr. Emma Russell and the team are about to travel to Japan and must bring government worker Miles Atherton along for the ride. Once there, they look at the damage and the patterns of each monster with Emma being very negative toward Godzilla as she and her family lived through the events of San Francisco when they get a call that Monarch is needed in Japan. As she boards a plane, Emma is threatened by terrorist Alan Jonah at gun point and he is not able to do anything besides flee when Monarch Security Agent Tarkan Cavusgolu comes to the rescue! Now that the attempted attack is over, Emma along with Tarkan and Miles head to Japan where they enter a temple and find a massive hole that the Muto made. As they try to investigate it, a cave in happens and Tarken and Emma barely escape with their lives. They next get a report to head to Russia as another massive hole has been found. But they have issues as Alan Jonah has hacked into their entail and oddly enough Miles has been secretly talking to Dr. Mark Russell, the ex-husband of Emma. Once in Russia, they enter the hole and find frozen Muto eggs, and once more Alan appears and tries to take Emma prisoner, but this attempt fails as well as Tarken and Russian agents were waiting and take him prisoner. While in France, Godzilla once more fights with the Muto that is now being called Jinshin-Mushi, and the fight has left Godzilla injured and Monarch watching the situation as it’s now clear that Miles Atherton is watching Emma and reporting in his findings on her. It’s discovered that during the last fight Jinshin-Mushi bite and then inserted eggs into Godzilla that once hatched will end up killing the King Of The Monsters and that this seems to be a scenario that has played out for centuries! And in order to stop the eggs from hatching, Emma leads a team with heavy weapons to fight the Kaiju to save mankind from what would be a terrible event, and her plan goes wrong and leads to many deaths at the hands of Jinshin-Mushi and puts Emma in the hot seat with the government. But when things look grim, Miles Athertonx speaks up for her and she is granted another chance for Monarch to try and help Godzilla and bring down Jinshin-Mushi. And with a keyboard and speakers inside one of Jinshin-Mushi dug holes, she is able to use a few notes to kill the eggs in Godzilla who then kills Jinshin-Mushi by stomping on his head! In then end Emma and her young daughter are together, and she warns her the world is changing.

This was such a fun read and to me proves that Legendary Pictures not only makes entertaining movies but also does some damn good comic books and graphic novels and Godzilla: Aftershock is one heck of a great read. The plot of this GN has Godzilla fighting a giant ground digging Muto while Monarch is hot on the monsters tails as a terrorist is stalking them and stealing very sensitive information about the Kaiju. Godzilla is clearly very pissed off about this new Muto that is causing issues in the world and even loses a fight and has eggs placed into his body like a parasite! And while Godzilla is powerful in this graphic novel, he still shows that he can be weakened and that when hurt, his power goes down. The Muto called Jinshin-Mushi is very dangerous and is on a path of destruction and just wants to use another Kaiju to hide its eggs in to hatch and use the offspring to help take over the world, not only is it a Giant Monster killer but it also kills many humans as well. Dr. Emma Russell and the Monarch workers are working themselves almost to death as the world is in chaos over all the Kaiju running wild and a terrorist group trying to hack them and even kidnap one of their leads. Emma is really drained and worried about the fate of the world as she lost so much when Godzilla and the Muto’s fought in San Francisco as her young son was killed. I will say one lackluster part is the payout for Miles Atherton who is a government worker who seems to be collecting dirt on Emma only to help her out and then disappear. The plot of Aftermath is pretty simple and many pages showcase some great monster fights that are the true highlights of the comic, but there are some slow moments that come with Emma talking to the Government that lasts for many pages about plans and history. The cover is pretty cool and has a movie poster look to it and is very eye catching, plus the interior art done by Drew Edward Johnson is fantastic and captures Godzilla and the mood and feel of the Monstervese very well. Over all Godzilla: Aftershock is a great and fun read and does a pretty good job bridging the gap from Godzilla (2014) to Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019), even if the movie as far as I remember never mentions Jinshin-Mushi and his rampage and fights with Godzilla. Oh and before I wrap this up and tell you the fans of Godzilla to make sure to check this out, I was a little sad we did not get at least a King Kong cameo or reference. Check out the art below to see the style of Drew from this Graphic Novel.

With Godzilla vs. Kong being moved and this frightening virus spreading around the world, I really hope that this update helped make your day a little better and your wait for the film at the cinemas more bearable. Godzilla and King Kong really are two of the world’s most popular Giant Monsters/Kaiju movie monsters and each have their own diehard fans. I loved growing up and watching both these titans films on TV and VHS and they were parts of why my childhood was so awesome. And speaking of entertainment that made my childhood awesome besides Monster Movies, another thing that you longtime readers know is that Horror Hosts were a major part of my life. My next update will be about one that, along with such iconic names as Commander USA and Dr. Creep, made me the creative person I am today, and the host is Dayton, Ohio’s very own A. Ghastlee Ghoul of the Ghastlee Movie Show! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Kaiju film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for a strange and wild time with one Ghastlee Ghoul!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: King Kong (2005)

Welcome back to the third update in our Kaiju Month series. This time around we will once more be taking a look at my personal favorite Kaiju, Titan, Giant Movie Monster or whatever you want to call him, and of course I am talking about King Kong! Since I was a very young lad, I have been a fan of the giant monster movies that I would watch on TV, mostly station TBS, and would also later always rent and or buy on VHS, and at the top of my list was always King Kong! Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Godzilla as well and will always cheer him on as he stomps around fighting off other Kaiju or the pesky army…but Kong has always been my top guy. So if you are ready for some Kaiju destruction, let’s get running to this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: King Kong (2005) update!

Let’s first take a moment to take a look at 2005’s King Kong and his strength, weaknesses and ways he can deal with people and things that get in his mighty way. King Kong stands around 25 feet tall and is a powerhouse of muscle and pride and will stand his ground against any enemy that dares to get in his way. King Kong uses his bare hands to smash and crush man and monster alike and as well can use his massive size to stomp the life away from his target. King Kong is also very smart and can think of ways to win fights as well as plan attacks when not in a full rage. Kong can also use his sharp teeth to shred flesh! King Kong’s never back down attitude is both a strength and a weakness as it can lead to his downfall as he does not have any instinct to flee even when he should. Another weakness is his love for Ann Darrow, a stunning human with blonde hair that he would do anything to protect. King Kong can also be hurt with lots of bullets from military grade weapons as well as can suffer injuries from sharp objects like other Kaiju’s teeth and claws. He can also be dazed with blunt force as well as with gas leaving him open for attacks. Just like any living thing, King Kong can be hurt, but I feel sorry for anything foolish enough to try and do so. King Kong might not have the most fancy of powers, but one thing is for sure, he is one massive beast that is smart and powerful.

So as you can see, King Kong is a true force of nature, and while in 2005, he might not have been the biggest Kaiju on the block, he still was one that made an impact in all those who encountered him. So now that we know what King Kong can do when it comes to destruction, we now need to take a look at the film this version of Kong is from. As always, our friends at IMDB will supply the films plot and I will talk about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s talk about Kong and is 2005 film adventure.

King Kong (2005)

“Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This ‘soon-to-be-unfortunate’ soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann is its grasps. Carl and Ann’s new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts. But Carl has another plan in mind.”

Director Peter Jackson grew up a mega fan of the 1933 film King Kong, and he has always credited it as one of his biggest influence in becoming a film director. After the major success of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy he was able to get Universal to work alongside him to make a modern remake, but a little known fact is that his King Kong contract with Universal started before Lord Of The Rings! That’s right, Universal who worked with Jackson on “The Frightners” was so impressed with what they saw, they offered him first to remake “Creature From The Black Lagoon” and after he said no, they offered him “King Kong” and at first he said no…but gave in. And did I mention these original talks took place in 1996 and after getting cold feet, Universal pulled out of the film at the last minute due to the 1998 Godzilla film being on the horizon. So Peter Jackson moved onto making Lord Of the Rings films The Fellowship Of The Ring and The Two Towers for New Line Cinema and with them both being box office hits, Universal once more came sniffing around and wanted him to make King Kong…and once again he agreed to do so and brought on writer Philippa Boyens to spice up his old script/rewrite it and got a budget of $175 million from Universal. Production of the film started in September 6, 2004 and filming was set in New Zealand and actors like Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Colin Hanks, Lobo Chan and Andy Serkis did the motion capture of King Kong himself. The production was a crazy one and was a long and crazy shoot of green screen effects as well other stunts and visual effects. They would bring composer James Newton Howard on to do the film’s score. The film would be released in New York on December 5, 2005 and would go wide on the 14^th of December.

The film was meet with positive reviews from fans and critics and even Roger Ebert gave it a glowing review. The film did amazing for Universal at the US Box Office bringing in $218,080,025.00 with foreign did $332,437,332.00 on the final budget of $207 million. It was the 5^th grossing film that year at the box office and beat out other Sci-Fi, Horror and Cult films like Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, Saw II, The Ring Two, Exorcism Of Emily Rose, Sin City, The Amityville Horror, Corpse Bride, Legend Of Zorro, House Of Wax, The Fog, Doom, Land Of The Dead and Kung Fu Hustle to name a few. So as you can see, King Kong was a big hit in 2005 and showed that this classic movie monster had lots to offer to moviegoers.

When I heard that King Kong was being remade I was very hyped to watch it as I have always been a mega fan…but when I saw that Peter Jackson was doing it off the heels of his overly long Lord Of The Ring films and this one as well was going to be super long…the hyped died a little as I had a bad feeling that Jackson would over bloat the story and production. And while he did do this, when I finally got off my high horse and gave the film a chance, I found that while over done, it was still an enjoyable film that helped keep the King Kong character and story alive for a new generation. Much of the film worked for me as I found all the human characters very likable and all of them had interesting backstories as well as interactions with each other. Naomi Watts plays Ann, and she is fantastic and is one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. The stuff on Skull Island as well is very awesome with Kong fight off two massive T-Rexes as well as the crew searching around to save Ann as they encounter all the strange animals that inhabit the island. Not to mention King Kong in this movie is as massive and protective as ever. The downside is some of the overly cheesy moments like Kong and Ann on the ice in New York…so cheesy. Over all, while this 2005 is not my favorite King Kong film, it’s still an enjoyable film that brought the world’s favorite giant New York stomping gorilla back to the big screen.

Like all blockbuster movies, 2005’s King Kong had its fair share of merchandise that treated fans to some amazing stuff like novels, comic books, t-shirts, posters, trading cards, action figures, Halloween costumes, plush dolls, score soundtrack, video games among many other items. I myself enjoyed the video game for the PS2 as I found it lots of fun to play as both man and beast, and I also really enjoy the soundtrack CD as I find that James Newton Howard did a fantastic job of capturing the epic nature of the film and is one that I play on WYSO from time to time. I also have one of the massive action figures of Kong that I bought at a thrift store shortly after the film was released on home video. So if you like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, there are so many cool items for you to collect.

Did you know that Peter Jackson’s films King Kong and Dead-Alive are connected? Well they are! That’s right, the unrated gory cult film Dead Alive about reanimated zombies and the Hollywood massive budget film King Kong take place in the same world as in the belly of the ship Venture is a crate that holds the one and only Sumatran Rat-Monkey!! Imagine what would have happened if the Rat-Money would have been on board gotten free and bit King Kong turning him into a massive zombie primate that would have been almost impossible to stop. Just wanted to share this connection as I find it very cool and something I feel many people know, but not all. Oh and if you remember in Dead-Alive the zombie plagued even started on Skull Island, showing these two films are linked!

