Monsters 1: The Marvel Monsterbus

As a child of the 1980s, these Stan Lee/Jack Kirby monster comics were first published decades before my birth. But I saw occasional reprints of these stories in monster and horror comics from the 1970s.This type of comics cast a spell on me: yes, the stories were often corny and probably quickly written with occasional plot holes. But they were also highly entertaining within their limits: human characters with clear goals, unusual monsters with inventive backstories -- and usually a twist ending explaining how the monsters are defeated. Miniature morality plays, with exceptional art by Jack Kirby. The sheer exuberance, inventiveness and sense of fun more than compensates for the plot holes and other narrative quirks. It's easy to understand why these monster comics were the bread and butter of Marvel comics for years before the early 1960s superhero boom: Kirby's monster comics were just plain fun to read, and they also linger in the brain of many readers for years afterwords. The appeal of these monsters is shown by the fact that a few of these monsters were revived by other writers in later decades: Groot, Xemnu [originally the Hulk], It! The Living Colossus...This book is a treasure, allowing me to read some of the stories that captured my attention as a child and to also enjoy many more stories that are new to me. The color paper and printing quality are exceptional, and the binding of the hardcover book seems sturdy. Highly recommended for established comic book fans, and worth a look for those newbies who want to know where Groot came from.

We called them 'IND comics', or also 'Monster comics' when they came out. NO ONE called them 'Atlas comics'--Ind was at the top left corner of the cover of the comics, as DC was on DC comics , or Dell on Dell comics--so we called them Ind comics. I started reading/collecting comics in 1956 with Uncle Scrooge 15 (Second Richest Duck, probably the best issue in the run). In those days, my friends and I would usually begin with Dell comics, but soon got Superman--cause ALL the BIG kids bought Superman, my first was Sup 112 (3 men of Steel, 1957) then Batman #110 and 111--in 1959 I started to collect monster comics. I probably have or had about a third of the issues reprinted in this book, and more in volume 2. Krang, Gomdulla, Gagoom, Goom, Metallo, the Genie, Taboo, Colossus, etc. The longer stories were best, cause 2 splash pages-great Kirby artwork. Maybe my favorites back then were 'The Thing called It' and Magneto, the latter because it treated sensitively a big man named Hank Larkin. Zog ( only the cover reproduced as interior was by Paul Reinman) was a lousy issue, it seemed always to be a 'throw in' when friends and I were trading. I always wanted the Sporr issue, a friend had it but would not trade it or even let others read it, so it was nice to see it now, but it was the 'same old same old' formula, setting, etc.Most of us dropped the Ind books after awhile because of the sameness of stories, the convenient appearance of SWAMPS to kill off the monster, etc. Plus, ultimately, they, and especially the back stories, were depressing, so many people were PUNISHED. Men sailing on ships off the edge of a flat world, a man goes into the dinosaur age in his time machine but is stuck there when he realizes he has no electrical outlet to plug his machine into so as to escape, a man doomed to run down a never ending stairway ( to hell) etc. Some might give scary dreams, but mostly they just left you feeling down. But the book is great for its type. Just don't read too many stories at once, not wise.

This volume collects all of Jack Kirby's artwork for the Pre-Marvel fantasy and science fiction comics from December 1956 through July 1961. The stories by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber are fun, but somewhat silly, as is typical for comics of this era, which were aimed at 7 to 12 year old kids. Many of these tales are fondly remembered by fans who grew up with them in the 50's and 60's or discovered them through reprint titles like "Monsters on the Prowl" in the 70's. We even get to see the origin of Groot, now a member of the surprise hit "Guardians of the Galaxy" films. The artwork is beautifully reproduced on good quality paper, with vibrant colors. Most people will not miss the stories by Paul Reinman and Don Heck that were omitted from this collection. It would be nice to have an omnibus collection of the 5-pagers by Steve Ditko. I have already pre-ordered Monsters Vol. 2. I highly recommend this book.

Just in time for Halloween, a horde of old-fashioned comic book monsters -- and monsters drawn by Jack Kirby, no less!Really, what else has to be said? For those of us who were kids when these stories first appeared (or when they were reprinted later on), we get hundreds of pages of pure fun & charm. The stories read almost like fables, with a moral at the end of most; and if not that, an O. Henry-like twist. These stories aren't sophisticated, edgy, or (allegedly) adult in any way ... and that's what makes them so wonderful. While lost in these pages, you can forget the cares & stresses of the everyday world, and return to a golden-tinged childhood, where even the worst of monsters are defeated by brains, decency, and courage, every time. And sprinkled among them are stories of arrogant men learning painful lessons, told perhaps simply but earnestly, with all the humanism of that time, when the future seemed to promise a better, more caring world. Most joyfully recommended!