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a one-page recap

Its cargo: unbelievable!

Now he was hiding

surfacing from beneath the pitcher’s mound!

“Part 2…Gorgilla Strikes Again!”

the mighty monkey-monster is intending to destroy the Statue Of Liberty

poor Gorgilla

the Lone Ranger

“Juke Box Bank

“Monsteroso!”

a strange, spotted-shell egg

The shambling creature quickly grows so huge

the land he stands upon to crumble

Monsteroso’s “world”

“Robot On The Rampage!”

a back-cover advertisement

ODDBALL COMICS has already met Marvel’s mighty monkey-monster a few years back in an early issue of TALES TO ASTONISH! Now -- a few issues later and courtesy of Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers -- here comes “Gorgilla Strikes Again!” Yep, the big ape finally gets his very own sequel and winds up climbing the Statue Of Liberty! Plus, Steve Ditko’s “Monsteroso!” and “Robot On The Rampage!” (But what the heck is the Lone Ranger doing in this fearful funnybook?)

Stan Lee, AKA Stanley Martin Lieber, was born on December 28, 1922 in his parents’ New York City apartment at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan. His parents, Jack and Celia, were both poor Romanian-Jewish immigrants. Stanley’s father was a dress cutter, but in the years following “The Great Depression”, he was unable to secure full-time work. This forced the Lieber family to move further uptown to the more affordable neighborhood of Manhattan Heights. It was there, when Stanley was nine years old, that his younger brother (and future collaborator) Larry was born. When Stanley’s family moved to the Bronx, he attended DeWitt Clinton High School. Thanks to his mother’s encouragement, Stanley was a voracious reader. This led to his enjoyment of writing, working part-time writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center while still a high school student. And when young Stanley wasn’t reading or writing, he could usually be found in one of the many movie theatres near his home. Other early jobs included delivering sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rochester Center, working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer, ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway and selling newspaper subscriptions to THE NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE. (This was the same newspaper that, when Stanley was 15, sponsored “The Biggest News Of the Week Contest”. When Stanley entered the contest, he received a letter from one of the newspaper’s editors, encouraging him to become a professional writer.) In 1939, Stanley Lieber graduated early from high school at the age of 16 and 1/2. Following that, he joined the WPA Theatre Project. Then, with the aid of his uncle, Robbie Solomon – who happened to be the brother-in-law of pulp magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman – arranged for Stanley to be hired by Joe Simon (co-creator of “Captain America” with Jack Kirby) as his assistant – and “general gofer” -- at the newly-formed Timely Comics’ new offices in the Empire State Building. (Stanley’s cousin Jean was also Goodman’s wife.) In CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS No. 3 (May, 1941), a text-piece titled “Captain America Foils The Traitor’s Revenge” appeared, signed “Stan Lee”. It was Stanley Lieber’s first-ever-published professional writing. (Years later, Stan claimed that he was “saving” his real name for more “legitimate” writing gigs, such as penning “The Great American Novel”.) By the comic’s third issue, Stanley had graduated to writing the book’s back-up feature, “Headline Hunter, Foreign Correspondent”. Later that year, in the wake of a dispute with publisher Goodman, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left Timely to work for DC Comics. Their unexpected exit created an opening for a temporary editor at Timely, and 19-year-old Stanley’s uncle-in-law assigned him the position, but Stanley proved so adept with editing that he was made Goodman’s comic book division’s Editor-In-Chief and primary art director. This was interrupted by World War II; in 1942, Stanley enlisted in the U.S. Army in early 1942, serving stateside in the Signal Corps. He wrote manuals, training films and poster copy and occasionally even drew cartoons. (Stan now claims that his official military classification was “playwright” and that only eight other Army men in history were ever given that title!) While Stanley was serving his country, 4-F cartoonist Vincent Fago ran Timely, but relinquished the position when Stan returned from the Army in 1945. Post-war Timely published comics in every genre, and Stan not only edited them, he continued to write them as well. Martin Goodman’s rule-of-thumb was to imitate whatever concept was selling for Timely’s competitors, then saturate the market with so many variations on the genre that it would quickly exhaust itself. Therefore, Stan found himself writing romance, teenage, westerns, humor, science fiction, funny animals, medieval adventure, horror, kiddie and suspense stories, often, all in the same month. On the other hand, sales of superhero comics slumped after the war, causing all the major publishers, including Timely, to cut back on funnybooks starring the “long underwear crowd”. (Stanley was so prolific that he began to use a variety of pen names. These included, “S. T. Anley”, “Stan Martin”, “Neel Nats” and of course, the one to which he eventually legally changed his name, “Stan Lee”.) This kept Stan busy, even through the comic-book “witch hunts” of the early 1950s led by Dr. Frederic Wertham and Senator Estes Kefauver, but Stan was getting bored with the material he was churning out But by this time, Stan and his family were living in Hewlett Harbor on New York’s Long Island, and he had mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. Even worse, his publisher (now known as “Marvel” – was merely limping along. Fortunately, Marvel had two freelancers working for it who would prove pivotal to Stan’s future: Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Although both of them were doing a great job plotting and drawing monster and suspense comics – scripted by Stan and his brother Larry – Marvel was rapidly becoming a marginal entity in the comic book field. But when Stan received orders from Martin Goodman to come up with a team of superheroes (supposedly to take advantage of the success of editor Julius Schwartz’s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA for DC), Stan worked with Jack Kirby to create a team of superheroes the likes of which had never been seen before. Marvel’s other, more traditional comic books weren’t selling particularly well, the duo of Lee and Kirby tried to make THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) a superhero team that shattered the genres’ previous stereotypes – or at least turned ‘em on their collective ear -- and it worked and for many, even lived up to its hype as “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Stan says that his lovely British wife Joan encouraged him to experiment with this new project by applying his own approach to the subject matter; Stan’s ear for writing clever, realistic dialog was particularly groundbreaking. It didn’t hurt, either, that Stan was working with two of the most imaginative cartoonists in comics, men who could write as well as they drew. This led to working so-called “Marvel Method”, a process with Stan writing his dialog after seeing the sequential images cooked up by Kirby and Ditko, and to a lesser degree of success, to other cartoonists hired by Marvel. It worked so well, in fact, that the upstart company (with decidedly inferior production values such as brittle cover-stock and easily-smeared ink) finally began to get noticed. Once again with Kirby, Stan turned Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” into the misunderstood super-monster, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1962). Then, teaming with Steve Ditko, Stan co-created a