Konga #18

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Konga issues
Issue #18
Issue #19
Issue #20
Konga #18
Cover art of issue #18
Art by Bill Montes ("The Scourge of Mars"),
Don Perlin ("The Size of Things")
Colors by Ernie Bache ("The Scourge of Mars"),
Don Perlin ("The Size of Things")
Edits by Pat Marsulli
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Charlton Comics
Konga
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"The Scourge of Mars" is the eighteenth issue of the comic series Konga, published by Charlton Comics in June of 1964. It features two comics—a main adventure starring Konga and a backup story called "The Size of Things"—and a short story titled "Space Ship Stupos".

Plot

"The Scourge of Mars"

As part of a plan to weaken the Earth before invasion, the Marsian people disrupt the planet's weather patterns. The human nations blame one another for the various disasters that follow, while Konga valiantly stands in front of the collapsing "Boulder Dam" in an attempt to keep it from bursting. Konga's efforts allow the evacuation of the surrounding area, but he soon succumbs to the pressure and collapses under the dam, appearing to drown. Two Marsian onlookers then set fire to the nitrogen in some parts of the atmosphere, spooking a nearby military jet pilot. Konga manages to survive the flood; the Marsians notice this too late, and he smacks their spacecraft out of the atmosphere. The Marsians' leader decides to punish the careless pilots and capture Konga for study. Meanwhile, the giant ape travels the United States helping to repair damages done by the Marsians. He rights a falling skyscraper until emergency crews can stabilize it, earning him the respect of a general who had once set his army against him. While he repairs a suspension bridge on the Columbia River, a spacecraft descends and uses its "Re-molecularizer" to shrink Konga to a height of 12 feet. The military looks on, unable to assist him before the Marsians' might, and he is abducted into one of their ships. With Konga sedated, the Marsians begin flying away for Mars, but their second captive, Captain Beamis of the North American Armed Forces, quickly escapes his cell and begins roaming the ship in search of the shrunken creature. He soon finds Konga by the sound of his snoring, and the two quickly work up a plan, whereby if Beamis is threatened, Konga will attack the Marsians, thus ensuring their mutual safety. This proves effective until they land on Mars, and a group of robots quickly overwhelm Konga, allowing him to be sedated with a Marsian "Paralo-Ray". The two are brought to a laboratory where a Marsian scientist leaves Beamis to his own devices while pondering whether to shrink or grow Konga with his equipment. Beamis hits a switch before him, and Konga grows back to his normal height and begins smashing the city and attacking spacecraft until the Marsians agree to parley. Beamis strikes an agreement with them that they will shrink Konga for transport back to Earth, where they will return him to normal size, and open negotiations with Earth. On the way home, Beamis teaches Konga to play chess, and loses to him. On returning home, Konga rests while the humans get on with their usual antics.

"The Size of Things"

"The Size of Things" is a nonfiction piece that uses Konga and his enemy the giant leopard to explore the concept of natural selection, and how it factors into a creature's size and appearance. It ponders situations wherein everyday organisms are unable to fit their ecological niche due to changes in size.

Appearances

The Scourge of Mars

Monsters

Characters

  • Captain Beamis

Weapons, vehicles, and races

  • United States "Space-Fighter"
  • "Marsians"
  • Marsian Spacecraft
  • Re-molecularizer
  • "Paralo-Ray Gun"

Locations

The Size of Things

Monsters

Trivia

  • The issue refers to the "Boulder Dam", a former name of the Hoover Dam in Nevada. It was renamed in 1947, almost 20 years before the comic's publication.
  • If Konga is shrunken to a size of "a dozen feet", and Beamis is correct in his assertion that this is "about a tenth of his former size", that would establish Konga's normal height as 120 feet tall.
  • While the ships seen in the issue use American insignia, Beamis claims he is part of the "North American Armed Forces", suggesting that the Space Patrol is an international effort.
  • The language spoken by the Africans seen on page 1 of "The Size of Things", despite the given translation, is just a collection of random syllables.

External links

Comments

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