Kong King Of Skull Island HC

King Kong of Skull Island (Books) #2

by Brad Strickland Joe Devito, Joe DeVito (Illustrator)

In 1933, American showman Carl Denham returned from a mysterious, hidden island with a priceless treasure. A treasure not gold or jewels, but the island's barbaric god, a monstrous anthropoid called "Kong." The savage giant escaped and wreaked havoc among the man-made canyons of Manhattan, but within hours of the giant ape's death his body - and Carl Denham - disappeared. Twenty-five years later, the son of Carl Denham makes a shocking discovery that leads him back to the site of his father's greatest adventure and to the answers that will unlock the century's greatest mystery and history's greatest miracle. Authorized by the Cooper Estate and based on the original novel that inspired the all-time classic film. This new novel acts as both prequel and sequel to the classic fantasy tale, King Kong. Acclaimed fantasy artist Joe DeVito and top fantasy and science-fiction writer Brad Strickland join forces to make for an interactive visual-narrative storytelling experience unlike any other.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction

Comic

First published January 4, 2005

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is something of a sequel and prequel to the original King Kong film; it ignores any other Kong stories. It's very lavishly and beautifully illustrated. I suspect that anyone who's younger than dirt and/or me doesn't really appreciate the importance of the film. It was one of the rare early films that had special effects that showed us marvelous things we could embrace and accept and suspend our disbelief entirely for the duration of the film; from the 1970's on movie goers became used to seeing rampaging creatures and zipping spaceships that appeared real, but King Kong was among the first and best before Spielberg and Lucas took over. Over the years there have been two distinct reactions to the movie. Some people thought it was a happy, dandy, fast-paced, exotic adventure in which the intrepid and beautiful Ann is saved from the giant monster, while others (including me) saw it as a terribly sad tragedy in which the wonderful hero is thrust into a world he can barely comprehend and is then savagely slaughtered. In the movie, the adventurers and Kong are the main focus, whereas the natives are portrayed as little more than primitive savages. This novel tries to correct that privileged viewpoint by developing their history, culture, and society, but I think it goes too far trying to be politically correct and ends up with some dry, long, and boring political and philosophical examinations. There are a lot of evil dinosaurs, but very little of Kong. There were some nifty points to the plot, and I loved the art, but I thought the story strayed too far from the source material.

[Marcos GM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es curioso, porque funciona a la vez como precuela y secuela de una película, que no es otra que King Kong de 1933.

El autor pidió permiso a los herederos de los derechos para hacer esto, y es un buen trabajo. La historia en sí es interesante, aunque lo que realmente destaca es la cantidad de ilustraciones que trae, y que aún siendo de diversos tipos son todas fantásticas.

La historia en sí nos narra el viaje de Vincent, hijo de Carl Denham, a la isla calavera en busca de respuestas sobre la historia del propio Kong y sobre su padre. A la vez nos narrará en forma de historia dentro de la historia el origen del gigantesco ser y de la gente que vive en la isla.

En lo particular me ha gustado mucho, y si tenéis oportunidad y os lo encontráis en algún sitio, merece bastante la pena.


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This book is curious, because it works both as a prequel and a sequel to a movie, which is none other than King Kong from 1933.

The author asked permission of the heirs to the rights to do this, and it is a good job. The story itself is interesting, although what really stands out is the amount of illustrations it brings, and that even though they are of various types, they are all fantastic.

The story itself tells us the journey of Vincent, son of Carl Denham, to Skull Island in search of answers about the history of Kong himself and about his father. At the same time, it will tell us in the form of a story within the story the origin of the gigantic being and the people who live on the island.

In particular I liked it a lot, and if you have the opportunity and you find it somewhere, it is quite worth it.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a King Kong enthusiast, this is a must-have. It would be worth it just for the amazing illustrations by Joe Devito. Luckily, that is just the icing on the cake. The story itself is a prequel and sequel to the 1933 film and really, is the best thing since. It is equal measures of exciting, captivating, and just plain fun. I have re-read this one several times and though it is very easy to read and straight-forward, I always seem to find a little note of interest that escaped my attention before. This has action of Kong versus enemies as big and as scary as himself while it fills out the history and legend of Skull Island and Kong along the way. This was such a successful book that it spawned a comic book series re-telling the story and there are big rumors that it is being developed into a movie! If it were anything like this book, King Kong will live forever! Highly recommended!!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a lifelong fan of the Big Ape who climbed the Empire State Building--King Kong! I enjoyed this story about Kong, published in 2005. It is both a prequel and a sequel to the story as told in the original film. And, a special treat--it is beautifully illustrated by Joe DeVito. If you love dinosaurs, you'll see some great illustrations of the prehistoric creatures in this book--as well as KONG!