unique approach to the teenage superhero in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (also 1962), arguably Marvel’s most famous and successful character. These were followed by “The Mighty Thor”, “Iron Man”, “Dr. Strange”, “Daredevil” and “The Uncanny X-Men”, as well as revived, modern incarnations of Timely’s “Captain America” and “The Human Torch”. Stan not only edited and scripted all of these, but also became a hip and humorous front-man for what would become known as “The Marvel Age Of Comics”. In the long run, this astounding ability -- to attract and secure a readership so loyal that they’d feel genuinely indebted to Marvel for publishing such comics – may be Stan Lee’s greatest talent of all -- he practically invented the concepts of “marketing” and “branding” single-handedly! Of course, Stan “The Man” Lee was the biggest Marvel fan of all, so his ballyhoo rang absolutely true. Within a few years, Marvel had grown from a small company to the comic book industry’s giant, with the other publishers attempting to create and sell their own comics, directly emulating Marvel’s style, bluster and “goofy grandeur”. Stan was convinced that the target audience for Marvel Comics was the college crowd, and made many personal appearances as a speaker at many of the nation’s colleges and universities, although research seemed to indicate that Marvel wasn’t as ever-present in the institutes of higher learning than Stan had assumed. He even, very briefly, cover-labeled each of Marvel’s books as “A Marvel Pop-Art Production”, as if they weren’t mere comic books but fine art. With Marvel’s rising star, and a change in distribution, the company added more titles to its roster, and with them, more creators. Eventually Stan wasn’t writing nearly as many books as he once had, but he still set the standards for which all Marvel product was expected to meet. Then there came the day that publisher Martin Goodman decided to sell Marvel to Cadence Industries. Whatever it was that Stan was doing, the new buyer was convinced that he was doing it right, and made him an essential element of the deal. When the transaction was finalized, Stan emerged with something he hadn’t had since starting with Marvel three decades earlier: a contract. After a false start (the samples were discovered, untouched, in the files of Goodman’s son, who briefly worked for Marvel, Stan and John Romita, Sr. launched a daily AMAZING SPIDER-MAN syndicated newspaper comic strip; in 1977; eventually, Larry Lieber, Stan’s talented kid brother, took over drawing the feature, which continues to this day. In 1981, With Marvel Comics running relatively smoothly and extremely profitably, Stan and his family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he helped to oversee Marvel Productions, an animation studio (a new incarnation of Depatie-Freleng Productions.) Stan also headed up Marvel Films, a new enterprise dedicated to developing and placing Marvel properties in high-profile television and film projects. Stan’s name and reputation guaranteed that he had no problem scheduling meetings with any of Hollywood’s big-shots, but it took years for any of Stan’s energetic pitches to reach fruition. THE INCREDIBLE HULK TV series (1978 - 1982) was a hit, but other early Marvel/Hollywood projects such as THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TV series (1978) and PUNISHER (1989) and CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990) films were quite poorly-received. Marvel’s licensed properties really began to deliver the goods with the theatrical release of X-MEN (2000), in which Stan had a cameo part, as well as being an Executive Producer of the film. He also appeared in the Marvel adaptations SPIDER-MAN (2002), THE HULK (2003), DAREDEVIL (2003), SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004), FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006). Stan also appeared in the TV movies THE TRIAL OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1989), GENERATION X (1996) and NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998). Stan has also provided voiceovers for various animated cartoons adapting Marvel characters; he’s even provided narration for various “Spider-Man” video games. In non-Marvel-related films, Stan has appeared in Larry Cohen’s THE AMBULANCE (1990) and Kevin Smith’s MALLRATS (2002), as well as in Mark Hamill’s direct-to-DVD COMIC BOOK: THE MOVIE (2004). In the April 28, 2002 episode of Matt Groening’s THE SIMPSONS, “I Am Furious Yellow”, an animated Stan Lee made a nuisance of himself to the Comic Book Guy at “The Android’s Dungeon” comic book shop. Stan has also appeared on the TV game shows TO TELL THE TRUTH and IDENTITY, as well as producing and hosting an Oddball “reality” TV show, WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?, which premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on July 27, 2006; the series was renewed for a second season. And very recently, Stan has made a cameo appearance on the NBC series HEROES. Stan has received several awards for his work, including being formally inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall Of Fame in 1995. In the late 1990s, Stan became associated with a former lawyer named Peter Paul. Together, in 1998, they formed Stan Lee Media, a studio focusing on the creation of entertainment for the Internet. The company’s projects included THE 7TH PORTAL, THE DRIFTER, THE ACCUSER and a concert-sold comic book starring the popular “boy band”, The Backstreet Boys. Unfortunately, in 2000, it was eventually discovered that Paul and corporate officer Stephan Gordon were involved in illegal stock manipulation. Although Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy in February, 2001, Stan Lee himself has never been implicated in their scheme. In the early 2000s, for the first time in his career, Stan finally worked for Marvel’s primary competitor, DC Comics, writing a series of “re-imagined” new superhero concepts based on their Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash. With co-writer George Mair, Stan wrote his autobiography, EXCELSIOR! THE AMAZING LIFE OF STAN LEE, published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster’s Fireside Press. In 2003, Stan created the animated superhero series STRIPPERELLA for Spike TV, featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson. In 2004, he announced plans to collaborate with pajama-wearing publisher Hugh Hefner on a similar superhero cartoon featuring animated PLAYBOY Playmates, as well as a superhero project that would star former Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr. In 2005, Stan Lee, Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! (“Purveyors of Wonder!”) Entertainment to develop film, television and video game properties. The first film produced by POW! was the live-action TV-movie Stan Lee’s LIGHTSPEED (2006) which aired on the Sci Fi Channel. POW! Entertainment Inc. reportedly has some forty different projects in various stages of development. Two of the company’s “Stan Lee Presents” animated direct-to-DVD productions have been MOSAIC (2006) and THE CONDOR (2007). In 2005, Stan filed a lawsuit against Marvel for his unpaid share of profits from Marvel movies, reportedly winning a settlement of more than $10 million. Apparently, Marvel held no grudge against him, though, because in 2006, to celebrate his 65th year with Marvel, the company published a series of five one-shot comics co-starring Stan Lee with Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, the Thing, the Silver Surfer (a character created solely by Jack Kirby) and Dr. Doom. Stan Lee’s impressive career with Marvel Comics has existed for over six decades. During that time, he has held the titles of Marvel’s “Head Writer”, “Art Director”, “Editor-In-Chief”, “Publisher”, “President” and “Chairman”, and is currently “Chairman Emeritus” of Marvel and an “Executive Producer” of their theatrical films. At the age of 86, Stan “The Man” Lee has never been busier!

