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MONSTERSDITKO
GORGO!
Scripts by
JOE GILL
Edited & Designed by
CRAIG YOE
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IDW PUBLISHINGSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Edited and Designed by
CRAIG YOE
Produced by
CLIZIA GUSSONI
Comics from the collections of
DAVID BURD,
JIM VADEBONCOEUR, JR.,
and JOE LATINO
MONSTDITK
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1961 movie poster for Gorgo boast-
ed like nothing youve ever seen
before, but that was obvious hype.
Gorgos story was a synthesis of the
giant monster icks that stomped
before it, particularly Godzilla.
Later, the Mystery Science The-
ater 3000 folks did a send-up of the
ick. Tongues rmly in cheek, they
proclaimed, The plot of King Kong! The mon-
ster from Godzilla! The set decorations from Ol-
iver! Gorgo was directed by Russian-born
Eugene Lourie, who ed his country after contrib-
uting to an anti-Communist lm, Black Crowes,
in 1919. He nanced his way to France by draw -
ing movie posters. In the 1930s, Lourie worked
as a production designer for directors Max Ophls
and Ren Clair in France. He also collaborated
with Jean Renoir on La Grande Illusion (1937)
and followed him to Hollywood. There Lou-
rie worked as an art director on Char-lie Chaplins Limelight (1952).
His own directorial debut was
in 1953 with
the protable The
Beast from 20,000
Fathoms, the rst
of three dinosaur
movies. The
special ef-
fects were
by the direc-
tor and Ray Harry-
hasen. According
to lm his-
torian Tom
W e a v e r ,
The director said
that hissix-year-old
daughter was up-
set that the mon-
ster met his demise
at the end in The
Beast, crying Youre a bad daddy!
You killed the big, nice beast!
Gorgo was Louries answer for
her, with its happier outcome and
theme of maternal love. Reported-
ly, ex-gangsters Frank, Maurice,
and Herman King of King Broth-
ers Production, loved their dear ol
mother and gladly bought into the lm. In fact, Gorgos
mom was the only female of any note in the lm. Lourie
became typecast as a science ction director, which he felt
limited him. After putting Gorgo in the can, he declared he
would not direct the same comic-strip monsters. Guess
the guy didnt respect the comics! Eight years later, Lou-
rie received an Academy Award nomination for his visual
effects on Krakatoa, East of Java. He also designed Clint
Eastwoods wonderfulBronco Billy (1980) and appeared on
screen in Jim McBridesBreathless (1983) starring Richard
Gere. The original location ofGorgo was planned to be
Japan. It was then switched to France before King Broth-
ers nally settled on England. Keep Watching the Skies, a
book by Bill Warren, contends that Australia was anoth-
er locale in the running, but the producers concluded lm-
goers wouldnt care if a monster leveled that continent.
And it was thought that Australia didnt have any recogniz-
able national monuments to destroy. So Merry Old
England it was, and in the breathless words of ForrestJ. Ackerman in the 11th issue of Famous Monsters of
Filmland, Despite every military effort the mighty mon-
ster makes its way up the Thames and across the teeming
city of London, sending national monuments crashing like
bowling pins, crushing buses and people like eggshells.
Big Ben Westminster Abbey the Houses of Parlia-
ment and the Thames Tower Bridgeall are left in ruins
by the great Gorgos rage and rampage. Lourie recalled,
The actual making of the lm was interesting, and I tried
to make it as spectacular as possible. He related that the
London-smashing scenes were all done with breakaway
sets. For these scenes we had built a large tank about three
feet deep, occupying an entire stage of MGM Studios, in
which were replicas of
the Tower Bridge and
the surrounding shore
installations. Here we
staged the destruction
of the bridge and the
beast walking away
in the river. Lou-
rie went on to say,
We obtained benevo-
lent cooperation from
the British Army and the Lon-
don police authorities. We were
allowed to use army tanks and
vehicles and to shoot day andnight sequences on the Tow-
er Bridge and many central
streets. We later had to combine shots
made at night in Piccadilly Circus with
shots of panicky crowds. Simultaneous-
ly the beast was destroying the lumi-
nous signs on the roofs of the surround-
ing buildings. From the sheer number
of special effects, it was a very ambi-
tious enterprise indeed. Lourie con-
cluded, I joyfully destroyed the city of
London... in color and with a wonder-
ful display of spectacular photograph-
THE
I n t r o d u c t I o n b y c r a I g yo eGORGO!
