The Furry of War

I don't care how tough the Greatest Generation were supposed to be in the face of incredible adversity. If they faced a cadre of Nazis Uber Gorillas they would likely drop a brick and hightail it back to Jersey.

THE SHADOW KNOWS, DON'T PISS OFF THE BIG MONKEY

I must say, that gorilla really does appear to be enjoying himself! This ape may be an odd foe for the mysterious Shadow, but I love how the cover captures that early 20th century notion of the fearsome jungle beast. The simplicity of the layout accentuates the immensity of the enraged ape; the Shadow is tossed aside like a toy and the frantic maiden isn't about to run off anywhere with her locks twisted up in that crazed beast's fist. Typically Shadow covers portrayed the other-worldly detective as an omnipotent demi-god who taunts and dominates his criminal prey but here we have him looking decidedly mortal.

DOUBLE CROSS OF THE GORILLA RANGER

I'd like to see him sneak up on a buffalo! How a giant ape figures into a comic about colonial America isn't exactly clear but then again the joy of silly Silver Age books like this issue TOMAHAWK is the ease in which the insanity can be explained in a handful of panels and exposition. No message boards with dedicated comic geeks to pick apart the logic of the plot in 1960, just frustrated letters to the editor. Later issues had the Revolutionary freedom fighter face off with another forty foot ape, King Colosso -  if he was from the same Plains tribe as this gorilla in unknown.

A GO-GO GORILLA WITH A BIG BEAT

Last week's post on gorilla comic book covers was a fine reminder of how much damn fun I once had perusing the comic bins for ape-ly artwork. It was my curious little project Comic Book Gorillarama that lead me down the jungle path to discover the Gorilla Men of Golden Era Hollywood. It seems fitting that I look back to four colour simians of years past and share some of my favourite comic book covers on a regular feature here at G-Men. I usually need a pick-me-up on Mondays after returning to the drudgery of earning a proper living so I can get more Gorilla Stuff therefore you can depend on a regular post highlighting a favourite cover from my CBG Flickr sets. I hope you return again and again to enjoy.

Hawkman was a Golden Age character who finally earned his own title in 1964 for a short lived run but remains today as an iconic DC character. Murphy Anderson bangs out a beautiful cover with Katar Hol facing off with a distant cousin of those winged monkey bastards from The Wizard of Oz. Even though HAWKMAN only ran 27 issues, the Thanagarian policeman had the distinction of not one, but two flying gorilla covers.

GORILLAS SERIOUSLY THINK

I just don't spend enough time with my favourite four-colour simians anymore. Several years ago, I cobbled  Comic Book Gorillarama together to celebrate my love of the Gorilla Cover - a devious sales ploy cooked up in the 1950's by editors at DC Comics to suck the hard earned coinage out of the pockets of unsuspecting children. Ah, simpler times....

GIANT GORILLA VS MONSTER COBRA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3-16-2010



GAME ON!
via MONSTERCRAZY
SEE THE SHOCKING CONCLUSION!! at COMICS OUGHTA BE FUN!

GIRLS GONE WILD!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-5-2009

The recent post GORILLA VS SINDIE VIRTUE got me hankering for more apes and jungle girls. There is a long lineage of jungle flicks revolving around pale fleshed, scantily clad beauties like SHEENA but comics also featured a variety of women in the wild.

GORILLA VS SPAINARD

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-2-2009

I became aware of El Desván del Abuelito a short while ago through some fantastic 50's Spanish Sci-Fi comics that were reposted at PCL LINKDUMP. Tracking back to the source of the pulpy four colour delights revealed a Spanish site that was avidly celebrating both imported North American genre entertainment of the past and the local product as well.
The site's purveyor Pedro dropped me a line back in early December but I haven't had the time to give his work a proper nod. In that email, Pedro shared with me his wonderful post featuring the apes.

There are some of the covers of an ancient Spanish comic character, Roberto Alcázar y Pedrín, created by Spanish artist Eduardo Vañó.
Roberto Alcázar was one of the most famous and popular comic characters between 1940 and 1975 (the long, long years of dictator Franco), with more than 1.000 comics published. He was a "Nick Carter" type, who, helped by the young Pedrín, fought a lot of fantastic enemies: gangsters, robots, mad doctors... and, of course, GORILLAS and killer apes.

Below are a few samples - head on over to El Desván del Abuelito to enjoy the rest.

FOUR COLOUR KONGA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 12-16-2008

KONG may be the most memorable of the silver screen's giant apes but the big fella never had a North American comic book series as long running as KONGA. Here's a sampler of some of the covers found in my Comic Book Gorillarama Flickr sets.