Editor/writer/cartoonist Larry Lieber was born on October 26, 1931 in New York City. The younger brother of Stan Lee, Larry attended art school at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and at Manhattan's Art Students League. After that, he did military service with the U.S. Air Force for four years. Larry began has career at Atlas/Marvel in 1951, drawing stories for ALL-TRUE CRIME CASES. Then, from 1958 through 1959 – while teaching art classes on the side, he drew stories for such Atlas/Marvel titles as: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY; JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS; LOVE ROMANCES; LOVE TALES; THE ROMANCES OF NIGHT NURSE HELEN GRANT; TRUE TALES OF LOVE; STRANGE WORLDS; and LOVE ROMANCE. Starting in 1962, Larry began writing, penciling and inking back-up stories for STRANGE TALES; it wasn’t long before he started to write the comic’s main feature, “The Human Torch”, over plots loosely woven by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Around the same time, over at JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, he was performing the same duties on “The Mighty Thor” and various back-up stories. The pattern continued in TALES TO ASTONISH, where he wrote and penciled “Ant-Man” while creating entire back-up stories for the funnybook. In 1963, after writing, drawing and inking back-up stories starring the Wasp and the Watcher, Larry Lieber wrote the first “Iron Man” origin story in TALES OF SUSPENSE No. 39 (March. 1963). In 1964, Larry worked on KID COLT OUTLAW and RAWHIDE KID, and the next year, TWO-GUN KID, rapidly establishing himself as Marvel’s longtime go-to guy when it came to westerns. He continued to work on superheroes, writing a back-up story for THE AVENGERS in 1965, writing “Dr. Doom” in ASTONISHING TALES (he’d previously drawn the bad doctor in an issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES) and drawing lead stories for a pair of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUALS. In 1974, Larry Lieber briefly left Marvel to take on the editorship of Seaboard Periodicals’ line of "Atlas Comics" published by Marvel’s ex-publisher Martin Goodman. He originally edited Atlas’ black-and-white magazines, but soon took over the color comics as well. As Larry said in a 1999 interview: “When I went there, Martin put out two kinds of books. He was putting out color comics, and he was also going to put out black-and-white comics like Warren and Marvel. Now, I knew nothing about black-and-white comics, right? My only experience was in the color comics. Jeff Rovin came from Warren, and he knew nothing about color comics. Martin unfortunately put Jeff in charge of all the color comics and put me in charge of the black-and-white books. It was an unfortunate thing, and basically what happened was that Jeff's books didn't turn out so well. . . . Martin had to pay high freelance rates, because otherwise nobody would work for a new and unproven company. . . . It didn't work out too well, and Jeff finally left angrily or something, and I had to take over all his books. At this point, business was bad, and I tried to do what I could. One of the things I had to do was to cut rates and tell people they were going to make less money, which was not an enviable position.” In additional to his editorial duties at Atlas, Larry drew covers, wrote KID CODY GUNFIGHTER and drew PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (both 1975). But it wasn’t long before Larry returned to Marvel, where he drew “It, The Living Colossus” in ASTONISHING TALES, wrote SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOES, wrote MARVEL GIANT-SIZE CHILLERS and wrote and drew KID COLT and SPIDEY SUPER STORIES. In 1976 and 1977, he edited Marvel’s line of British reprint comics and in 1986 and 1987, he drew character entries for MARVEL UNIVERSE. Larry Lieber has also worked on the Register And Tribune Syndicate’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK syndicated newspaper comic strip from 1978 to 1982 and King Features’ daily THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN syndicated newspaper comic strip from 1980 onward to this day, both written by his big brother, Stan Lee. (Cartoonist Alex Saviuk continues to draws the Sunday installments of the strip.) From 1983 to 1984, Larry Lieber wrote and drew “The Super-Stiks” for STICKERS MAGAZINE. Larry is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

