Kong The Untamed!

Prehistoric cave folk fascinate us. We only know them from fragments of their bones and in some cases a few remnants of tools and drawings on cave walls. That said, there have been quite a few cave man heroes over the years. Kong the Untamed was DC 's 70's attempt to give life to the genre. Under a fantastic Berni Wrightson cover, we see the birth of Kong and the tragic expulsion of his mother and the babe from the Cro-Magnon tribe. 

The saga of Kong was written by Gerry Conway and drawn in its first three issues by Alfredo Alcala. It's his usual lush style and well suited to this type of story. Kong the Untamed was just one of several titles that DC launched in the mid-70's to take advantage of the popularity of Conan the Barbarian at Marvel. 

Where Kong went an earlier effort by Howie Post had walked before. DC's most famous caveman is Anthro and in later attempts at continuity he is linked to Kong. Anthro's stories were much more light-hearted than the savage story Conway and Alcala tell. 

The 70's proved an interesting time for fans of cave man lore. Charlton had been publishing Pat Boyette's Korg:70,000 B.C., which was based on a TV show of same name. 

As mentioned with the passage of time, Kong the Untamed is one of the few characters from this wave of adventure comics to get a page in DC's Who's Who. 

Kong is a resilient young man, who is able to do something no one in his former tribe had been able to do --make fire. But that was small comfort for the pain of losing his mother and his banishment. As it turns out the Neanderthal who is prominently featured on the first cover becomes a fan of Kong and the two team up to live in the cruel outside world. Berni Wrightson drew both the first and second covers -- both outstanding. 

Kong and Gurat find a hidden valley after an earthquake and in that valley. they find dinosaurs. This undermines the realism but amps up the action. Bill Draut takes over the cover art duty. 

Kong is now living with a more advanced culture, but one ruled by a cruel matriarchy. Something in Kong's noggin thinks this is not right. Gurat turns up again. But issue four though Alcala was gone and was replaced by the team of Tony Caravana and Jo Ingente Jr. 

The story takes an even more dramatic turn when the dino-riders who rescued Gurat attack the matriarchal culture that is drawing so much disdain. David Wenzel and Bill Draut draw the final issue which isn't a cliffhanger but does leave many of its long-term plot threads unresolved. 

Kong the Untamed was a pleasant surprise. The Alcala art is always great, but the story was unusually reasonable, though as with any series there are lots of coincidences to make the machine hum efficiently. Conway seemed to be headed somewhere with this one, but it's hard to tell how far down the road he got. 

Next time we go to The Ends of the Earth with Wonder Woman. 

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