So as you can see, King Kong truly is a force of nature and is one of the strongest and smartest Kaiju Monsters to grace a movie screen in 2005 and every version to hit the big screen. Well we are at the point now that we will take a look at the comic based on the film and I will be grading it on a scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. I want to thank Game Swap Kettering for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. So if you are ready, let’s travel to Skull Island along with Dark Horse Comics and see what this comic adaptation has to offer.

King Kong # 1  ***
Released in 2005     Cover Price $3.99     Dark Horse     #1 of 3

Ann Darrow is an actress who very much wants to make it big on the stage in New York, but does not have the name value to get the parts she is perfect for. Filmmaker Carl Denham is working on his next epic jungle picture, and the movie execs are not happy with the footage or the fact he is asking for more money in order to shoot the film at an uncharted island, and when he over hears them talking about canceling the production he steals the reels and goes on the run. Denham on his way to the ship Venture finds Ann Darrow and convenes her to be his leading actress and along with his assistant Preston, scriptwriter Jack Driscoll, actor Bruce Baxter and the rest of the filmmaker crew set out to sea and toward an island they don’t know about. While filming on the ship, Ann and Jack start to fall in love with each other and soon the dock at Skull Island! Denham takes his film crew to the shore, and they start looking for places to film. They notice a massive wall built around the land and this sends shivers down many spines. As Denham and the film crew walk further, they are surrounded by spear caring natives who have taken an interest in Ann and as they are about to grab her Captain Englehorn and his crew fire gunshots into the air scaring them away. That evening while back on the ship a massive storm rages on as both film crew and ship crew prepare the ship for sea in the dangerous weather and Jack takes notice that Ann is gone and they find two dead shipmates with spears in them they head off to the native village with guns in hand and to their horror they find Ann tied to an alter and a massive gorilla that’s called Kong about to nab her.

This first issue’s plot builds up our film crew as well as builds the romance between actress Ann Darrow and writer Jack Driscoll and teases the wild land that is Skull Island with a peek at King Kong at the very end. Ann Darrow is our main character as she is a down on her luck stage actress who wants to get her one big break and thinks she has found it in this new jungle film from goofy conman director Carl Denham who is the main person who causes all the heartbreak and drama this tale has coming. Denham really is a scummy person who is even making this film with stolen equipment. Jack Driscoll is a good man who loves writing and seeing his work come alive on stage and screen, and he falls for Ann super fast and clearly would do anything to keep her safe. The rest of our characters are just around and had not been fully developed in this first issue. The Natives of Skull Island in this issue come off as savages in nature as they kill as well as kidnap in order to please their “God” known as Kong. Sadly we only get a small glimpse at King Kong in this issue, and it’s clear he is massive and pissed and wants to claim his prize of a beautiful blonde woman. I do wish we got a little more action of Kong but it was just not meant to be. This issue does have some horror adventure moments like the Natives attacking as well as the appearance of Kong, it packs some none gruesome deaths in with the spearing deaths of two ship workers. The one thing I am sure you noticed is that this comic series was suppose to be a three issue mini series with only one issue ever being released, and later they would just put the whole comic out as a graphic novel…this stinks as it would have been great to have all three issues in hand and made for this Kaiju Month update but Dark Horse dropped the ball. The cover for this issue is ok and showcases a production still from the movie and has King Kong looking very annoyed, it is eye catching for fans of the film and character. The interior art is done by Dustin Weaver and is solid and captures the mood and feel of the film very well. Over all this comic is a great read and does the film justice…it’s just a shame that Dark Horse only delivered the first issue to readers of a three issue mini series. If you love the movie, make sure to check out this comic as I feel you will love it as well. Take a look at the art below to see the style of art Weaver used in this issue.

King Kong truly is my favorite Kaiju, and I do feel like he not only makes for great movies but also comics and even this issue proves that. But Kaiju Month comes to an end with our next update and the next subject is the only other Kaiju who rivals Kong and is his top opponent ever and I am talking about the one and only Godzilla! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Kaiju film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for some quality time with the King Of The Monsters.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Gamera Guardian Of The Universe

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, and welcome to our second update for 2020’s Kaiju Month as we take a look at a giant monster that is friend to all. Of course I am talking about Gamera. While most fans of Kaiju movies respect Gamera, I do feel that he plays third banana behind the likes of Godzilla & King Kong so I think it’s time he gets the Rotten Ink From Horror Movie To Horror Comic treatment! I think most kids my age growing up in the 80’s and 90’s have seen at least one Gamera film as they could easily be found on cheap VHS tapes and would air on TV from time to time. I even knew some kids in High School who would say they even liked Gamera better then Godzilla showing that this Kaiju turtle monster made an impact on those that who grew up watching him. Oddly enough now, even as an adult working at a media store, I have had people tell me that they are bigger fans of Gamera than Godzilla or King Kong…wrap your head around that…as many see him as the top Kaiju in the world. I am sure you are wondering what my thoughts on him are. All I can say is that we will get to that a little further in this update. The Gamera we will be covering on this Kaiju Month update is the one from 1995’s Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe and had a comic mini series made by Dark Horse Comics. So if you are ready, let’s take a look at that destructive turtle named Gamera.

So as always, let’s first take a look at Gamera and the powers of destruction he showcases in this film and what kind of methods he could use to not only fight off other massive Kaiju monsters but also humans that get in his way. Like all Kaiju, the massive size and appearance of Gamera can easily put the fear in the hearts of both fellow giant monsters and humans. His massive size also means he could stomp the life out of a person with one step and his size also offers massive claws as well as teeth in a big mouth that could eat hundreds of people with one gulp. I should also note that Gamera would stand over 262 feet tall making him massive and as stated very scary to human eyes. Gamera can attack on land, water and air as he is a super fast swimmer as well as can soar through the air at a fast speed making him a true triple threat. Gamera can also breath fire that that is one of his main weapons against his enemies as well as the fact his mind can bond with a human mind giving him more smarts then his average opponent. But his bond with a human is also his weakness as he can be controlled and can lose the link making him opened for attacks. He can also be hurt like all living things by violence from fellow Kaiju Monsters as well as some human weapons of war. But while he is not the most dangerous Kaiju in the world, he still is a force to be reckoned with and thank the heavens he is on mankind’s side!

Now that we know what Gamera is capable of and what he can do on a rampage, it’s time we take a look at the film this version is from. As always, I will be taking the film’s write up from our pals at IMDB and then I will write a little about the film’s production as well as my thoughts about the film and Gamera’s legacy. So if you are ready, let’s talk about the film Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe.

Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe (1995)

“A hibernating species of giant carnivorous birds is awakened on a Japanese island shortly after the military encounters an unidentified mass moving beneath the water off-shore.”

The cinemas in Japan in the early 90’s was being dominated by Godzilla when it came to giant movie monsters, aka Kaiju films, and Toho was the studio behind these films…and shockingly enough, they also released the 9^th film in the Gamera series that was a reboot to the long running series and was the main rival to Godzilla for box office dollars as well as the attention of kids. The film was directed by Shusuke Kaneko and was written by Kazunori Ito, who wrote a part of the 1993 film Necronomicon, and the series would spark off and have 2 sequels and bring back the popularity of Gamera to not only Japan but also worldwide. The film was met with pretty great reviews, and critics and fans shared a common word on the film, that it was a fun watch and added a film to the Gamera series that was on par with Godzilla films of the time. The film did good at the box office in Japan and in its release year, was joined by such films as Halloween: Curse Of Michael Myers, Project Metalbeast, Sleepstalker, Jack-O, Leprechaun 3, Howling: New Moon Rising, Night Of The Scarecrow, Castle Freak and Vampire In Brooklyn to name a few. While Gamera might not be as impactful as Godzilla, he does have a very loyal fan base who enjoy his saving the universe from other Kaiju monsters.

Growing up I can remember seeing Gamera films, and while I enjoyed them, I was never a massive fan and in fact found many of the films to be way to cheesy and the kid characters who all loved Gamera always annoyed me. The reason that Gamera stayed on my radar was because I really did like his appearance. I was a Godzilla fan, and he reminded me of a character from that movie series. In 1995, I can remember seeing the new design for Gamera on the cover of Horror and Sci-Fi Magazines, and while I dug his new more monstrous updated look, I was in no major rush to check it out. I would see the film on VHS all the time at stores like Suncoast at the Dayton Mall and would pass on it to grab films like The Gates Of Hell Part 2 or another odd Horror Movie. To be honest I could not tell you when I finally did see Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe and who I watched it with or if I even liked it…I know, readers and friends, it’s shameful to say but this film just never left that big of an impression on me, and I didn’t even own the film on DVD until late 2019 when I bought it again to re-watch for this update. And while I am sure many of you are saying “Matt, it sounds to me like you just don’t like Gamera!” I want to assure you I do indeed like the flying turtle, I was just never a mega fan like I am of King Kong and Godzilla. And after watching Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe again in 2020, I find the film to be fun, slightly silly boring and one that took Gamera in the right step of making him an icon in the world of Kaiju films. And while Gamera is not one of my top favorite Kaiju monsters, I do respect the character and would say he is the third most popular giant monster in the Kaiju monster universe.

As you can see, Gamera is a monster who can hold his own in the world of giant monster fights and while he is not as powerful as Godzilla he could sure put up a fight at least. But now it’s time to take a look at the Dark Horse comic based on the film Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe that was released to help promote the movie in America. I want to thank Bell Book And Comic, Game Swap Kettering and Lone Star Comics for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. I want to remind you all that I grade these comics on a scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what Gamera has in store for us in this four issue mini series.

Gamera # 1  ***
Released in 1996     Cover Price $2.95     Dark Horse     # 1 of 4 

Young lady Asagi is in Mexico with her friend Mayumi Nagamine who has been hired by he rich lady Patty Smith to search her island for a very rare and massive bird, and what she finds instead is a pile of droppings that belongs to the flying Kaiju Gyaos! Meanwhile Asagi is left behind as she was not welcomed on the island just yet and decides to take a plane ride from Lutz who is a small time business man looking to make a living, while flying around Asagi tells her new friend about how she has a link to Gamera via an amulet and as they are talking it starts to glow as Gamera knows that Gyaus is back! Meanwhile Gyaos has flown inland and is attacking while Mayumi learns that Patty is not who she claims to be as she is really Doctor Karbone and she is guilty of creating Gyaus who escaped his jar and is growing fast, and she wants her help to make giant monsters that are controllable! Meanwhile Gamera has arrived and is fighting Gyaus now in the city and when Gamera is hurt the wound is shared with Asagi who is kicked out of the plane by Lutz, and as Asagi rushes to be closer to Gamera she is knocked down by the scared townspeople who are running for their lives.

This first issue is a nice start for this series as it brings a little history lesson of the film this is a sequel to as well deliver the giant monsters fighting in the city! Plus they do a great job of bringing back characters from the film that help it feel right at home in the series of films. The plot is simple crazy mad doctor Karbone has brought back a Gyaus monster with the idea of being able to control it, but when it runs amok she fakes an identity to con a ornithologist to her island lab to help make her dream of weaponized giant monsters a reality, while Asagi friend of Gamera is also around and must help her giant turtle friend battle once more as Gyaus is destroying a city in Mexico. This far our main hero is Asagi a young woman who has a link with Gamera via a amulet and has a mental link with him while she wears it, while she herself is not strong her will to help mankind is. ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine and small plane driver Lutz are background players at this point but you know as this series gets further they will play an even bigger part of the story. Gamera is as massive as ever and is 200 feet tall and is looking to stomp the life out of Gyaus who is the issues true baddie as its destructive and clearly will kill what ever is in it’s way. Doctor Karbone and her assistant Gusano while crazy are not super evil as I think in a weird way they think what they are doing and have done is the right thing to do! The issue is filled with lots of destruction and a fight between the two big monsters and this helped add a great layer of entertainment to this issue. I must also say at this point I feel that all the characters are likable and interesting and made me look forward to reading the second issue! The cover for this issue is great but also a little cheap as it’s just the films VHS/DVD cover, and the interior art by Mozart Couto is great and has the 90’s Dark Horse look. Over all a very solid issue and one fans of Gamera should check out, now lets see if the rest of the series can hold up.