Here’s a brief biography of Jacob Kurtzberg, AKA Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) from the Jack Kirby Museum And Research Center originally written by Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman for Communicator Unlimited’s KIRBY UNLEASHED (1972).

Cartoonist Richard Bache "Dick" Ayers, Sr. was born on April 28, 1924, in Ossining, New York. Dick served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where, in 1942, the Army newspaper THE RADIO POST published his first comic strip, “Radio Ray”. After attending NYC’s Art Career School, the Cartoonists And Illustrators School -- which included drawing classes taught by Burne (TARZAN) Hogarth -- and the School Of Visual Arts, “Superman” co-creator Joe Shuster recommended that Dick interview with Magazine Enterprises’ Vin Sullivan, who was impressed enough with a few FUNNYMAN stories “ghosted” by the newcomer that, in 1948, he assigned him to draw JIMMY DURANTE COMICS. Dick continued to freelance for ME until 1956, where he also drew stories for the original GHOST RIDER western and THE AVENGER, while doing a considerable amount of work for Charlton, Atlas/Marvel and many other publishers, working in a variety of genres. Eventually, Dick began working full-time for Marvel, inking much of Jack Kirby’s early work on FANTASTIC FOUR, “The Mighty Thor” in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, THE AVENGERS, THE HULK and SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS, as well as many of Kirby’s “pre-hero” monster stories. Dick also penciled a great amount of work for Marvel, including “The Human Torch” in STRANGE TALES, “Ant Man” in TALES TO ASTONISH, SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS and GHOST RIDER, among many others. During this period, Dick also contributed work to Joe Simon’s line of “Harvey Thrillers”. Dick’s work on Marvel’s various war and western comics led to similar assignments at DC, where he worked on “Sgt. Rock” in OUR ARMY AT WAR, “The Unknown Soldier” in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES and JONAH HEX, among many others. He also took over KAMANDI from the series’ creator, Jack Kirby. In the late 1970s and early 80s he also worked freelance for Archie Comics, American Comics, Revolutionary Comics and many others. Dick has taught at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon And Graphic Art and gave classes at the Guggenheim Museum. Dick returned to comics in 1996 to draw Old Town Publishing’s DR. WONDER. In 1985, his work won him the 1985 National Cartoonists Society Award Division Award for “Best Comic Book”. In 1997, Dick received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic-Con International. Dick Ayers is still working full-time as an cartoonist, and recently the second volume of his autobiography in trade paperback form.

