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| By Stefan Blitz |
With the majority of current comics being disappointing, full of
properties rather than
stories, I've found solace in the medium by looking at a great deal of the classic reprint material being released by various pubishers.
IDW Publishing is currently putting out some of the most interesting and eclectic material currently being published.
With various licensed titles, some truly engaging original work and some of the best looking archival material being published today, anyone with a love of comics should be looking at this work closely.
I recently took a look at three of their recent, fantastic releases and for a few hours, was reminded why I love comics.
Steve Ditko's Monsters Volume 1: GorgoEdited by Craig Yoe Published by IDW Publishing / Yoe Books
Yoe Books does the impossible; taking a series of ingredients, in this case, a comic adaptation of a mediocre B-movie (but let's be realistic, it's much further down the alphabet) by a comic legend (and recluse) who delivers a fairly redundant giant monster comic on a regular basis and spins this into archival gold in a handsome, nostalgiac release that's a welcome addition to their series of distinguished archive volumes.
Obviously influenced by the successful Godzilla films, Gorgo is a fifty foot giant prehistoric lizard creature, who's adventures are usually spawned by him running off from his two hundred foot tall even more destructive two hundred foot tall mother.
I've never been particularly engrossed by most Charlton Comics. The sad part, is I believe I've been turned off my their rather industrial font that seemed to permeate much of their work (which unlike the mechanical font of EC Comics, never seemed to fit within the style of the work).
A footnote to his bibliography, Steve Ditko's nine issues of
Gorgo (all reprinted within and written by Joe Gill) are both rather simplistic in their storytelling and linework (certainly in comparison to his Marvel work on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange which he produced concurrently). Yet, despite my apprehensiveness toward the font, the book itself is a bit of a charmer, and an entertaining throwback to comics of yore.
Like any Yoe Book release, one of the big draws is the production design, which in this case is impeccable. The handsome hardcover features sepia endpapers and a reptillian texture to the cover. The books insides are reprinted faithfully, utilizing the Ben-Day dots of the time over a cream colored paper, reminiscent of early (slightly yellowed) newsprint.
Yoe also writes an informative introduction that gives an exhaustive background on both the comic and film.
There's a pretty good chance that if you love comics, you love giant monsters. The book itself is a work of art and the wonderfully wacky contents within are sure to engage both the most innocent and cynical of readers. Highly recommended.
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