[Charles H Berlemann Jr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but there is just as much wrong with it as there is good with it. I will preface this by saying that I love pulpy action/adventure novels. This tries hard to be in that genre, but it seems to fail. The biggest reason it fails? I would say that it just goes and goes and goes. It seemed that every time there was supposed to be an ending, instead we get a "Next day back at the..." or "As [Character] finished their story..." which had thrown me for a loop a few times. The second biggest issue with this book is that instead of being a tight little story that told some good back story of Carl Denham's son going to the island with Jack Driscoll; the author instead wanted to parallel stories. One telling the back story of the natives and who Kong was and why there might have been dinosaurs on Skull Island. For fans of the King Kong Franchise, this book ignores that there was a sequel to King Kong called Son of Kong. Where Skull Island is destroyed only a couple years after King Kong dies in NYC.

So the short opening of the plot is this, it is 1957 and the son of Carl Denham finds Jack Driscoll who now owns his own ship and has a map to Skull Island. They both want to find Carl Denham to know what happened to him in the days just after Kong dies in NYC. So they proceed to travel to the island and get captured by the tribals that are living there. Then somehow and somewhere we are moved from 1957 to who knows what time, but when one of the last Kongs is alive. There is something about smart dinosaurs who eat people, villages behind large stone walls, ancients and mystical herbs to control animals, westerners arrive and are gold hunting and then somehow we are moved back to 1957. I lost track of the how and why it happened. Kong himself only shows up for like 3 total chapters, once as an intro and then a big fight near the end where he kills some Super Smart T-Rex. Otherwise, this book is all about humans trying to survive on Skull Island. It was here that I just started to loose interest and quit caring because the survival parts were boring, I have read encyclopedia entries and government reports on economic news with more punch and adventure than what this book provided.

I think this needed an editor really bad to tighten it up and it needed to feature Kong more than just a few moments of "screen time". If you are a diehard fan you will enjoy this book. If you are a casual fan, this will leave you scratching your head and wanting more.

[Ceili Widmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic adventure into the history and evolution of the pop culture legend King Kong. I was pulled in the whole time, enjoying the flashbacks and details that created the whole world of Skull Island.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was absolutely delightful. I adored all of the artwork in this book and I found the story surprisingly moving. There was a concentrated effort to expand the world of Skull Island and directly tackle some of the originals most dated aspects.

I think it succeeds.

[Evelyn Blackwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art, an excellent adventure. If I could remember where I misplaced mine, I'd be a happier camper.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting before after maths of the 1933 movie. and nicely illustrated.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book very hard to put it down loved it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is both a sequel and a prequel to the original King Kong film. I quite enjoyed the story and the painted artwork by Joe Devito is fantastic

[Miko Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miko adam
Read a

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original 1933 film King Kong was an immediate financial success. An inevitable sequel soon followed with the humorous but tepid Son of Kong being released late in 1933. King Kong eventually became the second most viewed movie in history (second only in theaters to Gone With The Wind and on TV to The Wizard of Oz). Over the last seventy-odd years, several Kong related projects were produced including an awful 1976 remake and the cult favorite King Kong Vs. Godzilla.

The planned December release of Peter Jackson's re-imagining of the original epic has spawned new Kong-related fictions.

Conceived by artist Joe DeVito, Kong: King of Skull Island purports to be both a sequel and prequel to Delos W. Lovelace's novelization of the original King Kong conceived by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper. Kong opens with Carl Denham, the man who brought the giant ape to New York, returning to Skull Island months after the great ape's demise. (Apparently for the purposes of this sequel, Son of Kong never happened.)

In 1957, Denham's son Vincent elicits the aide of Jack Driscoll, hero of the original story, to uncover what happened to his father on his last visit to Skull Island. Leaving his wife Ann (the Beauty to King Kong's Beast) at home, Driscoll joins Vincent on an adventure that reveals the origin of King Kong (he's part of a race of Kongs!), the natives of Skull Island, and the fate of Carl Denham.

Throw in lavishly painted full color images from creator DeVito and Kong: King of Skull Island should be an unforgettable thrill. Sadly, it is not.

I have never read a Brad Strickland novel, though according to his bio he has written or co-written 60 published books. Odds are I will not seek out another. His writing turned a potentially thrilling story into something forgettable.

The plot was slow and predictable. It jumped from viewpoint and place at inappropriate times and for no apparent reason. As soon interesting events began to unfold, Strickland moved to another character, plot point, or place. I'm all for cliffhangers, but when they become commonplace, the impact dulls.

Award-winning artist and sculptor Joe DeVito supplied painted images to correspond with the tale. While DeVito's art style is a little too realistic for my tastes, I found the illustrations striking and very well done. I wish the artist and writer had communicated more, though. In some scenes, the paintings and descriptions do not match.

Overall, Kong: King of Skull Island is a subpar King Kong sequel with some excellent illustrations. If you are looking for a book with superior ape and dinosaur images, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, watch your King Kong video and wait impatiently like the rest of us ape freaks for the Peter Jackson remake.

(The review originally appeared on RevolutionSF.)
Link: [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.h...]

[Bufo Calvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

King Kong!