The co-creator of Marvel’s amazing Spider-Man, cartoonist Steve Ditko, was born Stephen Ditko on November 2, 1927 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the son of Slavic immigrants. As a kid, Ditko showed promise as a cartoonist; his primary influences included Will (THE SPIRIT) Eisner and the early “Batman” comic book artists. Ditko did military service in post-war Germany after graduating from Johnstown High School in 1945. Following this, he attended New York City’s Cartoonists And Illustrators School (later re-named the School Of Visual Arts); with “Batman” cartoonist (and creator of the Joker) Jerry Robinson as one of his instructors. In 1953, Ditko broke into the comic book business, working for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s BLACK MAGIC (Crestwood/Prize) and Kirby’s CAPTAIN 3-D (Harvey) and Charlton’s THE THING. The next year, he appeared in Farrell’s FANTASTIC FEARS and did a lot more work for Charlton, including drawing his first covers. In 1956, Steve began freelancing for Atlas/Marvel, primarily working in the genres of horror, mystery and science fiction, while continuing to freelance for Charlton. At Marvel, working with editor/writer Stan Lee, Steve Ditko’s work appeared in such comics as STRANGE ADVENTURES, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, STRANGE WORLDS, TALES OF SUSPENSE and TALES TO ASTONISH. His ability to craft unsettling stories with a unique “look” eventually led to AMAZING ADULT FANTASY (formerly AMAZING ADVENTURES), a TWILIGHT ZONE-esque anthology series (“The Comic Magazine That Respects Your Intelligence!”) tailored to feature nothing but his short, Stan-Lee-written tales. With its fifteenth and final issue (August, 1962), the comic changed its name once again, this time to AMAZING FANTASY. It cover-featured a new superhero, “Spider-Man”, drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Ditko. (Steve had previously drawn the cover, but Stan rejected it for being drawn from a different, less dynamic angle.) Inside, in a historical collaboration between Stan Lee and Ditko, it introduced Peter Parker, a geeky high school student who is bitten by a radioactive spider, thereby gaining creepy superpowers – and eventually becoming one of the best-known superhero characters of all time. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN soon received his own title, but a second Ditko character, “Dr. Strange” – who Stan Lee once admitted in a fanzine interview that was entirely Ditko’s concept – first appeared as a back-up series in STRANGE TALES No. 110 (July, 1963). Unfortunately, Dr. Strange was too brilliantly weird to catch on in a big way with the fans, although the character and Ditko’s mind-blowing depictions of sorcery and other dimensions was eventually embraced by the counterculture. (What’s ironic is that Ditko has always been conservative in his viewpoint, the polar opposite of a hippie!) During this stint at Marvel, Steve also worked on such characters as “The Incredible Hulk” in THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 6 (an Oddball story in which the green monster finds himself stuck with Dr. Bruce Banner’s head!) and TALES TO ASTONISH and “Iron Man” (being the first to design a red-and-yellow motif for Tony Stark’s armor) in TALES OF SUSPENSE. Although Ditko was eventually given the assignment of plotting his Spider-Man and Dr. Strange stories, and despite the fact that he was the ideal talent for both series and that he had already co-created the majority of Spider-Man’s arch-villains to this day, he abruptly quit working for Stan Lee and Marvel in 1966 (his last stories for them were both cover-dated July); Steve Ditko has never revealed the specific reason for his decision, but it certainly was the end of an era at Marvel, where his artistic presence nicely complimented those of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Instead, Ditko concentrated on working for Charlton, for whom he’d never really stopped freelancing for and for whom he had already co-created (with Joe Gill) a Cold War superhero, “Captain Atom”, in SPACE ADVENTURES No. 33 (March,1960). Although the Derby, Connecticut publisher paid a much lower page rate, it was run without nearly as much editorial control, and this greatly appealed to Steve, who would eventually have a major part in the creation of such memorable Charlton characters as the “new Blue Beetle” and “The Question.” (both 1967) as well as dozens of science-fiction, horror, mystery, monster and even war comics. During this period, Ditko also did work for Dell (NUKLA, GET SMART, etc., often inked by Sal Trapani) and ACG, By the late 1960s, Steve Ditko’s interest in the writing and philosophy of Ayn Rand -- termed “Objectivism” -- began to manifest itself in his mainstream funnybook stories. This led to Ditko’s creation of what is perhaps his most personal (and Oddball) character, “Mr. A”, first appearing in the third issue of Wallace Wood’s legendary prozine, WITZEND (1967). The embodiment of Objectivism, Mr. A (logically, the next step beyond the Question) practices his belief that there is no grey area of morality, only black (evil) and white (good), with his calling cards designed accordingly. Meanwhile, he had been drawing some of the best work of his career for writer/editor Archie Goodwin in the pages of Jim Warren’s CREEPY and EERIE black-and-white horror magazines. The prolific Ditko was also doing excellent work for Tower’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS and, due to former Charlton editor Dick Giordano’s relocation, DC Comics. There, with writer Don (KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE) Segall, he co-created “The Creeper” in SHOWCASE No. 73 (March-April, 1968) and with Steve Skeates, “The Hawk And The Dove” in SHOWCASE No. 75 (June, 1968). Both were memorable concepts that went on to short-lived series and continue to be re-visited in DC’s current continuity. For the next few years, Ditko concentrated on a combination of Charlton assignments (THE MANY GHOSTS OF DOCTOR GRAVES, GHOSTLY HAUNTS, GHOSTLY TALES, STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES, etc.) and self-expressing material for the alternative marked. Finally returned to DC in 1975, where Ditko created co-created STALKER (1975, with Paul Levitz and Wallace Wood) and SHADE THE CHANGING MAN (1977). He also worked on new stories featuring the Creeper, Jack Kirby’s Demon and the Legion Of Super-Heroes, as well as a new incarnation of Starman and a few illustrations for DC’s WHO’S WHO. After passing on the opportunity to draw Captain Atom (DC had recently acquired the rights to most of Charlton’s “action heroes”), Ditko returned to Marvel in 1979, but refused to draw anything featuring Spider-Man or Dr. Strange. Instead, he worked on just about every other classic Marvel character or series (including taking over Jack Kirby’s MACHINE MAN) plus creating SPEEDBALL (1988) and drawing a long run of ROM, SPACEKNIGHT, with a diverse and interesting parade of talented inkers. Ditko also worked on all four issues of Marvel/Star Comics’ CHUCK NORRIS AND THE KARATE KOMMANDOS, a four-issue miniseries based upon a Ruby-Spears cartoon show. After brief creative stopovers at Dark Horse, Defiant and Hamilton Comics (on MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS, of all things!), Steve Ditko concentrated his efforts on new projects for the independent market. An extremely private man, Ditko was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall Of Fame in 1990, and still lives in New York City.

The first issue of Marvel’s TALES TO ASTONISH was cover-dated January, 1959. Following its “pre-hero monster” phase was “Ant Man, a superhero spin-off from “The Man In The Ant Hill!” in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 27 (January, 1962) who debuted in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 35 (September, 1962). Eventually, Ant-Man was joined by “The incredible Hulk” (in issue No. 60, October, 1964); then the diminutive superhero was replaced by “Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner” (in issue No. 70, August, 1965). The final issue of TALES TO ASTONISH was issue No. 101, cover-dated March, 1968. It spawned a one-shot two series that contained continuations of its dual storylines: IRON MAN AND SUB-MARINER No. 1 (and only), THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 102 and SUB-MARINER No. 1.

