The Myth Of Kong!

King Kong is a myth. Imagined by Merian C. Cooper and fashioned with the help of a writers such as Edgar Wallace, Ruth Rose, James Creelman, and Delos Lovelace. But King Kong was also created by Willis O'Brien, a master of stop-motion filmmaking who took a model and turned it into a legend with the help of talented folks like Marcel Delgado. I daresay it's impossible to say that King Kong is the creation of any one person, but the result of the merging of the imaginations and talents of many persons. He is a whole greater the sum of his parts. 

Over the decades countless others have added to the myth with new versions of the mighty beast from Ishiro Honda, John Guillerman, Peter Jackson, and others. He's been rendered as a Saturday morning cartoon, and later cartoons as well, and weirdly even for an animated musical. There have been countless comic books from many publishers. And the story has been analyzed by film critics and literary critics and academics. So, I put forth that no two people on the planet understand King Kong in quite the same way. 

I first encountered the mighty ape of Skull Island in the Gold Key comic book adaptation. Then I saw the Saturday morning cartoon show. Then found the novel and only later was I able to finally see the movie on television. 

And then I was watching an edited version which had been cut for reasons of violence and racial tolerance. It was only years later that I saw the full film after it was reconstituted. And by that time, we had remakes and sequels to remakes and parodies in places like MAD magazine, Not Brand Echh, and elsewhere. The King Kong of my imagination as has much "Ping Pong" and "King Konk" in its fabric as anything from the films. 

So, when someone like Joe DeVito comes along and wants to tinker with the King Kong mythology, I'm all ears. I'll be delving into the various books which have developed what I've dubbed the "Devitoverse". In these various tomes the story of Kong is expanded, and details are added which are intended to expand the world of Kong and of Skull Island and explain some aspects of the original story which are glossed over by the original creators. In their retelling of the original story, we get added scenes aboard the ship which expand the characters and new characters are brought into the yarn which answer the questions about how the Denham expedition was able to manage and transport Kong. 

Above are the books by DeVito and Will Murray which tell the untold saga of Kong. In one we return to Skull Island in 1957 and learn what became of Kong and of Carl Denham and others in the original cast. In the two books by Murray, we see how King Kong came to be in Africa and met a certain Lord of the Jungle as he was being transported to New York City to begin with and how Doc Savage already was familiar with the great beast after his fall from the Empire State Building and what he did then. 

This is one retelling of the Kong myth. There are countless more, but idulge with me this week as we visit the "DeVitoverse" and learn the origins of King Kong. 

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Favorite Covers - King Kong By Frazetta!

I own many copies of King Kong as novelized by Delos W. Lovelace many moons ago as part of the original Kong campaign. It's been published time and time again, and I find many of the covers too attractive to ignore. I even have an audiobook version of the novel. But far and away my favorite version is the one above featuring a painting by Frank Fra zetta. 

This image was first conceived by Frazetta for issue eleven of Creepy magazine back in 1966. An immense ape threatens an endowed blonde. I love the brash colors in this image. 

He reconceived the image with a new color scheme and a larger more robust, if somewhat less ferocious beast. The girl is practically identical. 

Apparently Frazetta was unhappy with his King Kong cover and later repainted it again making Kong much darker and more menacing. The girl remains as ever unchanged. I cannot choose among them, they all have virtues. The Creepy cover has real energy, the original Kong cover art has great characterization, while the final version is truly terrifying. It's all in what aspect of Kong one wants to imagine. Frazetta gave you one for all moods. 

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The Gold Key Kong!

Your Halloween treat this All Hallow's Eve is my first comic book, an adaptation of King Kong.  Now I'm not one thousand percent sure of that, but there's no doubt that getting my grubby little kiddie mitts on this Gold Key gem was part of what propelled me to become a comic book addict from that day to this. The George Wilson cover has all the elements you expect of the epic clash, even if Kong is a tad bit leaner than you'd expect and in the comic, a whole lot bluer.

But since this was likely not only my first comic, but certainly my first contact with King Kong I didn't find the changes odd at all. And since it hit the stands on my birthday, I can only think the fellows at Gold Key were thinking of me. Because of the convoluted rights to the character of King King and the movie King King, this is based on the novel version of the story produced at the same time as the epic film. What prompted Gold Key in 1968 to bring out the comic is uncertain, but Toho was expressing interest in Kong and a cartoon show was debuting that same year. So as had periodically been the case since Kong's 1933 debut, interest was blooming again in the King of Skull Island.

So sit back, keep the candy handy and enjoy a different version of the epic journey to the magical and deadly Skull Island. If like me, you've visited before it will be welcoming back a good friend, or if this is your first trip to the island as imagined by writer Gary Poole, and Italian artists Giovanni Ticci and Alberto Giolitti it will be exploring a new but still oddly familiar territory.

It's been a fun countdown this year and thanks to all who have come along with me. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

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