Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle is a fictional American comic book character who was featured in his own self-titled series, published by

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

in the 1960s.

Publication history

Kona debuted in

Four Color Comics ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic b ...

#1256 (dated February 1962) before his own self-titled series started a few months later with issue #2 (dated June 1962). ''Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle'' would run to issue #21 (dated June 1964). The series was plotted by Don Segall, scripted and drawn by

Sam Glanzman Samuel Joseph Glanzman (December 5, 1924 – July 12, 2017) was an American comics artist and memoirist. Glanzman is best known for his Charlton Comics series ''Hercules'', about the mythological Greek demigod; his autobiographical war stories abo ...

. Later stories were scripted by Paul S. Newman.

Fictional character biography

Kona saves the lives of Dr. Henry Dodd, his daughter Mary and his grandchildren Mason and Lily after this group crashes their army surplus

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...

on the prehistoric

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

island that Kona calls home. Befriending them, Kona becomes their protector and saves them from many huge animals and monsters. Dr. Dodd and his family eventually escape from the island, but later return to get Kona. After this Kona travels the world with them as their protector from the many huge monsters they encounter.

Reception

Comparing "Monster Isle" to another, more famous fictional land of monsters, Robert Michael Carter writes in ''The Great Monster Magazines'', "''Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle'' ripped off Burroughs and

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

for 21 issues."

References

{{reflist

External links

Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
comicbookresources.com Oddball ComicsKona, Monarch of Monster Isle cover gallery
1962 comics debuts 1964 comics endings Action-adventure comics Dell Comics characters Jungle superheroes Jungle men Fictional kings Comics characters introduced in 1962 Dinosaurs in comic books Comics set in Oceania Lost world comics