Gorgilla first appeared in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 12, cover-dated October, 1960, in a 7-page cover-story titled “I Discovered Gorgilla! The Monster Of Midnight Mountain!” (the title that’s cover-blurbed is “Here Comes…Gorgilla!”). It was written by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Steve Ditko and edited by Stan Lee. According to the Grand Comic Book Database, its storyline goes as follows: “A scientist mounts an expedition to Borneo in order to locate the remains of the missing link. He is surprised upon his arrival that the locals refer to the creature as living upon "midnight mountain". The natives have built an enclosure around the area ala Kong, so after his group scales the wall, they come face to face with Gorgilla. Initially, relations between human and missing link are antagonistic, but when a T-Rex shows up, Gorgilla decides he feels more of a kinship with the explorers and attacks the reptile. He is victorious, but tired and weak after the fight, and the scientists realize he could be easily captured. Since he saved their lives from the T-Rex, they grant him the peace of remaining in his native habitat.” Or you could check out my ODDBALL COMICS column No. 802 for my personal take on the story.

This issue’s two-part, 13-page cover-story is “Gorgilla Strikes Again!”, written by Larry Lieber , penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers. It begins with this turgid introduction:

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
In the October issue of Tales To Astonish, we gave you the story of Gorgilla! Since then, you’ve asked for – begged for – demanded further adventures of the amazing creature! And so here it is – the fantastic SEQUEL to The Monster Of Midnight Mountain…GORGILLA!!

After a splash-page that essentially duplicates the cover, we’re treated to a one-page recap of Gorgilla’s previous story, narrated by an archaeologist only identified as “Scotty”, the same guy who discovered Gorgilla a few months earlier. But that page’s final panel – as well as the next page --takes the first step into this sequel:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
How could we have known that our brief encounter had awakened within Gorgilla a craving for human-type companionship…a craving so strong that as soon as he was able, Gorgilla climbed the wall which had imprisoned him for decades! In search of his evolutionary descendants, the gigantic link stole down the mountain and thundered toward the coast…Primitive awareness – primordial instinct – whatever name you give it, it told Gorgilla that in the distant regions dwelled millions of creatures…and that the great ocean liners sailed to those regions…Cunningly swimming around to the unguarded side of the ship, the mammoth ape creature silently climbed aboard…And still unseen by human eyes, he lowered himself down into the hold of the unsuspecting vessel…The following morning, the freighter pulled out of port! Its destination: the United States! Its cargo: unbelievable! The voyage was long and rough….But Gorgilla scarcely noticed it…For he was too busy anticipating his next encounter with the human race! Finally, the moment was at hand…

As the freighter pulls into New York Harbor and past the Statue Of Liberty, Gorgilla emerges from the ship’s hold, instantly sending the crew in search of firearms:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
The giant ape man peered at the humans about him! He saw their fear…their panic! What was wrong with these creatures? Couldn’t they see he was their brother? He had come to join them – to live in peace with them – NOT to harm them! But the humans did not understand…And a moment later the bullets struck Gorgilla…Bullets which could not penetrate his mighty hide, but caused him enough pain to make him leap overboard! Swimming underwater, the confused brute saw an opening in the land up ahead…An opening just large enough for him to fit through! In the dark safety of the sewer, Gorgilla was finally able to stop…to rest…and to think! He had greeted the humans in friendship, but they had only hostility for him! Now he was hiding, without food, without light, or fresh air! What should he do? What COULD he do? WHAT?? WHAT??? In the meantime, news of the titanic creature spread like wildfire!

Among those watching the news reports on television is the archaeologist who discovered Gorgilla in the first place.

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Like millions of other people that day, I also was watching television…But unlike the millions of others, I KNEW the truth behind the monster in the harbor!

The scientist/explorer turns to his wife Anne, astonished (I guess that’s why this comic’s title is TALES TO ASTONISH):

SCOTTY:
T-that’s the missing link – GORGILLA! He FOLLOWED us back to civilization!

ANNE:
He’s a wild giant beast! If he’s still alive, the entire city’s in danger!

SCOTTY:
No! That’s just the POINT! The city’s NOT in danger! Gorgilla saved our lives! If he followed us here, he must’ve come in FRIENDSHIP! People must be made to understand! They must not destroy the confused harmless creature!

Scotty goes to NYC’s authorities to explain Gorgilla’s motives, but they’re too panicked to take his explanation seriously. And unknown to anyone, a secret group of imbedded Communists decide to take advantage of the dire situation:

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The police are all searching for the monster! This gives us a chance to carry out our plan!

COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
Da! We will strike a low against capitalistic imperialism!

COMMUNIST AGENT #3:
It will be another step in our conquest of the world!

The following afternoon, at Yankee Stadium, the enthusiastic sports fans all but forgets their monster-problem by enjoying a lively baseball game. But wouldn’t know it, that’s when Gorgilla decides to show up, surfacing from beneath the pitcher’s mound! (Don’tcha just hate when that happens?)

As “Part 2…Gorgilla Strikes Again!” begins, the panicked crowd struggles to exit the stadium, unaware that Gorgilla means no harm:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
As the fearful crowd rushed FROM the stadium, policemen rushed INTO the stadium to encounter – to defeat the mammoth menace! Three…four…then, five grenades exploded and the more Gorgilla inhaled the potent gas, the more tired and drowsy he became…until finally…But if the police thought they could so easily capture this mightiest of creatures, they were mistaken! For no sooner did the gas evaporate, then Gorgilla became himself again!! Again strength and vigor surged within his massive form as he lashed out at his captors! And for the second time, Gorgilla made his escape…an escape that wouldn’t have been necessary if the humans had only realized that he meant no harm, that he wanted only to dwell among them peacefully for the rest of his days! As swiftly as he could, the hulking giant lumbered toward a deserted warehouse…Barricading himself in the warehouse, Gorgilla began to dig underground again…Meanwhile, in a nearby abandoned subway tunnel, foreign agents were preparing to strike a blow for the dark forces of tyranny!

