Issue(s): Strange Tales #97, Tales To Astonish #12, Amazing Adult Fantasy #14
Cover Date: Jun 62 / Jul 61 / Jul 62
Title: "Beyond the Dreadful Door!" / "I Discovered Gorgilla!" / "Beware of the Giants!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Gene Colan / Jack Kirby / Steve Ditko - Penciler
Gene Colan / Steve Ditko - Inker
Review/plot:
The first story in this reprint is about an artist who breaks into a rival's house to find out where he gets his ideas, only to be trapped by some Picasso-esque demons who want to paint him.
John Tartaglione did retouches updating this first story to include Dr. Druid as Crypt Keeper style narrator.
I'm sure that upset some purists.
The second story also retroactively inserts Dr. Druid into the story. It's a little awkward because the original story had an archeologist, which isn't exactly the right MO for Dr. Druid.
Anyway, Druid thinks he's discovered the 'missing link' in human evolution, so he arranges an expedition to the island of Borneo (which is in Southeast Asia). They find a land that is still in a prehistoric age, with a living Tyrannosaurus. They also find Gorgilla, a King Kong sized gorilla with a tail.
The expedition says that he is indeed the missing link that they've been seeking, although it's unclear how a giant ape with a tail is the evolutionary step in between our primitive ape ancestor and modern humans. Anyway, when Gorgilla saves the expedition from a T-Rex, Dr. Druid advocates leaving Gorgilla alone, which they do.
If you accept the fact that the missing link between apes and humans is a gorilla/human hybrid, that is also somehow gigantic, then Dr. Druid seems to meet a lot of gorilla hybrids, having faced Gorlion in his first appearance.
The final story does not include Dr. Druid. It's the story of a group of villagers who discuss rumors of giant men. The twist is that the villagers turn out to be leprechauns, and the giants are actually humans.
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? Y - the stories are revised to include Dr. Druid
My Reprint: Weird Wonder Tales #21
Dr.Druid was narrating at Marvel, while Cain,Able, and others where narrating the DC books.
Clearly the final story ties in All-New, All-Different X-Men #101 and the Cassidy Leprechauns.