Kong: King Of Skull Island Hardcover – Illustrated, 4 Jan 2005

I always had a keen interest in monster movies in general, so the original King Kong film, with Willis O'Brien's prehistoric monsters in the rampant jungle, set my imagination soaring. When the Peter Jackson film came out, it's depiction of Skull Island's different habitats and creatures was stunning, and I searched for books and artists that focussed particularly on that aspect of the story. Weta Workshop's Natural History of Skull Island is outstanding in terms of images and detail, but it lacked narrative. That's why I bought this book, not knowing what to expect - I thought the cover looked like a graphic novel, but thankfully Amazon had the 'look inside' feature that showed me the reality. The book is the same size as a graphic, and the illustrations - avaraging one on every couple of pages - are skilfully drawn and artistic, varying in size from double page to small blocks. The story is quite clever - it tells the story of Carl Denham's son, going to the island to find his dad and having an adventure of his own, whilst being told the history of the island via a village storyteller. The two times are both fascinating and dramatic, and they go into a good deal of detail about the island, some of the creatures, the politics of the tribe, the wall, religions and environments, introducing several new ones. The book looks back more to the original film rather than the new one, but still makes an interesting companion to anyone interested in the background to the 'eighth wonder of the world'.

I have been a fan of King Kong since I first saw the 1933 classic on TV in the 1970's when I was about eight years old. I loved it then and still love it now...When I first came across Joe DeVito's illustrated novel a couple of years ago I was fascinated and couldn't wait to have a read for myself.To be honest I was a little disappointed when I first read this book as the 'sequel' seemed to have missed out the events in 'Son of Kong' altogether, and I felt some of the characterisation was wrong... it just didn't seem to fit comfortably with a movie I loved so much.Knowing what happened to Carl Denham and Englehorn in 'Son' this new version was a little difficult to accept and I felt that it was a wasted opportunity for a great sequel and a return to the prehistoric terror of Skull Island!BUT I later discovered that DeVito had based his work upon the original novelisation of King Kong by Delos W Lovelace, which first appeared in 1932, some time before the release of the movie. Having re-read this novel recently I decided to track down Kong-King of Skull Island and read it again with a fresh outlook.Second time around was much better... everything seemed to fall into place and the descriptions of a past Skull Island and what the'kongs' were was very well executed indeed.Vincent Denham, Carl's estranged son seemed a more likeable hero, as was an older Jack Driscoll who had made the return voyage to Skull Island.Carl Denham has a cameo and seems far more interested in righting his wrongs to Kong by preserving the island habitat.The artwork is fantastic, capturing the jungles of Skull Island perfectly, with both pencil sketches and full colour art pages.I still think that this book works best if viewed as a sequel to the novel rather than the 1933 movie, but any Kong fan should hunt a copy down as it is well worth the effort for a very handsome and enjoyable book.

I got this on my kindle. A great read. Well thought out. Just hope Peter Jackson doesn't try to turn it into a film and ruin it.

well written, follows the original king Kong story and adds to it well. Easy reading and a refreshing change from modern adventure stories full of gun fights and unbelievable fighting skills needed to push the hero through.

Found This An Interesting Addition To The Story Of Legendary King Kong. The Characters Were Captivating And Skull Island Was Heart Racing! In Particular Gaw! The Wisdom Of The Story Tellers Divert The Kong Story From The Neanderthal-Type Natives The Film Versions Would Have Us Believe. A Great Read.