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
Set that dynamite well! There must be no mistakes!

COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
Do not worry, comrade! All will go as planned!

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The African premier’s car will pass over us in three minutes and twelve seconds! At exactly that moment the dynamite will explode!

COMMUNIST AGENT #3:
The premier will be injured! His nation will blame the United States for it! There will be conflict – chaos – all of which will benefit the cause of world tyranny!

(Aha, we‘ve been waiting for those fiendish Commie finks to finally make their move!) Meanwhile, Scotty and his wife are with the police, investigating Gorgilla’s rather unique method of making his getaway – he even filled up the hole behind him as he burrowed into the earth! Once again, Scotty tries to convince the lawmen not to overreact to Gorgilla:

ANNE:
Oh, Scotty, are you sure…REALLY sure…that the ape creature is PEACEFUL??

SCOTTY:
I’m CERTAIN of it, Anne! Gorgilla came to us, in friendship, but we didn’t give him a chance to PROVE it! We accused him of evil intent! We attacked him! We tried to destroy him! All because we were too FRIGHTENED to wait and learn the truth!

And beneath the oncoming motorcade, the three “foreign agents” await their master plan to achieve fruition, totally unaware that Gorgilla is silently watching them:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Like a jigsaw puzzle, the fateful events were all coming together! To complete the picture, only one more coincidence was needed…and that happened when Gorgilla reached the abandoned subway tunnel!

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
Soon, the premier will be caught in the explosion!

COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
And the American police will not look for US! They will think GORGILLA released underground gases which caused the explosion! But the REST of the world will blame America for it!

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
As he watched the humans – their manner – the tone of their voices – Gorgilla senses they were dangerous men! Men who were up to something wrong – something harmful! Men who must be stopped!

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The premier is approaching now…get ready…Just one more second…

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
But for the assassins, that second was NEVER TO COME!

The police assigned to guard the premier’s motorcade notice that the ground is rumbling and correctly assume it to be Gorgilla. But rather than bursting upward into the parade route, Gorgilla chases the terrified spies through the abandoned subway tunnel, eventually emerging on a open surface area overlooking New York Harbor. When the leader of the Commie assassins pilots a waiting speedboat to escape, that doesn’t deter Gorgilla in the slightest; he dives into the water and swims after the fleeing spy. But when the pursuit winds up at Liberty island, the police and the military fail to realize that Gorgilla’s after a bad guy; instead, they assume that the mighty monkey-monster is intending to destroy the Statue Of Liberty …and this assumption seems more and more reasonable when the Russian spy starts climbing up the circular stairway inside Lady Liberty:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
We didn’t know – didn’t realize – that Gorgilla was chasing an enemy of America! All we knew was that the primeval creature was trying to force his way into the most cherished monument in our land! Inside the statue, the alien spy’s fear – his panic – drove him higher and higher up the winding stairway…But Gorgilla had no intention of letting the evil human escape! If the giant couldn’t reach his prey one way, he would try ANOTHER way! Just as Gorgilla reached the top of the statue, he saw his victim! Before the alien spy could turn and flee, Gorgilla reached out and grabbed him!! And at that very moment the bazooka below was fired!

SFX:
BAM!

Just as King Kong fell from the Empire State Building, poor Gorgilla topples from the top of the Statue Of Liberty, the Communist spy still clutched in his three-digit paw, crashing to the ground of Liberty Island. (Gee, wotta coincidence!)

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Seconds later, it was all over! The incredible ape-giant would be hounded nevermore! Then, when it was too late, we received the report! The injured spies had been found in the tunnel…The confessed to everything…Now the truth was known!

POLICEMAN:
We thought he was a menace – when he was only trying to HELP us!

SCOTTY:
Even as he fell, he held the spy so as not to injure him! How ironic that the wrong one survived the fall!

POLICEMAN:
You were right about the ape-creature! We should have listened to you!

SCOTTY:
Yes, I was right…But maybe it’s best that you DIDN’T listen to me! Gorgilla meant us no harm but he was still a savage! He was too savage to live among humans…and too human to live like a hunted beast! I don’t know where he is now, but wherever it is, I pray that Gorgilla has at last found peace…A better peace than he ever would have known here on Earth!

Also included in this issue of TALES TO ASTONISH are the following stories, features and advertisements:

• “Draw The Lone Ranger!”, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover advertisement for a special scholarship contest (apparently co-sponsored by Jack Wrather Productions, corporate owners of the Lone Ranger) promoted by “Art Instruction, Inc.”, a noted correspondence school specializing in “advertising art, magazine illustrating, cartooning, or landscape or portrait painting.”

• “The Stranger”, a two-page text-story featuring an illustration by Joe Maneely. (This feature was originally printed in Marvel’s ASTONISHING No. 39, June 1955.)

• “Boys, Girls, Men, Women – If You Know Just 20 People…You Can Make At Least $50.00 – More Likely $100.00 To $200.00 In Your Spare Time!”, an ad soliciting for greeting cards salespeople to represent “Wallace Brown, Inc.”

