![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4enRKj2SaeEllNs8UKooEEHvRuQ3-zfWoSOZ8hlojgxwaynSsJE95LcaeRb8zeyDaUbxhN6uQ8iVsw46Je5x55D87CDcGtKxlPPwEdzvlGm2Z2Ia7oiFa9ApnYXiPNMOMfU_b-PBJpfy/s400/King+Kong+%231.gif)
This adaptation of King Kong by Don Simpson for Fantagraphics/Monster Comics is lively and true to the source material. While it's seemingly an adaptation of the novel again, I see elements, especially in the later chapters where the film comes into play. The escape from Skull Mountain in particular.
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Don Simpson is a favorite artist of mine. His artwork is muscular and vivid, a nice mix for Kong. Here his King Kong is a wee bit too cartoonish for my tastes. More of a character than the Gold Key adaptation in which he's just a big bluish ape, this Kong is a personality through and through. That's good, but the face sometimes seems a bit too funny for the right effect.
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Another thing is the update of the characterizations. Denham is more of an ass in this one, and Driscoll calls him out several times in the story. Driscoll here is a more modern man, less noble but no less brave. Ann Darrow's plight is undermined a bit by her becoming aware of Driscoll's attempt at rescue much sooner, thus limiting her isolated time with Kong, and the horror that instilled.
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Simpson is known for his babes and he draws Ann here as one. She's sexy, but not as much the innocent as in the other versions I've seen. I have less empathy for the humans in this version and more for Kong, and perhaps that was Simpson's intent.
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The NYC stuff is very good and the ending is abrupt, but then so it is in the original. This is a solid adaptation by an excellent talent. It's not his best work though, and that's a shame. Still the covers for the series by Dave Stevens, Mark Schultz, Bill Stout, Ken Steacey, and Al Williamson are superb.
Rip Off
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