Gamera # 2  ***
Released in 1996     Cover Price $2.95     Dark Horse     # 2 of 4

Lutz decides that he can not leave young Asagi alone in the city when two Kaiju’s are frighting and comes to her aid, and together they make their way to the battle area and she sends Gamera a message via their minds and he is able to defeat Gyaus, before she is two weak to move. Lutz gets he medical help and also swipes the amulet and gets back into his plane to follow Gamera. Meanwhile Mayumi Nagamine is being kept prisoner as she refuses to help Doctor Karbone with her quest to control the giant monsters she is creating, and worse the mad Doctor has a bound with the squid looking Viras who is in control of her mind! Mayumi Nagamine ends up escaping when she sets a fire using a flare gun and while the monsters in tubes are destroyed by the blaze Viras is saved by Doctor Karbone and Gusano who escape with him on a hidden sub. Meanwhile Lutz is having a bad time as his plane runs out of gas and sinks, and he is picked up by French Military who think he is an eco terrorist and he is places under arrest. While on the ship in a jail cell the ship is attacked by a giant fish monster and Gamera once more appears to try and stop the massive threat, but is hurt really quick into the fight and as Gamera is knocked out sinking to the bottom of the ocean we see that a female alien on a ship in space is upset about something.

This second issue steps up the monster battles as Gamera not only defeats Gyaus but also kills him by setting him on fire and burning him alive! Gamera don’t mess around when it comes to protecting the Earth and seems to have his finger on the pulse of giant monster attacks! The story in this issue as well is very fast paced and has a great action, drama and sci-fi blend to it as they give you a some human story and then give you a taste of the main attraction of the comic series the monsters quickly after. Asagi saves the day in Mexico but sadly she is taken from the issue really fast as she is hurt and has to get medical attention, while Mayumi Nagamine is the issues main hero as she is able to get herself free from being a prisoner and while doing so is able to get some backstory from Gusano and as well sets a fire that kills off many soon to be giant Kaijus! Lutz is a goon who steals the amulet from a young girl that he has zero clue how to use, flies his plane over the ocean to run out of gas to be picked up and thought to be a terrorist…he really is a terrible “hero” and is more of a pain then a help. Doctor Karbone is crazy and clearly is in the grip of her greatest monster creation Viras whom she has put her own DNA into, in other words she really is nuts! Gusano is just a man in love who turned away from being a black market dealer in order to be with Karbone as he would do anything for her, and hates the fact she spends all her time with Viras in her lab. Gamera is a butt-kicking machine at the start, but does at the end of the issue leave you on a cliffhanger on if he will get back up and stop the fish monster from destroying the French Army sub. The cover for this issue is great and the art by Mozart Couto is still fantastic! Over all this is another great issue in this mini series that makes me look forward again to the next issue.

Gamera # 3  ***
Released in 1996     Cover Price $2.95     Dark Horse     # 3 of 4

Lutz has survived the attack on this ship and is now sitting in prison, when he gets a visit from Mayumi Nagamine and he tells her that Gamera was who saved the ship as when he was knocked out a weird sub shot a missile into his head waking him up and making him very angry and he snatched the fish monster and took to the air with the beast and dropped it into a volcano! While in this meeting Lutz tries to trade the amulet for his freedom when he is roughed up as the guard is really Gusano who gets away with it as Lutz and Mayumi Nagamine are teleported aboard the aliens ship, her name is Freena and she is from Broomark and the giant fish monster was from her planet and she was ordered to take it back, but with it dead she now needs another monster to take home to her client! But things get crazy when Viras attacks their cloaked ship and when the army appears to attack Viras this squid beast is saved by Gamera who is protecting it as The Guardian Of The Universe is now under the ultra crazy Doctor Karbone control now!

Like all good giant monsters you just cant keep a good Kaiju down as it shows that while he was dazed for a moment once he got his second wind that massive fish monster did not stand a chance! The plot thickens in this issue as Doctor Karbone really wants to destroy Gamera and to do so needs to take control of him…and she does with the help of the amulet that her lover and assistant Gusano is able to easily get from the derpy Lutz. That’s the thing about this series Lutz is the one telling the story and he is the one good guy character in the whole series who makes terrible decisions and makes bad actions that ends up causing way more issues for everyone…really Lutz is a Putz! Mayumi Nagamine once more is wise in her words and wants to help capture and stop Doctor Karbone who she knows is a true menace to all human life if she can gain control over Kaijus. Doctor Karbone really is a great villain for this series this far as she is crazy on her own and now mind melded with the sinister Kaiju Viras she is more dangerous. Speaking of Viras he is a very smug giant monster, as he knows he cannot be stopped if his creator is able to control Gamera and has no remorse when it comes to the deaths and destruction he causes. The moment you see Gamera under her control you feel dread as our favorite flying, fire-breathing turtle is taking so much damage from heavy weapons. The cover is great like the others and Couto’s art once more rocks, and like a broken record I have to say this issue made me look forward to reading the next to see just how this storyline will end.

Gamera # 4  ***
Released in 1996     Cover Price $2.95     Dark Horse    # 4 of 4

Doctor Karbone is on the Eiffel Tower controlling Gamera making him take all the punishment the French army is delivering and he cannot take too much more! Mayumi Nagamine has herself teleported to the tower and with the help of Gusano who she alerts to the fact Viras is controlling the women he loves and will kill her when he gets what he needs from her, he snatches to amulet and they both fall from the tower and Gamera returns to normal and takes the fight to Viras! Meanwhile Freena’s ship is damaged and she is out fixing it, Lutz is trying his best to fly it and of course crashes it! Gamera is weak from all the damage he has taken from the army and in one last heroic moment Gusano lifts a fuel take and the fire explosion gives Gamera the bust of energy he needs and he makes quick work of Viras impaling the giant squid on a building tower! In the end Gamera flies off, Gusano is dead, Doctor Karbone’s body is missing, Freena is stuck on earth and is trying to blend in while in Paris, Mayumi Nagamine quick thinking helped truly save the day and Lutz is set free from the French prison. But when Lutz find’s the amulet on the ground he is unsure if he will give it back to Asagi or if he will keep it and go on another bad idea adventure.

Wow this was a fun ride of a mini series and really did a great job of bringing Gamera alive in the pages of comics! The plot of this issue has Gamera returning to normal and going crazy on Viras who does not stand a chance! The baddies Doctor Karbone and Gusano come to a violent end with me thinking Karbone is not really dead as he body is not found and I think she is still out in the world looking for a way to control her lab made giant monsters. Mayumi Nagamine once more proves that she is the stories real hero as she is the one who talks reason into Gusano to get the amulet off of Karbone. And Lutz proves he is useless as ever as he crashes the space ship and steals the amulet again in the end…he is such a goofy character. So I guess I should talk about the elephant in the room for me about this series and that’s alien Freena, I find her character so unnecessary as her street talk and her part that means nothing really to the over all series is why I just feel no need to really speak about her as she really does add nothing. The monster fights in the series are all really cool and seeing Gamera kicking some butt is what Kaiju fans enjoy about the movies as well as the comics. I should also say that I feel this series was done right as they showed respect to the source material and fans alike and delivered a fast paced mini series that shows movie monsters like Gamera can make for good comic series. The cover for this issue as well is great as his Couto’s art and this was a treat to read as I found myself enjoying it more then the film that spawned it! If you are a Gamera fan and you have not read this series tack them down at your local comic shop and give them a read. Below is some art by Mozart Couto that I think shows just how awesome his art is in this comic series, enjoy.

While Legendary let me down by moving Godzilla vs. Kong from this month, the fact that here on Rotten Ink I can still make March fun for fans of Kaiju and Giant Movie Monsters I hope makes the wait a little better for you fans, like reading these and writing this month has helped me. And again I want to stress that while Gamera movies are not my favorite of the Kaiju films, I still do enjoy the movies and the character and would love to see him return with a new film and better yet be apart of the Monsterverse Legendary is creating. For out next update we will be traveling once more to Skull Island to spend some time with King Kong and Dark Horse Comics again as they did a comic based on the 2005 film by Peter Jackson! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Kaiju film or two and as always, support your local Horror Host. See you next time on Skull Island, Kong is waiting for another visit from us.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Valley Of Gwangi

Well it’s that time again when the giant Titans awaken and take over Rotten Ink and bring forth not only the second Kajiu Month but also add many more updates in my From Horror Movie To Horror showcases. And this time Kaiju Month is being done in honor of “Godzilla vs. Kong” that was going to be released in theaters on March 13, 2020 and now got moved to November 13, 2020 but remains for me is one of the year’s most anticipated films! To start off, I chose to cover “The Valley Of Gwangi,” an amazing film that pits cowboys against dinosaurs! For many fans of Kaiju films, this one walks the line as some do not consider it part of that subgenre. I am on the side that does belong as I feel that Dinosaurs are the O.G Kaiju monsters. So if you are ready to travel to the old west and fight for our lives against dinosaurs, let’s start this amazing update of From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Valley Of Gwangi. I hope this month of updates helps make the film’s move a little less hurtful.

So before we dive to deep into The Valley Of Gwangi, let’s take a look at the film’s most vicious dinosaur the Tyrannosaurus Rex or T-Rex for short that is simply called Gwangi in the film! The Gwangi is a Kaiju that stands around 20 feet tall and is very aggressive in nature to any man, animal and dinosaur that crosses his path. The Gwangi uses his massive size to stomp on prey that is smaller than him and uses his razor sharp teeth to shred their flesh! He is also very fast moving for his size and can quickly catch prey that is on foot. The Gwangi’s massive and wicked appearance that includes purplish black hide also can shock human, animal and fellow dinosaurs alike into a state of total fear leaving them open for attack and sadly the kill. But while the Gwangi is a creature of rage, he has weaknesses that include the fact he is not all that smart and thinks more with his stomach than his tiny brain. He can also be kind of clumsy and easily outstepped and escaped from. The Gwangi can also be hurt or killed by other Kaiju’s as well as can take damage by fires and guns. While the Gwangi might be one of the weakest Kaiju’s we have covered on a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update, but while he might not be the strongest, he still is one deadly and mean beast that is a killing machine.

So as you can see, the T-Rex called the Gwangi is a man killing, meat eating, scary as hell dino who really does define the term Kaiju. So now let’s take a look at The Valley Of Gwangi, the film that this Gwangi is from and as always our friends from IMDB will supply the film’s write up and I will write a little about the film’s production, release and my thoughts. So if you are ready like I am, let’s get to our look at The Valley Of Gwangi.

The Valley Of Gwangi (1969)

“A cowboy named Tuck Kirby seeks fame and fortune by capturing an Allosaurus living in the Forbidden Valley and putting it in a Mexican circus. His victim, called the Gwangi, turns out to have an aversion to being shown in public.”