• A page consisting of two ads: “A Real Mobile Tank” that’s supposedly “large enough for two kids but can be handled by one”, available through mail-order from “Honor House Products Corp.”; and an “Amazing Wrist Radio” that “plays for years without electricity or batteries”, available via mail-order from “Honor House Prod. Corp.”

• A page consisting of two unrelated ads: “Juke Box Bank Actually Plays Real Music”, the “swingingest’ way to save!”, available through mail-order from “MedFord Products”; and “Powerful Microscope” with “no end to its uses”, available via mail-order from “Imperial Sales”.

• “Monsteroso!”, drawn by Steve Ditko. -- Essentially the same story as Lee and Ditko’s "The Terror of Tim Boo Ba!" in Marvel’s AMAZING ADULT FANTASY (No. 9, February, 1962), this story opens on a strange, spotted-shell egg that’s about to hatch; from it emerges a shaggy, red, saw-toothed monster that calls himself “Monsteroso”. The shambling creature quickly grows so huge that, within four pages he dwarfs his own world. With a single stride, Monsteroso crosses an entire continent. As he continues to grow, Monsteroso’s three-toed feet cause the land he stands upon to crumble under his massive weight. No matter how big Monsteroso grows, it seems his ego grows even bigger. But when torrents of water begin to fall from the sky, Monsteroso is helpless to stop it! Soon, it completely inundates the colossal creature, which drowns while thinking, “All – is – lost!! Lost!!!” Suddenly it’s revealed that Monsteroso’s “world” was actually a petrie dish, one that was just washed clean by a research scientist who needed to wash the dish clean of “unimportant microbes” for a new microscopic experiment! (This story was reprinted in Marvel’s FANTASY MASTERPIECES No. 9, June, 1967.)

• A page consisting of two unrelated ads: “Look! Boys Wanted To Sell GRIT”, an ad soliciting for boys (specifically!) to earn “spending money” and prizes by selling copies of the popular “good news” publication from “GRIT Publishing Co.”; and “204 Revolutionary War Soldiers Only $1.98” for “two complete armies” made of “pure molded plastic”, available through mail-order from “Revolutionary War Soldiers”.

• “Statement Required By The Act Of August 24, 1912, as Amended By The Acts Of March 3, 1933, July 2, 1946 and June 11, 1960 (74 Stat. 208) showing The Ownership, Management, And Circulation Of TALES TO ASTONISH…”, a statement of ownership that lists this comic’s average monthly circulation from October 1959 to September 1960 as 163,156 copies.

• “Shop By Mail”, a page of small, classified-style ads for collectible stamps, magic tricks, collectible coins, a blackhead removal gimmick, “Super Ju Jitsu” and other goofy goodies available from a variety of mail-order companies,

• “Robot On The Rampage!”, drawn by Steve Ditko. – “A few years in the future”, in “a lonely lighthouse in a desolate sea”, the lighthouse-keeper’s robot assistant declares that it’s “through taking orders” and attempts to extinguish the lighthouse’s beacon, even though the lighthouse “has saved many a ship from crashing on those rocks.” Defending himself, the lighthouse-keeper tosses a blanket over the robot’s head (to prevent its sensors from “seeing”) and shoves it out the door, hoping to stall it until the luxury liner “Superba” safely passes by during the next week. When the robot discovers that it’s unable to break down the door or scale the lighthouse, it decides to wait until the lighthouse-keeper runs out of stored food. Finally, the lighthouse-keeper emerges from the lighthouse; seeing this, the robot starts to make a move to enter the lighthouse – and realizes it can’t move! Between the salty water and the moisture in the air, it has rusted solid! All it can do is watch as the lighthouse-keeper summons help while refusing to abandon his post. (This story was reprinted from Marvel’s JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY No. 51, March, 1959.)

• “You, Too Can Be Tough!”, a one-page ad that describes a variety of books, including FUN FOR BOYS, DRAWING FOR FUN, LEARN TO DANCE and THE KEY TO SPACE TRAVEL, all available through mail-order from the “Padell Book Co.”

• “How To ‘Take Charge’ Of A Highly-Paid Job In Air Conditioning & Refrigeration”, an ad for a correspondence school specializing in air conditioning and refrigeration technology, the “Commercial Trades Institute”.

• “Learn Radio-Television Electronics By Practicing At Home In Your Spare Time”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad for correspondence courses from “The National Radio Institute”.

• “Are The Best Things In Life Passing You By?”, a back-cover advertisement for bodybuilding courses -- applying “dynamic tension” “secret formula” from “Charles Atlas”.

ODDBALL FACTOID – Although Gorgilla is referred to as an “ape” and “the missing link” – and his name strongly implies that he’s a giant gorilla – Jack Kirby designed the monster with a huge prehensile tail, indicating that Gorgilla is actually some sort of huge monkey-creature!

Bonus ODDBALL FACTOID – It’s certainly possible that Monsteroso’s name was inspired by the name of one of Steve Ditko’s fellow freelancers, prolific cartoonist Rocco Mastroserio!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC No. 1,293 -- Which Oddball Comic published a character called “Zappy The Hippy” in the late 1960s? Not only wasn’t it one of those “underground comix”; would you believe it was published by Archie Comics? Well, here’s proof, an issue of ARCHIE’S MADHOUSE that also features one of the publisher’s only Silver Age superheroes that’s never been re-launched, Captain Sprocket! (But what is this funnybook’s artistic connection to the early “Marvel Age Of Comics”?

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