Prior to the creation of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, Steve Ditko established a reputation as an artist of monster comics. Perhaps his two most famous contributions derived from the creative and financially disastrous 1961 UK films Gorgo and Konga. Charlton Comics obtained the rights to both properties and assigned writer [a:Joe Gill|563248|Joe Gill|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png] and artist Ditko as the primary creative teams. The monsters proved moderately popular with Gorgo lasting 26 issues in three different series and Konga 27 in three. Craig Yoe recently collected these adventures in two massive hardback volumes from IDW: [b:Steve Ditko's Monsters, Vol. 1: Gorgo|16231267|Steve Ditko's Monsters, Vol. 1 Gorgo|Joe Gill|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355921876s/16231267.jpg|22223322] and Steve Ditko's Monsters Volume 2: Konga. Given my predilection for [b:apes|15705732|The Apes of Wrath|Richard Klaw|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374774129s/15705732.jpg|21368726], the latter attracted my attention.

The massive volume collects all of Ditko's Konga tales, which play much better than the dreadful Michael Gough-fronted movie. The highly-regarded Gough's career survived the encounter as he went on to well-remembered roles in Doctor Who, The Avengers, and most famously in the US as Alfred in Tim Burton's Batman films.

The uneven Ditko art flashes some true signs of brilliance especially in regards to storytelling and Konga's emotional state. The underrated Gill expertly relies on Ditko's abilities, rarely relating the ape's feelings through captions. As the stories progress, the synergy between the pair increases as does the quality of Ditko's work. Unlike most Charlton titles of the time, Konga enjoyed a continuity between issues. Sadly, probably due the vagaries of newsstand and the perceived youth of the readership, Ditko and Gill felt the need to spend 2-4 pages per issue recapping events. ( )