Willis O’Brien is the mastermind and godfather of stop motion creature films came up with the idea of The Valley Of Gwangi that he was calling Valley Of The Mists as he wanted to make something of his own that was much like the story “The Lost World” written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! This was a dream project for him that would have had a T-Rex captured and forced to be in a Wild West show that would end with it breaking free, fighting lions and dying when it was knocked off a cliff by a truck. Sadly before the film could go into production, Willis O’Brien passed away and the equally talented Ray Harryhausen stepped in to do the film’s special effects. The film’s script was written by Willis O’Brien but also William Bast and Julian More with Jim O’Connolly coming on board to direct, and lastly they brought on Jerome Moross to do the score. Cast as the leads for the film were James Franciscus as Tuck and Gila Golan as T.J. with supporting actors like Richard Carlson, Freda Jackson and Curtis Arden. The film was shot in Spain and was released by Warner Brothers. The film was a hit at the box office and the year it was released it was joined by other Horror Classics like Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Nightmare In Wax, Night Of The Bloody Apes, The Castle Of Fu Manchu, Dracula The Dirty Old Man and The Oblong Box to name a few. Over the years the film has really built up a cult following and has been released on home media like VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray bringing this fun and cheesy film to a new generation of fans.

I can first remember seeing this film on broadcast TV when it aired on TNT Monstervision hosted by Joe Bob Briggs as well as on the TBS show Super Scary Saturday hosted by Grampa Munster…proving once more why Horror Hosts are so important when it comes to introducing monster kids to films. I can remember on both viewings loving just how cheesy and silly the film was, but loving the classic style effects. Over the years I kind of forgot about the film and it faded from memory, that was until about 10 years ago when I saw a clip of it of on a show and realized I needed to own it on DVD for my collection and quickly ordered it off Amazon, and after it arrived and I was able to watch it again I found myself turning back into that kid that watched Horror Hosts host it and loving every cheesy moment of it. I should also note when I was a kid, like most kids I was really into dinosaurs and watching a T-Rex chase around cowboys was amazing. When Rotten Ink started I knew I wanted to cover comics made by Star of course but also knew that I had to somehow cover the movie adaptation comics by DELL and besides the Universal Monster ones The Valley Of Gwangi was at the top of the list and with Kaiju Month and the From Horror Movie To Horror Comic theme this was the perfect time to unleash it on you readers. If you have not seen Valley Of Gwangi and enjoy films that have classic style stop animation and features a pissed off T-Rex wanting to make lunch out of cowboys, make sure to give this one a watch.

So as you can see, Valley Of Gwangi is one of those movies that walks the lines of many different genres as it not only is a Western and Horror but also has elements of Science Fiction as well as Fantasy. Again lets be honest the T-Rex really is the worlds original Kaiju and this species of Dinosaurs has been the main villain of many of films and fiction stories in novels and even comics. Now that we have talked about the man-eater T-Rex and the film he slaughters in lets get to the DELL Comic adaptation and see how the comic compares to the film. I want to remind you that I grade this comic on a scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to the valley and see if we can dodge that pesky meat eating Gwangi.

The Valley Of Gwangi # 1  ***
Released in 1969     Cover Price .15   Dell     # 912 of ??

Tuck Kirby is a cowboy who visits his old lover and rodeo show runner T.J. Breckenridge with an offer to buy her prize horse on the orders of Buffalo Bill! She is still very mad at Tuck for breaking off their marriage and sends him away. While in town Tuck meets a young boy named Lope who helps him get a horse and introduces him to Professor Bromley who is a master of dinosaur bones. Carlos who works for T.J. has an idea how to use creatures found from the forbidden valley as a way for the rodeo to make extra money, but also Carlos is feeling a little rivalry with Tuck as he clearly has a crush on his boss T.J. But when Carlos shows off his discovery of a tiny horse, local gypsies show up and end up stealing the horse back to return it to the valley…but also the Professor now follows the gypsies in order to find the valley. And worse Carlos thinks he seen Tuck with the gypsy thieves stealing the tiny horse, and this breaks T.J.’s heart. The Gypsies set the tiny horse free and they think that by doing so they gave stopped a curse, but in reality they lead Tuck, Lope, Professor Bromley, T.J. and Carlos to the valley and after clearing up the mix up they all enter the valley after the tiny horse. While in the valley they are attacked by dinosaurs and almost all killed by a T-Rex they call Gwangi that has set his sights on them, as they try and escape the valley Carlos is killed and ate with Tuck and the crew using boulders to knock out Gwangi and they take the beast captive and put it on display at the rodeo. As Tuck and T.J get into a lovers fight over their future the gypsies strike again and set the creature free that goes on a rampage as hundreds of people try and run for their lives. And in the end Gwangi knocks over some candles and catches the area on fire and burns to death as Tuck and T.J find that they truly love each other.

This Dell Comics is a fantastic read and really makes me wish that they made more comics based on Horror and Sci-Fi films during this time. While this adaptation is really good I also need to stress that like all Dell movie inspired comics this one cuts out large parts of the film and characters to make it fit in a single issue. The plot of this is very simple and follows a down on their luck rodeo that hopes that a tiny horse that a worker found will bring money to them, but when the horse is stolen and a hidden valley is found they get more then they wish for when they unleash a T-Rex. Also throw in a love story between the female rodeo owner and a one time trick rider and you have the story of this comic. T.J Breckenridge is a young woman who loves her rodeo, but money has been tight and worse for her she has fallen in love with a trick rider who has showed back up in her life. By the end of the comic she must make a very hard decision of her career or true love. Tuck Kirby is a man’s man who has made his living entertaining the masses as well as being a risk taker. He also is a very honest and prideful man who does what he can to try and protect his friends, well besides the one time he left the Professor behind. I also want to say Lope, Professor Bromley and Carlos all are great characters who add to the over all story arch. The Gwangi is a killing machine who kills both dinosaurs and humans and seems that he greats joy of taking lives. To be honest the Gypsies are the comic’s main villains as they many times put human lives in danger and even in the end set the Gwangi free that leads to terror and even the death of the creature. The comic does not have any blood but does have death and does have terror filled moments. The cover is great and is taken from the movies release poster. The interior artwork is done by Jack Sparling and has that classic Dell Comics look, and that means its topnotch stuff for this company. Over all this is a great read and if you like the movie make sure to check this comic out. Also check out below for a look at the artwork of Jack Sparling.

Valley Of The Gwangi to me was a great way to start of this year’s Kaiju Month, and I really do hope that this month long updates help make the fact Warner Brothers moved “Godzilla vs. Kong” to November. And while Gwangi might not be the biggest of the Kaiju, he still is one of the icons of Giant Monster Cinema. The next Kaiju we will be covering is the one and only Gamera! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Kaiju Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for a giant turtle good time.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Godzilla (2014)

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is out in theaters, and this update is our final  for Kaiju Month. For this “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update, we will be taking a look at Godzilla: Awakening that was released in 2014 based on the Godzilla film by Legendary Pictures that is part of their Monsterverse. Godzilla is one of the world’s biggest icons when it comes to Kaiju and giant monster films, and he has proven that his films can be successful here in America, not only in Japan. I also would like for you readers to know that Godzilla comics have been released by many different companies like Marvel, Dark Horse and IDW and all of them are well worth finding and reading as well. So if you’re ready, let’s see what kind of mayhem and fear the one and only Godzilla has in store for us.

So before we get into Godzilla from 2014, we need to take a look at Godzilla from this film and his powers of destruction. Godzilla is a massive Kaiju that is 350 feet tall and weighs 164,000 tons making him a massive force to be reckoned with and so big that he could crush city blocks with one stomp of his foot. His appearance is reptilian and just the sight of him sends humans into a frenzied panic causing them to also to be involved in accidents that leads to human injuries and deaths. Besides his massive body size he also can use his long tail to knock down buildings and other giant monsters that get in his path. Godzilla’s main weapon of attack is his atomic breath that is so extremely hot that it can melt steel and severely burn and even kill other giant Kaiju so just imagine what it can do to a normal person! He also has a wicked loud roar that sends fear and chills down the spine of all those who hear it. And let’s not forget that Godzilla also has razor sharp teeth that can shred and grip onto his enemies. While on land Godzilla is a little slower but he can also swim and be in the water for long periods of time making him a threat on both land and water. In this film Godzilla does not go out of his way to kill humans or even cause destruction as his main focus is to protect the world and stop other Kaiju who do have very bad attentions. But with this said, just with battling the other Kaiju creates collateral damage. Godzilla cannot be hurt by bullets or normal ways of stopping a threat and for all accounts he does not seem to have that many weaknesses as it looks like maybe attacks from other Kaiju might be the only thing that can hurt him! Godzilla is a true Kaiju who is very powerful and if he wanted, he could massacre most of the world’s populous, so let’s be happy that he is on our side…for now.

So as you can see, Godzilla is the most powerful of the three Kaiju we have looked at this month as Gorgo nor Reptilicus don’t even come close to the power of the King Of The Monsters. But now that we know about Godzilla and his ways of destruction, we need to know take a look at the 2014 film that spawned this update! The film’s plot will be taken from our friends at IMDB and after I will talk about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So take shelter as Godzilla is on the loose!

Godzilla (2014)

“In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody’s colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe’s son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster’s secret cause on the wreck’s very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have.”

Hollywood originally tried their hand at making a Godzilla film in 1998, and the film was a bomb as its budget was way too high and word of mouth was brutal causing all plans for a franchise to be cancelled. But while Toho continued to make Godzilla films, America was out of the game until 2014 when Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures released a new film…but it was a very long road for them to get this in theaters and even was responsible for putting the death nail in many other Godzilla films that were being developed or even stuck in developmental hell including “Godzilla 3D,” a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah that was being done by Yoshimitsu Banno. Once Legendary worked out a deal with Toho, all these other projects were cancelled, and by 2010 they took complete control and decided to develop their own story and direction and would even make sure to let the world know that this would not be connected to the 1998 film. By 2011 they had Gareth Edwards on board to direct, and David S. Goyer was brought in to rewrite the script with Drew Pearce putting the polishing touches on it in 2012. This whole time Legendary Pictures did press appearances at comic cons and interviews on websites to keep the build for the film as well as to answer concerns that this film would be a letdown as they could not shake the dread of the ’98 film. And crazy enough, in 2013 Frank Darabont was brought in to add more to the script that was original written in 2010 and was penned by David Callaham! During this time as well, the film started to be cast with names like Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe to name a few and of course during this time as well the design of Godzilla was being worked on to perfect his new American appearance. And from here production went like all mega budget films go and took place all over the world and much time was spent to make sure this was made just right for fans of Godzilla. On May 16, 2014 it was released in theaters and was met with pretty big fanfare and delivered a better Godzilla film for America. Godzilla was the 13^th grossing movie in 2014 and brought in $529,076,069.00 worldwide on a budget of $160 million. The film beat out such other cult films as Annabelle, The Purge: Anarchy, Dracula Untold, Ouija, Deliver Us From Evil, Oculus and I Frankenstein to name a few, and would make it to # 6 out of 11 for my “Matt Goes To The Movie 2014” update. So as you can see, Godzilla was a massive hit for moviegoers worldwide and had lots of other great Horror Films released alongside it that year.