From the 1933 original to the 1976/2005 remakes through the 1966 cartoon series ("Ten times as big as a man!") and King Kong vs. Godzilla, I've spent a lot of time with Skull Island's most famous primate.

That includes having read Doc Savage: Skull Island which I thought was an excellent take on both the Man of Bronze and Kong.

That book led me to this one, having Joe DeVito as a connection.

While the books share more than an illustrator (some of their conceptions of Skull Island overlap), they are also significantly different.

This is really a book about Kong...simultaneously a prequel and sequel (due to multiple connected story lines taking place in different time periods), fans of the movie (and I would count myself in that group), will find it familiar and faithful.

However, the book also introduces some strongly science fictional elements that weren't there before. We can take the 1933 movie in a pretty straight forward fashion: what you see is largely what you get.

The book, I think in part to improve the portrayals of different types of people, goes beyond that...it gives a back story and explanation to things to make them appear more...I'm going to go with "enlightened".

Certainly, there are benefits to that. There are strong female characters here, strong people in different cultural groups, and complex non-human animals.

That last one may go beyond the pale for some readers. I think many people will be comfortable with a great ape-like primate having emotion, problem solving, and even some forethought. They might find that harder to accept with dinosaur descendants, even after sixty million some odd years of additional evolution.

Other readers may find the amount of exposition to be a bit much. I think most people will get this book expecting a simple adventure story. No question that there are Kong fights, but there is also a lot of relationships, politics, sociology, and history.

You might want a popcorn book, and find that you've accidentally enrolled in a college class on culinary theory. ;)

Bottom line: I enjoyed it, and appreciated the diversity. Kong fans will find it to be something that they "should" read, and others may get bogged down in all of the "deep facts".

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved every page of this e-book.

A rip-roaring adventure tale that's as much a send up of the classic adventure-fantasy pulps of the 1930s as it is a tribute to the 1933 all-time classic film King Kong directed by Merian C. Cooper from an original story by Merian C. Cooper with additional contributions by Edgar Wallace & Leon Gordon.

Set in 1957, the son of Carl Denham now grown up and a paleontologist, discovers photographs his father took of various dinosaur species as well a mysterious map and decides to launch an expedition to explore Skull Island and find out for himself if the reports of his long-missing father's exploits and his discovery of the legendary giant ape that rampaged through New York City actually occurred.

This is both a prequel and a sequel to the events depicted in the 1933 classic King Kong and it works wonderfully.

Reading Kong: King of Skull Island has inspired me to search for classic adventure Pulps and only yesterday I located a free on-line treasure trove of Pulps such as Adventure, Weird Tales and many more.

Sure, I've read most of the Doc Savage, The Spider and The Shadow pulp reprints from Girasol but now I have a thirst for the high-adventure stuff.

Much praise is due the folks responsible for this book: Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland.

[Jesús Galiano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los hechos narrados en este libro acontecen veinticinco años después de la muerte de King Kong. El hijo de Carl Denham, el productor de cine que trajo a King Kong a Nueva York, vuelve tras los pasos de su padre y se adentra en la exótica Isla Calavera con el fin de resolver los misterios que rodean la desaparición de los cadáveres de su padre y del mismísimo simio gigante.

La novela, escrita por Brad Strickland, se lanzó aprovechando el tirón del estreno del remake perpetrado por Peter Jackson y, a pesar de contar con la bendición de los herederos del creador de King Kong, Merian C. Cooper, y de tener unos ingredientes argumentales privilegiados, no consigue levantar el vuelo y se vuelve pesada por momentos. Y es que al parecer el punto fuerte de este libro eran las impresionantes ilustraciones creadas por Joe DeVito para la ocasión, si bien el libro que yo he leído es una edición de bolsillo que prescinde de tales dibujos. Puede verse una muestra de este trabajo artístico aquí, aquí y aquí. Puestos a elegir una continuación para King Kong, me quedo con la simpática película El hijo de Kong o incluso la denostada King Kong 2 de John Guillermin.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It starts out really strong, and because I have a deep sentimental attachment to King Kong, it was really fun to revisit that world and see the mythology of Skull Island fleshed out and deepened. But the plot stalls out about halfway through, and the ending winds up with a lot of "here's what I learned" conversations. What starts out as an inventive adventure story becomes talky and obvious. Illustrations are fantastic.

[John Somers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting background added to the Kong mythology with this sequel but a mediocre storyline. Some nice art especially the black and white sketches which are excellent.

[Jesse VanDeWalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's most likely the insufferable Kaiju fan in me, but I love this book. So much so that I looked for it's influence on the Peter Jackson remake. Just great stuff for Kong fans here.

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good adventure story taking in the world of King Kong and Skull island. Good illustrations aid the story as well.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of this novel is Skull Island, and it serves as both a prequel and sequel to the original novel/movie. Great action sequences.

[Mike Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love King Kong. I really, really do. But this book stinks. Sorry.