Written By: Ken HulseyAh, 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":
See Also: Hot Off The Press! Page 77 Of Todd Tennant's "Godzilla 1994" Online Comic / New 'Godzlla 94' Art From Todd Tennant - Is There A Graphic Novel On The Way?