In 2014 when this movie was released, both Juliet and myself were really hyped to rush to the theater and see it as we are both massive fans of Godzilla, and we got our tickets to see the film on the IMAX Screen at the Cinemark Theater at The Greene and rushed to get the best possible seat. We had ourselves a large popcorn to share, and I drank a Blue Icee as we settled in and waited for Godzilla to smash his way back onto the big screen! As the theater filled up and the lights went down, we both were glued to our seats waiting for the film to start…and after watching it, we both left the theater a little under whelmed and slightly annoyed by the film’s choice to only show Godzilla in glimpses for most of the film until the end. While I did not hate the film and for the most part was entertained, it was Juliet who really had a dislike for it. And as time went by even at work we talked about Godzilla from 2014 as one of my former employees Jeremy really loved this film and even has said its better than “Kong: Skull Island” and to me that’s crazy talk! When this film was released on home media, I did end up buying it on DVD, and after watching it a few more times I have learned to enjoy it a little more. While Godzilla 2014 is not even close to being my favorite film in the long going movie series, it at least is one that brings destruction thrills and chills to the big screen and has sparked more interest in the character here in America. So while some of you readers love this film and others dislike it, one thing that I think we can all agree on is that it’s great to have new Godzilla films coming out that as well sparked some new King Kong films so for that I will say, Thank You Legendary Pictures! Oh and I call this version of Godzilla old fat neck as his neck is huge, and this nickname seems to annoy Jeremy who really does love this film and the Godzilla attached to it.

Godzilla from the 2014 film is a true Kaiju that seems to not have his sights on stomping out human lives and almost seems a little more interested in protecting us, but even with that said he still is a master of destruction and could be one of the most dangerous monsters we have covered on a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update! I want to thank Mavericks Cards And Comics for having this graphic novel in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I will grade this comic on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and it’ art and story. So if you’re ready, let’s spend a little destructive time with Godzilla…from the 2014 film that is not the original Toho one.

Godzilla: Awakening # 1 ***
Released in 2014     Cover Price $12.99    Legendary Comics   # 1 of 1

An older man named Serizawa invites his son over and starts to tell him that all he knew of his work was all false and that he has worked for the government for many decades and that the world is filled with giant monsters! He tells his son that the first time he ever saw the Kaiju known as Godzilla was when America dropped the big bombs on Japan and that he later saw him again when he was a member of a ship’s crew that was called to help an American ship a year later on a small island. Serizawa meets Shaw, an American who has been hired to study Godzilla as well as the other massive monsters of the world and is trying to now save his crew who are trapped on the ship that has been docked on land in the trees! Once they save the crew Serizawa finds himself joining Shaw as a team member that is made up of both Japanese and American Soldiers that are working for Monarch in order to find and stop giant monsters that are running wild throughout the world with one being Godzilla and the other being a bat-winged Muto. While Godzilla is talked about as a savior, the Muto is talked about with fear by those who have seen them. The team travel even to the bottom of the ocean to find out more about Godzilla and then also find out that the Muto is really multiple living organisms that come together and grow as they feed on radiation and the bombing of Japan is what awoke the creatures and that we have pretty much doomed ourselves and that Godzilla is really our only hope of bringing it down as he is the creatures life long enemy! When they finally meet, Godzilla destroys half of the Muto creature and the government tracks down the other half later and nukes it killing off the Muto once and for all. But back in present day Serizawa passes away and now his son joins Shaw and sets his sights on bringing down and understanding Godzilla!

Legendary Pictures did a fantastic job taking the film and making a good solid action horror comic read with Awakening that delivers a Godzilla rampage to fans of the film. The plot of this comic is not so much about Godzilla nor the Bat-Winged Muto but mostly follows Serizawa, a Japanese survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima who has become a bitter person toward America and learns to work alongside them when he becomes a part of a team that is exploring the Kaiju that have been awakened from the bombing as well. Serizawa, as the story goes along, grows as a person as well and finds that he really cares about human life and does whatever he can to save lives as well as learn what he can about each of the giant monsters they are hunting and studying. Serizawa is a really interesting style of hero as he does not do amazing fight moves nor does he have any superpowers…all he has is his brain and a caring soul. Shaw is a military man all the way, and he befriends Serizawa when he saved his life as well as many of his crew members from a Muto attack. Shaw also seems to be a good person, but he does seem to doubt his friend about the legend of Godzilla throughout the graphic novel. Serizawa’s son is learns a lot from his father when he comes clean about what he really did for a living, and this also sparks the son into wanting to follow in his footsteps and he as well joins Monarch in order to study and stop all the Kaiju. The Bat-Winged Muto is sadistic as the multiple organism creatures goal is to eat radiation, kill humans and grow to a massive size and become truly unstoppable! Godzilla is the story’s main hero as he protects the world and fights off the Muto and trying his best to keep him from growing in size. But while he is the main attraction, Godzilla in this graphic novel much like in the movie takes a backseat to the human leads that take up 85% of the over all book, and while the story is good, I am not going to lie, way more Godzilla would have been nice! The graphic novel is bloodless and has very little death in it but does bring one some destruction and deep meanings about us being our own worst enemies with all our mass weapons of war. It was written by Max and Greg Borebstein and both are clearly fans of Godzilla as they do their very best to capture the mood and feel of the 2014 film its spawned from. The art is really good and is done by a team that includes Eric Battle, Yvel Guichet and Alan Quan and all of its pretty solid stuff and each draw Godzilla really well! Over all this is a solid and fun graphic novel tie-in to the 2014 Godzilla and was an amazing tool to help promote the film. Check out the art below to see what Godzilla looks like in this book. Oh and if you loved the movie, make sure to give this a read!

So as you can see, the Godzilla from the 2014 film makes a great comic book character and with “Godzilla King Of The Monsters” hitting theaters in just a few days, another graphic novel is in the works and you can look forward to be covering it as well here at Rotten Ink! I also hope you enjoyed Kaiju Month, and we will have another one next year for the release of King Kong vs. Godzilla so you will have that to look forward to in 2020. But for my next update we are leaving the Kaiju behind and will be taking a look at super powered cows that were the mascot of for the chicken restaurant Chick-Fil-A! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Kaiju film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for an epic cow hero good time!

 

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Gorgo

For this second update of my “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” Kaiju Month, we will be traveling to jolly old England to take a look at their giant monster named Gorgo! This is one of those Horror Movies I grew up watching on TV as TBS use to show it all the time, and I can always remember being glued to the screen when it was on. Many fans of giant monster movies seem to forget about Gorgo as he is always over shadowed by the likes of Godzilla and King Kong, but today he and his Momma will be getting the respect they deserve and it will be lots of fun to talk about them. So if you’re ready to find some shelter as Gorgo goes on the destruction city stomp, let’s talk about him and the film he’s from.

So first let’s see what Gorgo brings to the table when it comes to his destruction ability and his way to dispatch humans who are unfortunate enough to be in his way. Gorgo stands at 200 feet and has a reptilian appearance and an aggressive attitude. Gorgo hates humans and will not only use his massive size to stomp and smash but will also use his sharp teeth and claws to dispatch human lives. He also can use his appearance and roar to scare humans into being in frenzy, leaving themselves open for panic and leading to accidents that could cause death. Gorgo not only is a threat on land, he is also very dangerous in water as he can swim and breath underwater for long periods of time. What makes Gogro a big threat to mankind is the fact his mother Ogra is over 250 feet tall and is even more pissed and can cause way more damage. While Gorgo is a massive creature, he can be hurt as he hates fire, and even explosions and firepower can cause some damage. He can also be captured and by large nets and be kept as a prisoner by mankind. So while Gorgo might not have any special fire breath nor any other powerful abilities, he and his mother do have the tools to bring mankind to their knees if they truly go on a rampage.

So that’s what Gorgo brings to the table when it comes to his path of destruction and his way to deal with pesky humans. We should now take a look at the 1961 film Gorgo that this Kaiju appears in. As always, the film’s write up will be taken from our pals at IMDB and I will talk briefly afterwards about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you’re ready, I am ready to take a look at Gorgo!

Gorgo (1961)

“A salvage vessel is nearly sunk off the Irish coast by an undersea earthquake. A few nights later, a walking sea monster tangles with the fishing boats and enters the town. The salvage vessel captures Gorgo and takes it to London for display. Gorgo’s mother, who is upset and significantly larger follows his trail to London leaving a wake of destruction in her path.”

Gorgo is a British giant monster horror movie that was released by MGM in America and British Lion-Columbia in England. The film was directed by Eugene Lourie and cast such actors as Bill Travers, William Sylvester and Mick Dillon as the man in the Gorgo suit. The film had a pretty normal production for this type of movie at the time and MGM was hoping that this film would be a mega hit for them and would be their Godzilla at the Box Office and usher in a new monster icon. Gorgo was released in 1961 alongside such other frightful shockers like Konga, The Curse Of The Werewolf, Reptilicus, Brainiac, Doctor Blood’s Coffin, The Pit And The Pendulum, The Beast Of Yucca Flats and Mr. Sardonicus to name a few. And the film ended up doing pretty well and built up the world of Giant Monsters at the cinema that was sparked by the success of Godzilla in 1954. There’s not much special about this production besides at one point the film was going to be set in Japan first and then was changed to France, Australia and finally was settled on England. And the film for the time was also praised very highly for its monster special effects.

Much like King Kong and Godzilla, the mighty Gorgo has always seemed to be a part of my life as I have seen this film so many times on TV as well as home media like VHS and DVD, and I have seen this film over a dozen times…in fact even while writing this update I re-watched the film again on DVD! And while I really enjoy Gorgo as a film, I have talked to many other Horror Fans of Kaiju films and one phrase always seems to come up and that’s, “It’s good but it’s kind of bland” or some phrase like it, and I think I know what they mean as the film is a little slow moving in spots and has a very British slow paced feel until the amazing climax. And I get what they mean for the most part as the film itself is a great giant monster film that showcases two massive and cool monsters, but it does have a very slow pace like many of the Hammer Horror films released in the 60’s and 70’s. But for me, the pacing and slow build are kind of what makes this film special as the over all runtime is pretty short at only 78 minutes long. The film also spawned not only the comic book series but also had a novel adaptation of the film, model kits, shirts, posters and many more merchandise items showing that Gorgo does have his own cult following. There’s not much more to say about Gorgo besides it’s a fun Kaiju film that delivers monster mayhem and shows just how popular these giant monster movies were back in the 60’s.

So now that we have taken a look at Gorgo as a Kaiju as well as the film he is from, I think it’s now time we take a look at the comic book adaptation of the film that was released by Charlton Comics! I want to send a big thank you to the Ebay seller that had this comic in stock and made this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I grade this comic on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you’re ready let’s see just how monstrous Gorgo really is when it comes to the world of Horror Comic Books.

Gorgo # 1  ***
Released in 1961    Cover Price .10    Charlton Comics   # 1 of 24

Sam Slade and Joe Ryan are business partners who search the sea for hidden treasure when a massive storm hits that is so bad that fish from the bottom of the sea are coming to the top. And after the storm they return to a small port that as well has been hit hard by the storm and are run off by Professor McCartin who is searching the sea for something. They soon follow one of McCartin’s ships, and they send a diver down who later comes back with a fist full of Viking gold but also dies of fright before their eyes! Sam and Joe dive next as Joe wants the gold and Sam wants to make sure his greedy partner comes back alive, and while down in the ocean they soon come face to face with a giant monster that makes them flee. Once back at the island they watch as the townspeople do a ritual and then watch as a massive creature Gorgo comes from the water and is forced back by fire by Joe and Sam who have figured our the creatures weakness. The villagers praise the pair as they Joe comes up with an idea to capture the massive creature with a steel shark net and the idea works and they take their massive find to London and are making tons of money showing it to the world. But Professor McCartin warns them that Gorgo is just a baby and that his mother is on her way to get him back, and she does show up and rampages across London until she gets her son back! The army, fire, electricity and everything is useless against the mother who grabs her offspring and heads back to the water ending her terror.

