Friday, April 23, 2010

A Classic Godzilla Comic Strip - The Monsters That Devoured Canarsie

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Ah, it was a great time to be a Godzilla, and monster movie fan in general, during the 1970s. There were several great monster movie magazines and fan publications produced during the decade, including Forrest Ackerman's "Famous Monsters of Filmland" and Dean Latimer's "The Monster Times."

Well, today I want to flash-back to the groovy 70s, and Latimer's "Monster Times" for a great Godzilla related comic strip called "The Monsters That Devoured Canarsie."

The strip was written/illustrated by Latimer from an idea that was presented to him by his close friend Johnny Kapelusz and appeared in the September 1973 issue (Vol 1 No. 26) of the magazine..

In the cartoon, three young, and very bored monster fans imaginations bring forth destruction to their neighborhood in Brooklyn. From the youngster's minds pop Godzilla, Rodan, Ghidorah, Gamera, Gorgo, Mothra, King Kong and the Allosaurus from "Valley of Gwangi" to add a little spice to a lazy Wednesday afternoon.

Kids will do anything to avoid working on a book report....

In typical Toho fashion, the monsters lay waste to everything they can get their hands on, stomp on the military and fleeing pedestrians, than disappear just as mysteriously as they appeared.

It should be noted that besides publishing "The Monster Times", Dean Latimer produced comic strips for numerous underground comic books and "National Lampoon Magazine." Later in his career Latimer became a contributor to "High Times Magazine" and published several books on the use of opium.

Whether influenced by a Lewis Carroll esque episode or not, "The Monsters That Devoured Canarsie" is a great classic monster comic strip from the decade when Godzilla and his pals were at the height of popularity amongst America's youth.

Enjoy these scans from "The Monster Times":


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"LEGENDARY PICTURES TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE BASED ON TOHO COMPANY’S ICONIC MONSTER, GODZILLA

Burbank, CA – March 29, 2010 – Legendary Pictures announced today that they will develop and produce a new film based on Toho Company’s famed GODZILLA character. Through the terms of the agreement, Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to produce a movie inspired by Toho’s Godzilla, a franchise the Japanese company created and has nurtured for over fifty years.

Toho’s GODZILLA franchise boasts one of the most widely recognized film creatures worldwide, resulting in a series of books, television programs, video games and more than 25 films worldwide. Legendary intends to approach the film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible. The company will, in the near future, announce a filmmaker to helm the film for an intended 2012 release. The film will fall under the company’s co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Toho will distribute the film in Japan."

"Godzilla" is coming back -- this time, with Legendary Pictures taking the lead, co-producing and co-financing with Warner Bros. for release in 2012.

Legendary announced Monday it had obtained rights to the iconic monster character from Japan's Toho Co., which has overseen more than 25 "Godzilla" films. Toho will release the pic in Japan.

Legendary said it's planning to announce a director shortly.

In addition to Legendary, producers on the new film will be Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers. Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will exec produce.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary. "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has."

Legendary noted the film will fall under its co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Legendary's productions with Warners have included "The Dark Knight," "300" and "The Hangover."

Speculation about a new "Godzilla" has been active since last summer. The Bloody Disgusting web site reported in August that the project was in development.