Son of Kong (1933 comic strip)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Son of Kong was a comic strip illustrated by Glenn Cravath that ran in newspapers in 1933 to promote the film of the same name. Like its predecessor King Kong, it was distributed to movie theaters across the United States and the world as part of the movie's official pressbook, which provided promotional materials to venues. While most of the original comic is currently undocumented, the entirety of the strip's Spanish release is available. For Spanish publication, artist Tomás Porto converted Cravath's panels into a more traditional comic layout, and supplemented them with his own illustrations to expand the brief summary into a more detailed retelling of the film. While Porto provided the artwork for the reformatted Spanish release, and is the sole credit given on the pages, some of the panels are copied if not directly traced from Cravath's originals.
Story
American release
Spanish release
After the death of King Kong, a miserable Carl Denham flees the United States with his friend Captain Englehorn to Java. While there, the crew encounters Nils Helstrom, a man in search of treasure, whom they allow to accompany them on their journey. During the night, someone murders the owner of a circus they all had attended and burns down the tent, leading to the lovely Hilda Petersen, for whom Denham had fallen, stowing away on their ship. Denham tries to convince her to leave, but the girl is unafraid, and is ultimately allowed to stay. This upsets Helstrom, who then decides to stage a mutiny to offload the girl, Denham, and Englehorn and continue his search alone. Unfortunately, the sailors send him overboard as well, and Denham takes pity and allows him space on their lifeboat alongside the Chinese cook who opted to stay with the captain. They drift at sea for some time before happening upon the island where King Kong had lived. They try to come ashore near the native village, but are chased off and forced to disembark on the other side. The cook quickly spies a gigantic ape, whom Denham believes to be the Son of Kong. Unfortunately, the beast is in distress, as he is sinking into swampland, and Denham fells a nearby tree to allow him a means of escape. They are then accosted by a prehistoric bear, which the son of Kong quickly dispatches. As they cross the landscape, Hilda advises Denham not to shoot a passing Triceratops, so as to not aggravate it.They continue through deep gorges and immense ancient forests where danger lurks at each turn, and are soon attacked by another beast, which the son of Kong arrives to defeat, but not without injuring himself in the skirmish. Denham cares for his injuries, and the group notes that the ape seems to be protecting him. Hilda then encounters some small water-dwelling beasts, which Denham shoots. They see innumerable unbelievable sights, but soon night begins to fall. Although they are watched by strange glowing eyes, and hear the roars of all kinds of animals, the Son of Kong accompanies them through the jungle, keeping them safe. In the morning, the cook, Helstrom, and Englehorn are attacked by a lion, which Denham quickly fells with a single rifle shot. Within hours they come upon a mysterious ancient temple, abandoned for many centuries. They venture inside and marvel at the sculptures and etchings before opting to rest inside. Denham awakes to see the Son of Kong opening a trapdoor in the floor, revealing the great treasure Helstrom had spoken of. Unfortunately, a tremendous earthquake begins to destroy the island before they can take any of it. Helstrom attempts to get to the boat first, intending to leave everyone else behind, but a sea monster quickly snaps up and swallows the mutineer, allowing the rest of the party to escape with the exception of Denham, who had remained behind to help Kong survive. Unfortunately, the Son of Kong gets his foot caught in a rock as the island sinks beneath the waves, and lifts Denham above the rising waters to allow his companions to rescue him, at the expense of his own life. When the storm clears, the survivors are rescued by a passing steamer, where Denham and Hilda begin their honeymoon.
Appearances
Monsters
Characters |
Weapons, vehicles, and racesLocations
|
Gallery
American release
The only documented part of the American strip
Spanish release
Trivia
- The adaptation makes no mention of Hilda's relationship to the circus owner.
See also
Comments
Showing 2 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
<comments voting="Plus" />
|
|
|
