Thursday, March 9, 2017

Captain's Library & Theatre KING KONG "meets P T Bunkum"

With a new King Kong movie hitting screens tomorrow...
...we're going to have a look at the only comic based on the first King Kong animated series from 1966...

An animated series that also lead to another King Kong film...

...using elements from the animated series including the villain, Doctor Who!
the animated version
the live action version
No, not the BBC's Time Lord...
...but a decidedly-hammy human villain!
Two interesting American-Japanese links to the tv series and movie.
1) The series, though produced by Rankin-Bass was animated by Toei Animation, making it the first anime specifically-produced for America!
2) The movie was a co-production of Rankin-Bass and Toho Studios., using characters and plot elements from the cartoon series including Doctor Who and MechaniKong!
Though it uses King Kong, it is not a sequel to King Kong vs Godzilla, and no reference is made to events of the earlier film.
Now, back to the comic...
While the writer is unknown (and the story may be adapted from one of the episodes), the art is believed to be penciled by Sol Brodsky and John Verpoorten and inked by Frank Giacoia.
If those names seem familiar, it's because the one-shot comic this tale appeared in, America's Best TV Comics (1967), was packaged by Marvel for ABC!
Besides abridged reprints of Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Casper tales, the 68-page comic featured the first (and only) strips based on the animated Journey to the Center of the Earth, King Kong, as well as George of the Jungle's first comic book appearance!
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King Kong
Vol 1
and
King Kong
Vol 2