King Kong (comic)
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King Kong has been adapted into comic book format a number of times.
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[edit] Monster Comics
Monster Comics produced a six-issue black and white comic book in 1991, adapted and illustrated by Don Simpson.
It is not, in fact, based on the 1933 film, but instead on the 1932 novelization by Delos W. Lovelace, and thus differs from the movie in numerous places.
[edit] Issues
- Part 1: Denham's Quest with cover by Dave Stevens
- Moviemaker Carl Denham hires a down-on-her-luck woman named Ann Darrow to be the star of his latest picture. During the voyage to their destination aboard the Vastator, Ann falls in love with first mate Jack Driscoll, and is given as a sacrifice to the god of Skull Island, a giant gorilla known as Kong. The cover by Stevens depicts Ann cupped in Kong's palm.
- Part 2: Kong's Island! with cover by Mark Schultz and Tom Luth
- Driscoll, Denham, and some of the Vastator's crew mount a rescue operation to save Ann. Instead, they find themselves fighting for their lives against Skull Island's population of fierce dinosaurs. The party fights heroically onward. Meanwhile, Kong battles a herd of dinosaurs, and then the search party catches up to him while crossing a log bridge over a chasm. The cover by Schultz and Luth shows Kong shaking the men off the log (even though this does not actually occur until the next issue).
- Part 3: Death in Devil's Chasm! with cover by William Stout
- Kong shakes most of the sailors off the log bridge and into the chasm, where they are eaten by a swarm of giant spiders. Kong's efforts to catch Driscoll are interrupted when Ann is attacked by a large meat-eating dinosaur, an allosaurus. Kong fights and kills the dinosaur, then picks up Ann and moves on with Driscoll in pursuit. Denham, meanwhile, is sent back for reinforcements. Stout's cover shows Kong battling a tyrannosaurus (when it is clearly an allosaurus in the actual story).
- Part 4: Beauty and the Beast! with cover by William Stout
- Kong fights and kills a giant python en route to his lair atop Skull Mountain, then settles down to begin toying with his new "bride." He peels off all of her clothes until she is just her bra and panties, but is interrupted when a pteranodon attacks. While Kong is busy with the dinosaur, Driscoll arrives and he and Ann escape together. The cover by Stout shows Kong's battle with the pteranodon.
- Part 5: The Wrath of Kong with cover by Al Williamson, Mark Schultz, and Tom Luth
- Driscoll and Ann return to the native village, and Denham and Captain Englehorn. Denham begins plotting to capture Kong alive, betting that he'll come for Ann. He is proven right, as the giant gorilla, along with a swarm of dinosaurs, attacks the village. Kong and the other prehistoric beasts are brought down with a load of gas bombs, and Denham reveals his intention to take Kong back to New York. Possibly the oddest of all the covers, Williamson, Schultz, and Luth's cover shows Kong fighting with a plesiosaurus. While this happened in the movie, it not only does not occur in this issue, but is absent from the comic entirely.
- Part 6: The Eighth Wonder of the World with cover by Ken Steacy
- Kong is revealed to the public in chains, but soon escapes, recaptures Ann, and runs amok throughout New York. He ultimately climbs to the top of the Empire State Building where he does battle with a squadron of military biplanes. He loses the battle, and falls to his death from the skyscraper, and Driscoll and Ann are reunited once more. Steacy's cover shows Kong fighting with the biplanes and includes the notation "For Obie!"
[edit] Characters and creatures
Characters
- Ann Darrow
- Jack Driscoll
- Carl Denham
- Captain Englehorn
- Lumpy
- Jimmy
- Wally (Denham's assistant)
- Native Chief
- Witch Doctor
- Charles Weston
Creatures
- King Kong
- Stegosaurus
- Brontosaurus
- Ankylosaurus
- Styracosaurus
- Triceratops
- Giant Spiders
- Allosaurus
- Giant Python
- Pteranodon
[edit] Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics and DH Press had the license to produce tie-in comic books in connection with King Kong. This include an illustrated novel, Kong: King of Skull Island, by Joe DeVito which was an authorised sequel to the 1933 film, as well King Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World a direct comic book adaptation of the 2005 remake.
[edit] Publications
These include:
- Kong: King of Skull Island (art and script by Joe DeVito with co-writers Brad Strickland and John Michlig, 160 pages, hardcover, 2004, ISBN 1-59582-006-X)
- King Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World (by Christian Gossett, with art by Dustin Weaver and Dave Dorman, 2005, tpb, 96 pages, 2006, ISBN 1-59307-472-7)