Gorgo was made for comic books and that’s why he lasted 24 issues even though the final issue was renamed Fantastic Giant as he is a cool monster that has an amazing look to him. This comic follows the plot of the film pretty well and has humans capturing Gorgo and turning him into a paid attraction and by kidnapping him they unleash his even more massive mothers rage on the city to get him back. Our hero is Sam Slade, who is a man who co-owns a company that finds treasures at the bottom of the oceans and also is the one who don’t like the idea of capturing a massive Kaiju when all around him warn of dangers and bring it to a city…he and they were wise for their fears! Joe Ryan is a sleazy conman who allows money to rule his life and seem to not even care about other peoples lives and safety if money is involved, in fact even when everything goes to hell he is still willing to wait it out in order to see if he can come out ahead. Ogra is Gorgo’s Mother and she is one massive creature of the sea who can not be stopped once she starts and her child is involved, she brings down the military with ease and even shrugs off fire like its nothing…in other words she is really unstoppable! Gorgo while just a baby as well is a creature of destruction and if not for his fear of fire he could have crushed the small island and all those on it! Gorgo, just like his mother, seems to always be in a destructive mood and always in a bad one. While this comic does a good job capturing the film, it does feel a little rush and some characters from the movie seem to take more of a back seat in the comic like the Professor and the young boy who is his assistant. The comic is bloodless but does have death, injury and destruction in it and has a real classic Horror Comic feel to it. The cover is very eye catching and fans of the movie I am sure flocked to get a copy of the comic just based on it! The interior art is done by the amazing Steve Ditko and is top notch stuff and shows that his art and giant monsters go hand and hand. Over all this is a great adaptation of a solid Kaiju film and is one that you should check out if you like Gorgo and other giant monsters like him. Check out the art below to see what Ditko brought to the table.

Gorgo is a Kaiju that I think the world seems to be gaining more respect for over time as his design, movie and legacy is pretty great, and he deserves to find his cult following. Now that we have survived the rampage of Gorgo and Ogra and before that we barely got out of the way of Reptilicus’, it’s time for the main destruction event as our final Kaiju for this month long themes updates is the one and only Godzilla from the 2014 film and the graphic novel Awakening that was spawned from it! So be ready for that as it will be a massive good time. Until then, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! I hope you’re prepared for the Kaiju that is Godzilla!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Reptilicus

For the month of May, in honor of “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters” hitting theaters and it bringing us one step closer to King Kong and Godzilla battling it out in 2020, we are going to have Kaiju month here on the blof that will be filled with “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” updates all featuring giant monsters! And our first Titan will be Reptilicus, a sinister dragon-like beast who was the first Danish monster in cinema! Many people seem to forget about the likes of Reptilicus when they think of Kaiju and just giant monsters in general so that is why he was selected as my first choice to start off this event month. So if you’re ready, let’s see the terrors Reptilicus has in store for us and what destruction he leaves behind.

Reptilicus is a massive snake-like reptile that was frozen underground for centuries and is very combative in nature once awoken. The massive Reptilicus has many means to snuff out the life of humans as he can use his size and weight to crush and smash any and everything that gets in his way. He also sports very sharp snake-like teeth that could easily eat, impale and rip apart a man in no time. He doesn’t only attack on land but also water and even air with a strike upward. He also has the ability to grow back missing limbs and can heal from attacks pretty quick as he is a massive monster who can regenerate. Bullets, missiles and even fire from tanks do not hurt him, as he is able to shrug it off and keep on his path of destruction. And we are not even sure what his green acid spit could do when in contact with human flesh! Not to mention just the sight of him will cause panic and leave his human targets more easy to pick off as they make mistakes with minds full of fear. While he is massive and very hard to truly hurt, he can be killed as he hates fire and if burnt too long, he would die. He is also pretty slow moving on land and this also leaves him open for attacks and other means to stop him. He can also be drugged, and it’s even possible make him die of an overdose. While he might not be the most massive or destructive Kaiju in the world, Reptilicus is one of the most cold blooded who goes out of his way to kill and destroy, making him one deadly foe.

So now that we have taken a look at the destructive and killing nature of Reptilicus, we should now take a look at the film he is from. The film’s write up is taken from our friends at IMDB, and after, I will talk a little about the film’s production as well as my connection with and feelings about the film. So if you’re ready, let’s take a look at the film.

Reptilicus (1961)

“A portion of the tail of a prehistoric reptile is discovered in Denmark. It regenerates into the entire reptile, which proceeds to destroy buildings and property and generally make a nuisance of itself. It can fly, swim, and walk, and has impenetrable scales, which makes it difficult to kill.”

In the 1960’s, giant monster movies were all the rage, and in 1961 American International Pictures and Denmark company Saga Studio teamed up to make Reptilicus! The film was directed by Poul Bang for the Danish version and Sidney W. Pink for the English one…as you see, the film was made in two different language in order to maximize the film’s audience with the only major change being the actress who played the character of Connie Miller. Another story goes that the English version was so bad that American International Pictures called in screenwriter Ib Melchior to help shape it up for release. This also caused Pink to be upset and threaten to sue the company, but rumor has it, after watching his version he dropped the lawsuit as he saw how bad it was! The film built a cult following in Denmark as well as the US, but critics were not kind to this film as they all mocked its cheap looking production values. So while Reptilicus might not be as loved and respected as King Kong, Godzilla or even Gamera, it still made its mark on the world of giant monster cinema. A fun fact is that in 2001 director Sidney Pink wanted to remake the film to try and cash in on the 1998 American Godzilla movie…but sadly this did not happen as Pink passed away in 2002 from a long illness.

Reptilicus was one of those movies I know I saw when I was a youngster and cannot remember if it was just shown on broadcast TV or if it was on a Horror Host program but I can remember enjoying the heck out of it. It would be years and years later that I would see the film again when my friend Jason Gilmore bought it on DVD and we watched it on one of our many late nights of video game playing and Horror Movie watching hangouts. Gilmore and I had a blast laughing at the Reptilicus puppet as it went on its rampage and for a while it was a film we loved to laugh at and reference. One surprising thing isthat growing up I never did have one of the comics by Charlton nor did I have the paperback novel adaptation even though I was into all those things at a young age. I would go on to own the film on VHS and DVD and from time to time still dust it off to give a watch. Many modern Horror Fans have also seen it on the rebirth of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that is on Netflix. I feel that, much like Konga we have talked about in a past update, Reptilicus is often over looked when it comes to Kaiju in movies as the monsters of Toho dominate it, and I feel that’s not fair as many of these less known Giant Monsters are as cool as those we all know and love. While Reptilicus might not be a household name, he is a movie monster that has built a cult following and has left his green acid spit all over the world of Horror Cinema.

So now that we know the killing power of Reptilicus as well as took a look at his only film appearance, I think we should gather our nerve and take a look at Charlton Comics adaptation of the film that ended up spinning off into a comic series. While we run for our lives from the rampage of Reptilicus, I want to remind you all that I am grading this comic on a 1-4 star scale and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. I also want to thank an Ebay seller for having this comic in stock and making this update possible! So let’s seek shelter and enjoy this horrifying adventure of Reptilicus.

Reptilicus # 1 **1/2
Released in 1961     Cover Price .10     Charlton Comics   # 1 of 8

Svend Alstrup is a foreman and is drilling for copper when he uncovers a bad smell and a chunk of skin that is covered in scales from deep in the Earth. After closing down the drilling, Svend calls for Professor Martens who takes the flesh to his lab. Later on as Svend finds more hunks of flesh of the beast, he delivers them to the Professor whose two daughters have formed a crush on him. One night by accident the freezer door where the flesh is held is left open, and this causes the flesh to grow and heal causing them to inform the United Nations of the discovery who in turn send two military men to supervise the experiment. The army once at the lab dismiss the chunk of flesh as a joke and seem not to be bothered that it has grown 100 times its size in eight days. But things change when a freak thunderstorm roles in and a blot of lightning strikes the tank releasing the flesh that has now grown massive and is called Reptilicus! Professor Martin and the Army come together fast to try and figure out a way to bring down this massive monster and each attempt fails as Reptilicus keeps growing and even learns to fly causing chaos and destruction every where he goes. In the end General Grayson and Professor Miller create a drug that they load into a shell and fire at the creature knocking it out and leaving it open to be disposed of, but little do they know a piece of Reptilicus skin is in the ocean waiting to grow and bring the monster back.

The plot of this comic adaptation is based on both the American Version of the film as well as the Danish Version and delivers a fun read for fans of this monster flick. The major downside is that it’s an hour and twenty minute movie crammed into twenty pages and keeps lots of the boring science and military talk from the film in. The plot is pretty cut and dry and has a blob of flesh being discovered that regenerates into a massive monster that breaks free from a lab and goes onto a massive rampage in Demark as the scientist and army try to figure out a way to stop it. Professor Martens is one of the heroes of this tale as his knowledge of these types of creatures as well as his research on the skin allows him to stop the army from making big mistakes like blowing it up and causing all the small pieces to become full fledged Reptilici (Repitilicuses?)! General Grayson is also a hero as he does not back down from the creatures and does not allow his failed attempts to shake his nerves as he wants to save the people and stop the monsters rampage once and for all. Reptilicus is one mad giant monster who wants to take out all his rage and hatred on humankind and seems to not be phased when attacked by some of mankind’s most used weapons of murder. He also is so powerful that he does not stop when attacked and in fact it only seems to make him rampage more! The comic is bloodless and the body count is very low and all shown off pane, but it fits for this style of Horror Comic. The scares come more in the vein of nature running amuck and the idea of a massive beast crushing your city than blood, guts and gore. The cover for this issue is pretty great and is very eye catching for fans of 60’s monster movies, and the interior art is done by the team of Bill Moino and Vince Alascia and is fantastic classic style. If you like the film Reptilicus and enjoy Kaiju in your Horror Comics, this is one you should read, while not a perfect adaptation it is an enjoyable one. Check out the artwork below to see the style of this issue.

Reptilicus’s rampage might have came to an end, but not to worry friends and readers, Kaiju Month continues next update as we leave Denmark and travel to England and see what destruction Gorgo and his Mother will do! It’s weird that some Kaiju have never gotten a comic book adaptation or series as ones like Kraa!, Q The Winged Serpent and Deadly Mantis all would have made for great comics, and only time will tell if they ever will get their time to shine in the pages of a comic. So until next time, watch out for giant monsters, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as we witness the destructive power of Gorgo!

 

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Konga

Giant Monster Movies were all the rage back in the 1960’s and many followed in the giant footprints of the 1933 film King Kong and none followed more closely than the 1961 film Konga as it as well featured a giant gorilla running wild in a major city! And I figured covering the first issue of Konga by Charlton Comics would be a great way to talk about the film and its title monster as it’s an adaptation of the movie! So if you’re ready to once more take a look at a giant hairy movie monster with me this winter and take another journey on a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update. It’s a great honor that I bring you this look at Konga, a very underrated monster movie.

We need to take a look at Konga himself before we dive into the film that he comes from. Konga was a baby chimpanzee from Africa who is brought to London, England by Dr. Charles Decker, a famed botanist who has discovered a serum to make planets and animals grow very large. Konga is the test subject for this serum and grows to the size of a full-grown gorilla, and, after being given too much of the serum, he grows to super size! Konga has a very violent streak and uses his brute strength and power to choke the life out of humans when he’s gorilla-sized and has been given the orders from Decker. As a giant ape, he has no loyalty and wants to crush and smash people in his way. Konga’s way of killing includes choking, throwing and crushing, and he can easily do so no matter his size. He not only can use his power and strength to dispatch his victims but can also use his massive size to his advantage as he towers over buildings and homes and can carry a person in his hands like a doll. But while he is a giant and strong, Konga does have weaknesses as he can be hurt by weapons like guns and rockets and while large, it also appears as if he loses some of his smarts and becomes confused easily, leaving himself open to attacks. But while he can be stopped and killed, Konga is still a force to be reckoned with and is a killer primate brute who don’t realize he is a killing machine frightful bad guy.

