King Kong Cometh!: The Evolution of the Great Ape

This compelling volume will include:
• The origins of Kong:
The jungle movie travelogues of the 1920s and 30s. Detective fiction writer Edgar Wallace’s original story, plus an extract from his novelisation of King Kong.
• The making of King Kong (1933):
Vintage reports from monster mags of the fifties, sixties and seventies, by the people who were actually there. The missing Kong: the censored scenes replaced in recent years and the lost scene that survives only in still form – as sailors chasing Kong and Fay Wray are eaten by giant spiders.
• The sons of Kong:
Soft-centred spin-off Son of Kong (1933), rushed into theatres for Christmas, and Willis O’Brien’s last great ape movie, Mighty Joe Young (1947). Low-budget Kong rip-offs and Japanese monster movies.
• The King of the Kongs?:
The evolution of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s ambition to remake King Kong and early production reports from the forthcoming film.
• Plus stills, posters, comic book covers – and all things Kong.