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ic effects. It is said that
Nara Island, where Gorgo
is rst discovered, is possi-
bly a nod to Japans nem-
esis Godzilla as Nara is a
Japanese period of histo-
ry (710794). Or Nara may be a re-
versal of Aran Islands, which are near
the west coast of Ireland. Reported-
ly, The exterior scenes set in Ire-
land were lmed at Bullock Harbourand Coliemore Harbour, both near the
town of Dalkey, County Dublin. Other
scenes were lmed at the MGM-Brit-
ish Studios in Borehamwood in Hert-
fordshire. Empty streets of Lon-
don during the early morning were
used when lming the sequence where
Gorgo is driven through the city. In
his autobiography My Work in Films
(1985), Lourie wrote an interesting
anecdote about some special effects
in Gorgo. I was marooned with Fred-
die Young, our cameraman, and all
his crew in a lighthouse at the
end of a jetty in the port of
Dn Laoghaire near Dublin.
The storm was terric. Waves
splashed high above the jet-
ty. The port authorities or-
dered us to stay put until
the storm and tides subsid-
ed. Tossed impressively by the moun-
tainous waves, a freighter tried to ap-
proach the port. It was exactly like a
scene described in the script. I thought
it would be a good chance to catch the
scene. No way, was Freddies reply.
Later on, I had to shoot the scene with
a miniature ship in a studio tank. Of
course, our cartoonist Ditko thankfully
experienced no risk to life and limb in
the crafting of the Gorgo comic book.
Just what the heck are Gorgo and
his mother, anyway? For the answer to that I
turned to Yoe Books resident dinosaur expert,
Clizia Gussoni, author ofThe Awesome Bookof Dinosaurs and The Awesome Book of Sharks
(Running Press, 2006) and producer of this
book. Ms. Gussoni says, Gorgo is an interest-
ing mix of animals. At rst, we might
think him a Tyrannosaurus rex for his
big head and teeth, but T. rex had puny
arms, only two ngers, no opposable
thumbs, and no frilled gills. Also, dino-
saurs didnt dwell in the water. Ancient reptiles
that did live in the water include Plesiosaurus,
which, like Gorgo, lived in the oceans and
was carnivorous. But, Plesiosaurus had
ns, not arms or legs like our mov-
ie/comic star. In Gor-
go I see similarities with
an ancient crocodile, Deinosu-
chus, which had a long tail, osteoderms (the ridges alo
the back), and powerful teeth.Deinosuchus walked on all fo
in the typical reptilian belly walk. In the end, whatever Go
is, hes a species only a mother could love! The Gorgo
ure and animatronics used in the lming were created by tw
time Oscar winner Tom Howard, who worked on Village of
Damned, Children of the Damned, and The Haunting. He w
on to do stunning effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey alo
side Douglas Trumbull. Howards special effects in Go
were quite good for the times through the use of miniaturi
tion and what was called in publicity suitmation (just w
it sounds likesome guy in a rubber suit!) Studio publ
ty also gushed, The picture introduces the new process kno
as Automotion, which makes the movements of the sta
Gorgo I and Gorgo II, extremely lifelike. The monsters w
made of berglass, foam rubber, and hundreds of ingeniom e c h a n i s m s .
A u t o m o - tion
was noth- ing
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more than an
eager publi-
cists term for
s t o p - m o -
tion anima-
tion. But, the technical
aspects were complicated
and have been thought well
of by both artists in that eld
and monster movie fans.
Besides praise for the special effects, some ofGorgos
fans have cited that there is an environmentalist mor-
al that ends the lm and that this is one of the few
icks where the monsters arent done-in by the hu-
manoids. And who could hate a movie about mater-
nal love? Gorgos mother rescuing her cute little
city-destroying offspring would soften even the
hardest heart.
The lm starred Bill Travers as Joe Ryan,
William Sylvester as Sam Slade, Vincent
Winter as Sean, Christopher Rhodes as
McCartin, Joseph OConor as Profes-
sor Hendricks, Bruce Seton as Profes-
sor Flaherty, Martin Benson as Mr.
Dorkin... and Mick Dillon as the
monster Gorgo!
Ackerman reported that
Gorgo is the most costly, time consuming production the King Bros.
have made to dateand 38 productions have rolled off their slate.
They certainly hoped to make back the investment. The January 25th
issue of the theater owners Motion Picture Exhibitor ShowmensTrade Review included a special insert that proclaimed Like nothing
Youve Ever Seen Before and because theres more GO in GOr-
GO the grosses will be like nothing youve ever seen before! Not to
mention the artistic merit of the lm, right?
In spite of its merits, Gorgo was honestly a bit cheesy, but still very
cool. The same can be said for the company that published the Gorgo
comics, the Connecticut-based Charlton. Started by two gents who had
met while serving time in jail, the company paid very low rates to the
artistsbut at least their work was printed, if quite shabbily! The com-
pany had street smarts, though, proven by securing the Gorgo license.
Charlton had already had success with their Konga comics selling, at
one point, over 234,000 copies per issue. Gorgo followed
in Kongas big footsteps with nearly the same numbers.
Many of the artists in Charltons stable were of the hack
variety. But, Charlton, maybe to help insure the success
of Gorgo, put their very best man on the job, Steve Ditko.