So as you can see, Konga is a massive powerhouse of fury and animal instinct who is a giant monster who can smash and crush us humans. But now that we all know about Konga the giant monkey, we now have to take a look at the movie he stars in! So I will be taking the film’s plot from our pals as IMDB and after I will talk a little about my connection to the film as well as some cool other facts. So let’s learn a little about Konga the film that was supposed to be the first colorized version of King Kong.

Konga (1961)

“Dr. Decker comes back from Africa after a year, presumed dead. During that year, he came across a way of growing plants and animals to an enormous size. He brings back a baby chimpanzee to test out his theory. As he has many enemies at home, he decides to use his chimp, ‘Konga’ to ‘get rid of them’. Then Konga grows to gigantic proportions and wreaks havoc all over the city of London!!”

Anglo Amalgamated and American International Pictures teamed up in around 1959 to make a release of the film Konga thanks to British producer Nat Cohen asking American producer Herman Cohen to make another Horror Picture in the U.K. after “Horrors of the Black Museum” was a major hit in theaters and drive-ins. Herman, who was a big fan of King Kong, decided that he was going to make a colorized version of a giant gorilla this time around running wild in London. So Herman, along with Aben Kandel, wrote the script to the film that was being called “I Was A Teenage Gorilla” and was later changed to Konga. Herman would hire John Lemont to direct and brings on actors like Michael Gough, Margo Johns, Claire Gordon and Paul Stockman as the man in the Konga suit. Gerard Schurmann was brought in to score the movie and was filmed in Croydon and Merton Park Studios in England. With a budget of $500,000.00 production went by pretty easy and smooth and was ready to take cinemas by storm. For marketing the film Herman also paid RKO Pictures a pretty big sum in order to use the words King Kong on his posters and marketing. When released, it was shown on a double feature with the film “Master of the World” and would go one to be a cult classic film. The year of Konga’s release, it was joined in the cinemas by such other Horror titles like Curse Of the Werewolf, Doctor Blood’s Coffin, Beast Of Yucca Flats, Gorgo, Reptilicus, Snake Woman and Brainiac to name a few. When released the film also spawned a comic book series as well as a paperback novel adaptation.

My first memory of Konga was watching it on cable when I was a youngster as I think it was on TBS and I was glued to it as it was like a generic King Kong.  Over the years, the film faded in my mind and it was not until MGM released it on DVD and VHS that I remembered it and was able to watch it again, and man did I enjoy this cheesy and fun giant monster run amok film! While Konga is no King Kong, he is a nice knock off version that offers some great moments and a super sad ending that will leave an image of a street and a small chimp forever burned into your memory. Another way I remember Konga is the comic series that was released by Charlton Comics in the 60’s as I would see them at comic shops and even in a few antique stores growing up. The thing about Konga is that he is not super respected by fans of Kiju Films as many do not even put him in that category of Horror and Science Fiction Films and look down upon his rampage and size. Now most of the Kiju we think of all come from Japan or some weird island and are the likes of Godzilla, Gamera and King Kong and most lists of these films leave Konga off, but I feel he belongs.  While smaller than many of the above mentioned, he still is a giant monster on a rampage. So here right now on Rotten Ink we are going to give Konga the respect that is long over due and say he is a Kiju Monster and that his film is entertaining and underrated.

So now that we have taken a look at Konga as a monster and the film that spawned him, I think we should dive into his comic adaptation released by Charlton Comics in 1960 a short time ahead of the films release as a tool to promote it before it hit theaters and drive-ins. I want to thank the Ebay seller who had this comic in stock and made this update possible. I also want to remind you that I am grading this comic on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and it’s art and story. I also want to say that I am only reviewing the first issue in this series as it’s the adaptation of the film and it would cost me a small fortune to get all the issues in this series as well as its follow up series. So if you’re ready, let’s take a look at Konga in the world of comics.

Konga # 1 ***
Released in 1960       Cover Price .10      Charlton      # 1 of 23

Doctor Decker along with his pilot are flying over Africa when the plane starts to have issues. Before it crashes, Decker is able to jump out and is found by a small monkey named Konga who takes him to a village of giants. While with the giants, Decker discovers a plant that brings growth when eaten and can bridge a link between planets and humans! Decker returns home to London with some seeds and Konga and has some experiments in mind that will help mankind become more powerful than ever before. Along with his wife Margret, they inject Konga with some of the seed serum and he grows showing this experiment will be a success, but also Decker must return to his teaching job and takes on a new student aid named Sondra who’s boyfriend Bob is not happy nor is the Dean of the school who thinks Decker’s claims of planets and man being linked looks poorly on the school and says he is going to request that Decker takes time away. Decker returns home very upset and injects Konga with more of the serum and now the monkey has turned into the size of a gorilla and he picks up the anger of Decker for the Dean and escapes his cage and kills him! After the attack, Decker meets a fellow scientist who is coming close as well on figuring out planet growth being used on humans and once more after Decker thinks bad of this man Konga escapes and kills him! The crimes are going unsolved and when Sondra steps down from being Decker’s aid due to her boyfriend Bob he once more returns home and upset with the young teenage lovers, and Konga once more escapes and this time injects himself with more serum and grows to be giant and busts the house in pieces. By this time Decker has figured it out and is able to call the police before he and his wife are killed by the house falling apart after Konga busts out. The massive Konga is now in the streets of London and thanks to the Police and Army, they are able to kill the beast who shrinks back down to small monkey size.

This comic was used to help promote the movie a year before it was released, and boy is this story way different in this comic than in the movie! The plot here has Doctor Decker returning from Africa with the idea to help mankind with his experiments done with the seeds of massive planets, and when using his friend, a small monkey, as the test subject the primate grows and picks up the anger thoughts of his friend and kills his enemies for him. But things really get out of hand when the monkey injects himself with lots of the serum and grows into a massive ape that terrorizes London and must be brought down by the army. So as you can see, in the comic Konga is the true bad guy who kills and is out of control with Decker being a kind man who just wants to help mankind, while in the movie Decker is the one who uses Konga to kill and he himself is a sleaze ball with Konga being the gentle one who is forced to be a massive ape. Plus in the comic, Margret is Decker’s wife when in the film she is his assistant who loves him, not to mention in the comic he only wants Sondra to help in in class, while in the movie he wants to have relations with her! Decker here in the comic world is a nice guy who took a bad situation like a plane crash and turned it into a plan to help mankind. He has a big heart with lots of goals in life and wants nothing more than to get his experiments done and become famous for doing something that a positive. Konga starts off as a small ape who is friends with Decker as he watched after him in Africa and comes to London to be a help and soon turns their friendship into a gateway to murder as the more Konga grows, the more bloodthirsty he gets. Just like in the movie, Konga dies in the comic when he is fired on by the Army and Police and in death shrinks back down to his normal size. The comic does not have any blood or gore and the horror element comes from the off panel deaths and the fact it’s a giant ape running loose in a city! The cover for this issue is great and classic and showcases Konga bringing in fans of giant monsters as well as King Kong fans. The interior art is done by comic artist legend Steve Ditko and is really great early comic art from a man who first drew Spider-Man for Marvel and by all accounts co-created him. I think about it two years after this comic that Ditko did Amazing Fantasy # 15. Over all, this is a great early Horror Comic that was based on a film that never has gotten the respect it should. Check out the artwork below to see some of Ditko’s early comic work.

Konga is a cool cult classic film that is also a great comic book that is worth checking out in both forms of media. And think, while the film was only one, the comic series lasted 23 issues and had a second series that lasted 3 issues. So if you love Konga, his giant sized adventures continued in ink for you to enjoy. So while we must leave London and Konga behind, our next update will place us on Christmas Eve and after some major thought and eliminations I decided that I will take a look at Garfield’s Christmas Special as well as have a NES Challenge of the unreleased Garfield video game! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a giant monster movie or two and as always spend some time with your loved ones. See you next update for a fun time with Garfield as well as the NES.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Kong Skull Island

Christmas is creeping up on us, and as always, this time of the year makes me think of things from my past that still bring me joy to this day. That’s why I decided to choose to once more take a look at King Kong, a giant movie monster that has always brought me joy, and what better way to kick off our countdown to my Christmas Eve update then to do a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that breaks down Kong Skull Island and the Legendary Comic prequel comic series released to promote it. Now I am sure some of you readers are saying “What!? Kong Skull Island is not a Horror Movie but an Adventure film!” My answer to that is that I have always considered King Kong and Godzilla films to be giant monster horror films that have elements of fantasy, adventure and science fiction…plus if Fangoria and other horror magazines covered Kong, then it has elements of a Horror Movie. So let’s sit back and take a look at From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Kong Skull Island.

Before we explore Skull Island we should first take a look at its ruler, King Kong! King Kong is a massive giant gorilla that stands about 104 feet and makes his home on Skull Island. He is very protective of his home and most of the creatures and primitive humans that live on it. No one is really sure where King Kong and his massive family blood line came from; all that is known that in the Legendary Pictures timeline is that he’s the last of his kind up to this point. He is massive in stature and stands more like a human than a primate and is super strong as well as smart when coming to survival. He also uses the land around him to his advantage, and while not overly aggressive toward man, he could easily kill one in seconds. King Kong uses his pure power and size to crush, smash and pummel his target. He also can use his fists to deliver massive hits to his enemies and can use his huge sharp teeth to rip and tear his foe. His brain allows him to make better decisions, making him more dangerous than most of the monsters his size. We should also note he can use things like trees and chains as weapons! But while Kong is massive, he does have weaknesses like all living creatures such as fire, bullets, bites and beatings. All can hurt and even possibly kill him. King Kong also bleeds and wounds effects him like they would normal gorillas. But while he can be hurt, it’s very hard to keep King Kong down as his heart and will to survive is a true force of nature.

So now that we know the power and attack style of King Kong, we should take a look at the film that this version of Kong comes from. The film’s write up will be coming from our friends at IMDB and it will be followed up with a little production history of the film as well as some of my memories of watching it for the first time. So let’s dive into the movie that inspired this comic mini series.

Kong Skull Island (2017)

“A washed up monster chaser convinces the U.S. Government to fund a trip to an unexplored island in the South Pacific. Under the guise of geological research, the team travels to “Skull Island”. Upon arrival, the group discover that their mission may be complicated by the wildlife which inhabits the island. The beautiful vistas and deadly creatures create a visually stunning experience that is sure to keep your attention.”

In 2014, Legendary Pictures was going to team up with Universal Pictures to make a King Kong movie, but this plan quickly changed when Legendary switched to Warner Brothers in order to add Kong into the world of Godzilla. The next step for them was to find a director and many names were suggested like Guillermo del Toro, but they ended up picking Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Next up was the script that had lots of writers attached with names like Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy and Derek Connolly and the finished product had elements from each writer’s ideas. Next they worked on the design and look of King Kong for the movie and then cast names like John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson for major roles. On October 19, 2015 filming started, and it was over all a smooth production that ended on March 18, 2016. The only bump this film had was a lawsuit from writer and artist Joe DeVito who wrote about Skull Island and felt this film stole many of his ideas. The film’s budget was $185 million and brought in $168,052,812.00 at the US Box Office and $398,600,000.00 foreign. The film was also scored by Henry Jackman, and his music was very well done and fitting. The film was # 20 for the year and beat out such other Horror and Sci-Fi films as Split, Annabelle: Creation, The Mummy, Alien: Covenant, The Shape Of Water and Happy Death Day to name a few. The film was meet with mix reviews from critics and fans with most finding it very enjoyable.