EL GORILA MAGNIFICO!!!!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 11-30-2008












I have a weakness for pop culture viewed through a Spanish prism - there's just a little extra charm with that Latin flair. The comics above are from a massive Flickr set created by a recent admirer of my very own pics. Check em out!

MAD ABOUT APES

ORIGINALLY POSTED 10-14-2008



I was a voracious MAD MAGAZINE reader as a young man. How this title continues to limp along at an outrageous cover price today, I don't know.
But..back in my day, nothing beat the genius of the MAD maestros, Don Martin and Sergio Aragones.
Head over to FLICKR and enjoy a nice selection of scans from my collection.

RETURN TO GORILLA VS THE BLACK TERROR

ORIGINALLY POSTED 9-25-2008

Nedor-A-Day just added another wonderful page featuring Bongo the 'killa gorilla' whom I wrote about in a recent post, GORILLA VS THE BLACK TERROR, (which I have yet to read thoroughly, so thanks for pointing out the ape's name Chris!).

GORILLA VS THE BLACK TERROR

ORIGINALLY POSTED 9-23-2008

I am still not a 100% onboard with reading comics online. I just can't get over the lack of a physical mag to paw and peruse, or missing out on the musty smell of a 40 year old copy of AQUAMAN. However, the opportunity to enjoy rare and hard to find Golden and Silver Age material is a blessing for us mere mortals who can't drop hundreds of dollars on single issue. I was extremely pleased to stumble across this Black Terror tale with a gorilla twist on the impressive Nedor-A-Day blog.

Hit the link to read THE BLACK TERROR : You'll Die Laughing

I AM THE GORILLA MAN

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-31--2008

Do I need to emphasize how much I love this cover?
I just picked up the Mark Evanier hardcover KIRBY, KING OF COMICS yesterday and wanted to share my love of the man. He was, quite simply, the King. Jack Kirby's gorilla cover output was pretty much confined to KAMANDI but this Jekyll/Hyde transformation sequence is a fun exception. While it lacks some of the explosive dynamic typical of Kirby, I am a total sucker for the subject matter.

BE THE KING KONG OF YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-30-2008

I've always thought he looked slightly sleazy - something about those booze addled eyes and prodigious bags.
Definitely a gorilla mask that could use an intervention.


Image discovered at MONSTER CRAZY

SHAGGY

ORIGINALLY POSTED  8-11-2008

On the subject of CONGO BILL (1948), the suit used in the film has no identifiable gorilla man attached to the role that I know of. I have yet to see the serial so perhaps seeing the fellow in action may lend a clue but it is entirely reasonable that it may have been an extra or stunt man under the fur.....and dear lord!, what fur! CONGO BILL's ape has the distinction of shaggiest fella in the lineup. I am hard pressed to point to another suit with such ample, billowing, tresses. A joke about a bear and rabbit comes to mind but I'm too cultured to draw a correlation ;-)

MONSIEUR CONGO BILL

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-10-2008

Torn from the pages of DC Comics, jungle adventurer Congo Bill faced off wild animals and intrigue in the 1948 serial, aptly titled, CONGO BILL. I have a variety of chapter poster images and a few stills but this French one sheet has a stunning and vibrant colour scheme.

SELLING SALVE SAVES LIVES

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-7-2008



I'm unsure which of the following is most disturbing:
1) A powerful, wild jungle beast breaks free of his cage.
2) A pair of children are brandishing weapons in a public place.
3) The ape is bewildered into submission (?!)!
4) The authorities express the desire to reward children who brandish weapons in a public place.
5) Said weapons were earned by children selling crap.

SOMETHING WENT WRONG! THIS BIG APE ISN'T ACTING!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-2-2008

Quick shot before I am back on the asphalt - here's a great golden age cover from the Comic Book Gorillarama galleries. Unfortunately the bulk of the collection that was uploaded at Epsom.com appears to be defunct - hopefully I will be able to remedy that in the next month.

ALBINO APES OF THE COMIC BINS

ORIGINALLY POSTED 7-30-2008

Like fins on a Caddy, bleach a gorilla and the darn thing just looks even more cool. White gorillas have popped up in a handful of films, namely WHITE PONGO, WHITE GORILLA and my simian cinema 'white whale', THE IVORY APE but they can also be found in the four-colour jungles of comic books.
Comic Book Gorillarama was my first foray into web work and remains far more popular than the obsessions that have marginalized it's upkeep ;-) Have a gander at both my Flickr photoset and the site that first announced to the world that I got some serious ape envy goin' on!