Kong: King of Skull Island [Paperback]

The last 70 years have not been kind to King Kong. "Son of Kong" was a hastily produced sequel that came out the same year as the original. While not bad, it lacked the impact of the original. Still, "Son of Kong" is vastly superior to what we've been subject to since then. The 1960's brought us the Japanese-made "King Kong vs. Godzilla" and "King Kong Escapes." Kong suddenly is grown to Godzilla's height to do battle and played by a guy in a horrible looking monkey suit.

The 1970's were not any better. In 1976, producer Dino De Laurentiis gave us a big budget remake that was universally panned by critics. Incredibly, despite the re-make flopping, a sequel, "King Kong Lives" hit theatres ten years later in 1986 with Kong somehow surviving his fall from the World Trade Center and now in a coma and need of a heart transplant. Uggh!

But finally, King Kong fans have something to cheer about. Kong: King of Skull Island is a new and original novel from Dark Horse Press, created and beautifully illustrated by artist Joe DeVito. The book has been officially authorized by the estate of Merian C. Cooper, King Kong's creator. The book performs as both a sequel to the 1933 classic and a prequel.

Carl Denham, the man who brought King Kong to New York, and was held responsible for his destructive rampage, disappeared soon after Kong's death and has not been seen for 25 years. His son Vincent Denham, who had always doubted the stories about Kong decides to set out on a quest to discover the truth about both King Kong and his missing father. He enlists the aid of Jack Driscoll, the character played in the original film by Bruce Cabot, to take him to the legendary Skull Island.

While going ashore Vincent and several crew members are attacked by the great beasts that live under the depths and he is nearly killed. He's taken in and cared for by the island's natives and meets an ancient looking woman known only as "The Storyteller." The Storytellers are the keepers of knowledge and lore and while nursing Vincent back to health, she begins telling him the stories of how her people first came to the island ages ago.

She tells them how her people, through the use of rare plants and herbs were actually able to control the great beasts who lived on the island including the great apes known as "kongs." Through her stories we learn of the division in her ancestors, the origin of the great wall, and of the early life of King Kong. Vincent also learns how his father's actions of 25 years earlier affected the natives and why a native named Kara holds such hatred for Vincent and his long lost father.

Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland have crafted a powerful and well-thought out story that gives a richness to the background of Kong and Skull Island that we never had before. We see that the natives are not mere savages as we, and even Jack Driscoll, always thought that they were. Weaving their story in the framework of the 1933 classic they've managed to create a magnificent and logical history for King Kong. DeVito's gorgeous artwork which include drawings as well as full color and full page paintings, brings Skull Island to life vividly and he captures the true essence of King Kong as no one else has been able to do since the original film.

This book is an absolute must-have for fans of King Kong!

In the classic film, King Kong, the character of Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) tells Capt. Englehorn (Frank Reicher) and Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) about the Skull Island natives, and the forbidding Wall that divides their peninsula from the rest of the island. The Wall was "built so long ago that the people who live there have slipped back," Denham says, "forgotten the higher civilization that built it." If you're like me, you've heard that one line and thought, "wow, there could be another entire story right there, contained in that one little line." And artist/author Joe DeVito, in collaboration with author Brad Strickland, has written it. Kong: King of Skull Island is the story of that "higher civilization," and of so much more. It's the story of what happened to Carl Denham after Kong's downfall. It's the story of a great conflict in a hidden land, in a time long before the Venture sailed to Skull Island. And it's the story of how Kong ... became King Kong.

Over the many years since the film was released in 1933, the title character - or various knockoffs of him - has appeared in a staggering number of books, movies, comics ... everything from low-budget giant ape potboilers like Konga, to "Kaiju Eiga" entries like King Kong Escapes, to a Saturday morning cartoon about a big purple gorilla called the Grape Ape. Most of these efforts, it goes without saying, are utterly unworthy to be mentioned in the same breath with Kong. And then, there comes the completely wonderful (as in, literally, "full of wonder") Kong: King of Skull Island. Authorized by the Merian C. Cooper estate, it's one of the very few Kong-related projects - in fact, it may be the only one - ever to reach the lofty heights of Cooper's original.

Any lovers of King Kong, dinosaurs, or fantastica in general, should not let this volume get lost in the current flood of Kong-themed output. This story is a true "labor of love" that took about 14 years to complete, and was conceived, conceptualized, and developed years before a certain blockbuster movie remake was even on the drawing board. The effort and thought that went into the project, not to mention the respect for and appreciation of the original material, become very apparent as soon as the reader dives into the tale. The book serves as both prequel and sequel to the classic story, tying in flawlessly while also enriching and embellishing the events that we remember so fondly. It even answers the venerable question of the giant doors in the Wall, and, well ... just why ARE they there? I had the extraordinary pleasure of seeing some of DeVito's original oil paintings for this book at length and in person and they are nothing short of astonishing; they're unique in a way that I cannot precisely describe. The wondrous art fleshes out the full-length novel and perfectly completes the volume, resulting in a seamless enlargement and enhancement of what is, I think, one of the great original adventure stories of the 20th century. Nothing is forced, nothing is "thrown in" for its own sake just because it would be cool, and even after multiple readings (you will read it more than once) all the pieces - new and old - nestle together with a verisimilitude that utterly satisfies. As Carl Denham himself says, "Holy mackerel, what a show!"

KONG: King of Skull Island is an amazing and highly exciting book that tells several stories about the origin of King Kong and his enemies, the natives that inhabit the island, the strange assortment of dinosaurs (...or are they?) that live there, and the characters involved in taking Kong off the island. I was "hooked" from the instant I started reading it; there are plot twists you'd never expect and creatures on the island that give a whole new spin to the evolution of dinosaurs. It's like being inside a dream, the book is alive! The whole story is written well and is accompanied and complimented by stunning visuals. I loved how the artwork, created by Joe DeVito, followed the story and would give you even more of a thrill. I found myself taking all the free time I could in my hectic schedule to read this book and am wanting to read it again and again. I am hoping someday that this book will be made into a movie because the creatures in it are so unique and interesting! If you're a kid at heart, if you love adventure, if you're a dino fan and especially a KONG fan, BUY THIS BOOK!

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