Kong Skull Island was one of my most anticipated films of 2017 and was one of the films that I along with my gal Juliet and friend Jeremy Hoy went to on opening night at Cinemark Dayton South. I was blown away by it as the film lived up to what I wanted and that was King Kong fighting other giant monsters with a fun human story. On my “Matt Goes To The Movies 2017” update Kong Skull Island was my top Horror Film of the year. Since I was a youngster, I have always been a big fan of King Kong and when this film was released I made sure to get the film on DVD as well as got the CD of the score that I have played on Alpha Rhythms on WYSO Public Radio. Kong Skull Island leads to Kong’s next appearance for Legendary Pictures in 2020 that will have him taking on Godzilla with the makers of this film saying there will be a clear cut winner! While I also really love Godzilla, I am cheering for King Kong as he has the brains and raw power to stop Godzilla’s rampage and rage. Do yourself a favor if you have not seen this film yet and make sure to check it out as it’s a giant monster film packed with action and adventure and even a little horror.

Kong Skull Island was a prefect choice to make a comic series based around it, as the movie starts with a young Kong with his family already dead. So this comic series brings his past to light and allows us to witness the sadness and rise of Kong to really be the King of Skull Island. I also really want to say that I have been looking forward to sitting and reading this comic series since it was released as I truly do enjoy King Kong in films, comics and novels and this one being tied to the newest film in the Kong series really peaks my interest. I want to thank Mavericks Cards And Comics for getting me these issue for my pull file and would like to remind you all that I grade these on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So let’s see what Legendary Comics brings to the table with this mini series.

Skull Island The Birth of Kong # 1  **1/2
Released in 2017    Cover Price $3.99     Legendary Comics     # 1 of 4

The year is 2012, and a group of sailors find a Monarch recorder and return it to the company. It turns out that the recorder belonged to Aaron Brooks, a solider for the company and son of Houston Brooks that has been missing sense 1995. Houston unlocks the recorder and starts to listen to Aaron’s words. He lead a team to Skull Island as he doesn’t trust Kong to keep the islands’ monsters in check. Before Aaron and crew can land on Skull Island, they are attacked by giant flying monsters that cause them to have to leap out and the pilot and helicopter to crash. As Aaron and his crew move, they are attacked leaving one of his people dead and another missing a leg when dinosaurs attack, and if not for Kong they all would have been killed. After they regroup, they are soon greeted by natives who are speaking English, showing that Skull Island is changing!

Skull Island has become a place that has been hidden and kept secret by the government and Monarch as they just keep an eye on it as well as its King the great ape named Kong. But a young worker for Monarch does not think it’s right that the world does not know about the monsters on the island as well as relying on Kong to keep the monsters in check, so he and some other hotshot workers travel to Skull Island to expose it to the world…and this was a big mistake! Aaron Brooks is a young hotshot who thinks that he knows it all and wants to expose the world to the giant monsters, and at this point all he has done is get some of his crew members injured and dead on an island he has no business being on! His crew are all go getters, but now it’s clear they are second guessing going along with Aaron’s plan. Our baddies at this point are the creatures that live on the island, and they are just hungry and want to eat what they can kill. Kong himself appears briefly as he smacks away man eating dinosaurs who were eating our cast for lunch, and as quickly as he saves the day he also disappears. The Natives seem to be educated, which makes you wonder who has taught them and why they think Aaron and his crew are special and been foretold would come for decades. This first issue is a build up for our mini series, and while good, is a little slow and bland and thus far only adds a hint of Kong and a heck of a lot of Aaron and his cocky way. The cover is great and very eye catching for fans of King Kong and the interior artwork is good but not my style and is done by Zid. Over all this is a good issue but nothing special, and I am looking forward to issue two and hope Kong has more of a part and we get some answers to questions this issue has presented.

Skull Island The Birth of Kong # 2  **1/2
Released in 2017     Cover Price $3.99     Legendary Comics     # 2 of 4

Aaron and his crew find themselves the guests of the IWI who are nursing them all back to health and are telling them that they have been waiting for them to come. Aaron finds out that one of the young tribesmen learned English from Hank Marlow, a downed U.S. air force pilot who taught his father many years back. Aaron also begins to notice one of his own men is becoming addicted to the juice the natives are given them and is having visions of the islands past and the bloodline of King Kong! The young tribesman and some warriors take Aaron and his crew on a very important pilgrimage to the parts of the island and along the way they find some history of Kong and the people who live on the island and are almost even attacked by a massive water animal, but they also find old weapons left behind by Monarch from years back. But before they can use them, the mighty roar of Kong echoes out and the creature goes back into the water as Aaron and his crew gear up and head out to finally meet King Kong.

The second issue has Aaron and his crew being taken in by Skull Islands natives and being healed of wounds and shown the history of the Kong bloodline. While Aaron and most of his crew are cautious and focused, one of his members is acting odd and over drinking a juice and claiming to be linked to the island and filled with visions. Aaron is kind of just a man who rushed into something thinking he was going to be the hero of the day and in return just got his crew lost and in some cases dead.  Thus far to me, he has also really come off as a self centered person who craves to be that guy who sticks it to the system. The rest of the crew are just around, and one is clearly slipping into madness and is one I think will be the downfall of not only the crew but also himself. The natives seem nice and mean no harm to the crew and even seem like they would die to protect them. Kong is not seen, and we only get treated to quick flashbacks of his family from the past. While this second issue is a good read, it also is a very slow burn and even with a monster showing up and “attacking,” nothing really seems to happen and it feels like a filler issue. The issue has no blood and scary spots, and the biggest issue this comic has is that Kong, the main attraction of the mini series, is nowhere in site. The cover is cool and showcases Kongs fighting skull crawlers and the interior art is fine and done by Zid again. Over all not much to say about this issue so let’s move onto number three.

Skull Island The Birth of Kong # 3  **1/2
Released in 2017     Cover Price $3.99     Legendary Comics     # 3 of 4

Aaron and his crew, while looking for Kong, find the body of the sea monster as Kong has killed it and all the other giant beasts are coming to the area to feed.  While the feeding frenzy takes place Aaron gets word from his pilot that he is alive and the helicopter can still fly and they plan to meet up in the bone graveyard and end their trip to Skull Island! When getting to the graveyard they soon find it crawling with Skull Crawlers and must take shelter in a cave and in a vision from one of the crew, they are told about the death of Kong’s parents as well as his birth that all took place on the same day…baby Kong witnessed as Skull Crawlers killed his mother and father before his young eyes. Aaron has heard enough, and as they all rush to the approaching helicopter they witness it get shot out of the sky thanks to their crazed fellow crew member who also shoots one of his own dead and demands they all go and see Kong!

This issue brings our story more on track as Aaron and his crew decide that Skull Island is not for them and just as they are about to leave, they are forced to stay due to one of their own turning crazy and downing their helicopter killing the pilot as well as one of his fellow exploring crew! Aaron in this issue is finally becoming a character that’s likable as he knows now that he has made a big mistake in coming to Skull Island to try and test the rule that Kong has over it, but while he finally sees his mistake, he still has lead three people to their deaths. The crazed crew member is a psycho who really thinks Kong is a god and is willing to kill his own friends just to be able to see the great ape in person. The Skull Crawlers are around and are as mean as ever, and lucky for Aaron and his crew they have not been spotted and became dinner…yet! King Kong is shown as a baby in a heart breaking part of this comic as he as a newborn watches his parents die! As an adult we only get to see the aftermath of his fight with the sea creature that is dead. Two things I really like about this issue is that we do get to see Kong’s parents in action as they take on a horde of Skull Crawlers and that when Kong kills something, the rest of the beast around come and feed on the corpse of the fallen. This issue has lots more action and suspenseful moments making it the best issue in the series thus far as it delivers a more classic Kong feel. The cover for this issue is heartbreaking for fans of Kong as it shows him as a baby crying over the bodies of his Mom and Dad. Interior art again is done by Zid who I should also say did all the covers as well. Over all, a good solid issue that was a fun and quick read and really does make me look forward to see what happens when Aaron and crew finally do get to see King Kong in all his hairy glory.

Skull Island The Birth of Kong # 4  ***
Released in 2017     Cover Price $3.99     Legendary Comics     # 4 of 4

Aaron along with what’s left of his crew and the tribes men are being held captive by a Wildman who has lost tough with reality and is taking about blowing up the fence around the village to see if Kong will protect them all and prove he loves mankind. Aaron and the rest escape the madman when some creatures from the jungle appear and attack letting them get to the village, but they are too late to warn the villagers as the madman blows up the walls and allows giant spiders to enter who start attacking and killing any one they see. They even kill Aaron’s last crew member besides the madman and all hope seems gone, until Kong shows up and starts smashing the spiders and saves human lives. After Kong runs off the spiders, he also smashes the madman and looks at Aaron letting him know that he is as people say the true King of Skull Island and a protector of man. Aaron decides to stay on Skull Island and help the IWI rebuild the wall and sends his recorder on a small-unmanned boat into the ocean. We end back in modern times and Aaron’s dad at his retirement party tells his former co-workers that he is going on a cruise to some place warm.

Now this is what I have been waiting for in this comic series as we get King Kong beating up and smashing giant spiders and saving human lives and even taken one of a clear crazy man! The issue’s plot has Aaron and his crew being taken out one by one by the creatures of Skull Island as well as one of their own who has flipped his lid and believes he is one with the island as well as linked to Kong. The mad man also decides to test the nature of Kong and blows up the wooden fences around the IWI village allowing all the creatures to enter and attack and kill and waits for Kong to save them…what a nut and he does get to witness Kong who appears and saves the day but he also get the wrath of Kong who smashes him into the ground! Aaron learns that some secrets are best left hidden and that he must stay on Skull Island to help rebuild what he and his now all dead crew destroyed. And Kong proves that he really is the King of the island and that he does understand that he must help the weak and small humans from the beasts that make up his home. This issue is filled with action and adventure and really allows our characters to learn from mistakes and witness the wonders they questioned. Aaron who at first was an unlikable rebel character by the end turns into a guy you come to understand and cheer for as he does the right thing. This issue has violence but no gore or mass amount of blood and does have an adventure horror feel to many of the scenes. The cover is eye catching for fans of King Kong and has him doing what he does best and once more like the interiors is done by Zid. This comic mini series is a slow burn just like the Pacific Rim one I took a look at early this year, but unlike it, I found this one to be entertaining even with the lack of Kong in issues. Over all if your fan of Skull Island and King Kong in general check this series out. While it is not the best Kong has to offer in the world of comics, it’s at least a solid one with a fun story. Check out the art below to see the work of Zid and see what King Kong the 8^th Wonder of the World looks like in these issues.

King Kong will always be my favorite giant movie monster and while I also love Godzilla, Kong will always be the tops for me. Plus I really do think that Kong makes for a great comic book character and hope that more issues of his rampages and adventures will come out sooner than later! Kong Skull Island was one of my favorite movies of 2017 and was a perfect film to go alongside the original 1933 film. So with this being the Christmas season and all, I think that my next update will be something everyone loves to chat about for this Holiday time of the year and that’s the 1961 giant ape film Konga! Wait what? You don’t gather with loved ones and chat about Konga over a glass of eggnog while sitting by the fire? Well if you have not, you don’t know what you’re missing! So we will be leaving Skull Island and go to London for our next update, and until then, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always enjoy your Holiday season with all your loved ones. See you next update for a Konga good time.