JOE STATON'S GODS AND MONSTERS (CHAPTER 1)

This is this first chapter of a three-part series written by Johnny Achziger and drawn by Joe Staton. If memory serves me right, I bought this through The Comic Buyer's Guide. I'm also not sure if it was a 3-issue subscription or if they came all at once. It was published by Achziger out of Spokane, WA at a time when there was a paper shortage in Canada, and Charlton Comics, who were based there, were forced to temporarily cease printing. Staton explained in an interview with COMIC BOOK ARTIST: "There was a paper mill strike in Canada, or something, that created a huge shortage of paper, and I got this notice from George Wildman, I remember it very well, it said, 'This is a black day. We have nothing left to print on.' At that point, Johnny Achziger in Washington state contacted me. This is all before the whole direct sales market started, and I think it was the old distribution network, but we did a tabloid-size magazine about the Greek myths in comics form. Johnny Achziger published them. It died out because Charlton got back printing, the paper shortage was over, and I kept on trying to do the last issue while I was doing everything else, and couldn't do it! [laughter] The first issue I was so proud of. I didn't have anything else to do, so I put a whole lot of work into that first issue."

A couple of years later, the series was reprinted in Mike Friedrich's independently-published "underground" comic, STAR  REACH. Unfortunately, the story lost its magnificence with the smaller size.