Ditko had worked for the company since the mid-50s,
pen-and-inking a myriad of horror and fantasy sto-
ries and even a few cowboy and romance tales.
At the same time he was drawing Konga and
Gorgo, Ditko was also working for Marvel
and created Spider-Man with Stan Lee and
Doctor Strange. It was a wonderfully cre-
ative period for the master artist and comic
readers were greatly enriched. Christopher
Hayton has insightfully observed, Steve
Ditkos work output during these early
60s years illustrates how important the
Charlton monster books were to the art-
ist by virtue of the fact that he continued
to work on them, and increased his work
on them, even while his work at Marvel was
rapidly gaining momentum.
Ditko indeed didnt skimp on this lesser pay-
ing work, but brought an obvious zeal, ani-
mation, drawing, and layout chops to it. And
he must have been proud of it, too, evidenced
by his caricaturing himself in a surreal man-
ner as the artist at the drawing board on the cover
ofFantastic Giants (September 1966), a one-shot comic that featured
both Gorgo and Konga in reprints in their last hurrah. It is typical of
Ditko to do his nest work no matter what the nancial rewards.
Part of Ditkos pleasure was from the manuscripts. Ditko has been
quoted as saying, I read the (movie) screenplay ofGorgo. From the
rst reading to this day, I marvel at how well Joe adapted the charac-
ter to comic books.
The Joe Ditko refers to was Joe Gill (1919-2006), with whom he
teamed up with on many a story for Charlton. Gill was a talented but
underrated writer. His early output included working for Timely (Mar-
vel) in the 40s. He also wrote for DC and Dell. Gill quickly pecked
out one story after another in every genre to make a living with Charl-
tons meager page rates. Aside from the low compensation, he, like
Ditko, enjoyed the complete editorial freedom the company granted.
BELOW The director of Gorgo(King Brothers Productions, 1961), Eugene Lourie.
RIGHT Gorgo immortalized on the greatest monster magazine forever and a day...
Famous Monsters of Filmland#11, April 1961 (Warren), artist Basil Gogos. From the
collection of Tom Stein.
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ABOVE Caramba!The rare Spanish pressbook cover has smashing artwork
from the Gorgomovie poster.
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Everything was pub-
lished as is, with
no editorial confer-
ences or meddling.
Gills stories at their
best would show lit-
erary craft with a
touch of humor and
often a bit of ro-
mance. They were
always entertaining.
During Gorgos pro-
duction, both Joe
and Steve were living in Der-
by, Connecticut, the location of
Charltons editorial ofces and
printing plant. In Charlton Spot-
light#5 (Fall 2006), Gill told Jim
Amash, Ditko and I were drink-
ing buddies for a while, even
though he wasnt a drinker. We
both lived in the only hotel in
town, and wed have supper to-
gether in a nearby bar or restau-
rant, and we were totally unalike.
We had nothing in common. But
we hung out together. He had a
nice sense of humor at that time.
I think he ran out or used it all
up He was very withdrawn, he
was devoted to his comic book
art, and he used to say that ev-
erything he did, no matter whohe was working for, if he was
working for DC for two times
the money, or if he was working
for Charlton, he still did the same
quality work.
Artist Frank McLaughlin has
spoken of Steve Ditko in a sim-
ilar way. You know, when I rst
met Ditko at Charlton, he was terric. He was funny. He was friend -
ly. He was affable. He was best man at Billy Andersons wedding. But
he would never allow his picture to be taken. And still doesnt. He
had his own look
in his work. He
did some terric
stuff at Charlton.
Gorgo and Konga,
the Japanese [sic]
monsters, and so
forth. He does a
great job on the
horror and myster-
ies and that stuff. I
thought it was as
good as his Spi-
der-Man. He was
always sickly. The funny thing
is, I had a million laughs with
that guy at Charlton. He looks
like Steve Allen and hed laugh
like him and everything. He was
a fun guy, believe it or not.
The fun Gill and Ditko were hav-
ing certainly found its way into
the Gorgo stories. Ditkos char-
acter designs and layout had a
lot of zing. It was far from the
rst time that Ditko drew such a
creature. Gorgo resembled some
of the monsters Ditko and Jack
Kirby were drawing for Atlas/
Marvels titles, except Gorgo
didnt wear the customary bath-
ing suit in which Marvel clothed
their more modest mankind-destroyers.
Other comic book artists be-
sides Ditko that worked for
Charlton drew Gorgo, including
Charles Nicholas, Vince Alascia,
Bill Molno, Joe Sinnott, Vince
Colletta, Bill Montes, and Er-
nie Bache. Dick Giordano and
Rocke Mastroserio had a hand in some covers. For the purpose of
Ditko Monsters: Gorgo!, we are only reprinting the Ditko-illustrated
scripts and covers.
ABOVE Blimey!A sedated Gorgo is paraded through the streets of London.
BELOW Drawing upon his artistic skills from his
previous career, Lourie storyboarded Gorgo.
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