Interview with Joe DeVito (2018)
|
The following is a Wikizilla-exclusive interview. The Boy Who Cried Godzilla's interview with Joe DeVito, creator and chief creative officer of the King Kong of Skull Island intellectual property |
|---|
Interview with Joe DeVito, creator of the Merian C. Cooper estate-endorsed intellectual property King Kong of Skull Island regarding his then-upcoming novel/series King Kong of Skull Island, in which he gives some insight on the nature of continuity within the property and its licensed works.
Interview
Boy: Hello. I am an administrator of wikizilla.org, an online encyclopedia of all things Godzilla, King Kong, Gamera and et cetera. I was wondering if you might be up to answer a few questions about your Kong universe?
JD: Hi The Boy*,
Greetings The Boy*,
I would be happy to. It may take a bit to get the answers back to you depending on how many questions there are and how long a good answer needs to be. If that works for you, send away.
Kind Regards,
Joe
Boy: First off, Thank you so much for agreeing to this, and I assure you that the time it takes you to answer is no problem at all. I would like to start out by congratulating you on the impending release of your book King Kong of Skull Island. However, I would like to know how it fits into your timeline. I'm not quite clear as to how it relates to the existing book Kong: King of Skull Island. Secondly, is the two-part novel, The Exodus and The Wall a retelling of BOOM! Studios' Kong of Skull Island plotline? The names alone suggest a similar story. Would these books overwrite the happenings of the comics?
JD: Thanks for the good words, The Boy*, they are genuinely appreciated. Things are calming down a touch, so let’s give it a shot! Send over some questions and I’ll get back to you as quick as I can (which no doubt will vary).
Boy: In addition to the previous questions, which I'll put below, I guess what is really eating at me, though this may be a more appropriate question for James Asmus, is: What happens to Fer'rah? That's probably something on which my entire understanding of your universe hinges. I might be reading way too deeply into this, but: if Fer'rah survives, is he Kong's biological father, or do he and Valla and the juvenile Kong reconnect elsewhere in the wild? But even deeper into this rabbit hole: assuming that the Kong we see in the comics is the King Kong, as we're lead to believe, does that make Valla, his mother figure, his adopted mother in Kong: King of Skull Island? This would bring us back to Fer'rah, and his life/death conundrum. I realize this is a lot, but...any thoughts?
JD: James Asmus’ storyline is essentially an “Elseworlds” version of my original “Skull Island” story that was first novelized in “Kong: King of Skull Island,” then both revisited and greatly expanded in my new book, “King Kong of Skull Island.” So the short answer is that you would have to ask him that one!
The '04 book, “Kong: King of Skull Island,” was a novel (@70K words) based in my original '97 Skull Island story (unpublished) and deals mostly with the aftermath of Kong's NYC rampage, Carl Deham's fate, and the back story of how Kong became a King.
These details are fully recapped in my new book, “King Kong of Skull Island,” in the "Denham Diaries" (@33K+ words), though some details vary. The main novel (in two parts: "Exodus” and “The Wall”) of the new book (@95K words) deals with the origins of the Kongs, the Tagatu civilization, how and why they arrived on SI, and the events leading up to and including the building of the great Wall across the peninsula of Skull Island.
The ensuing “Skull Island Historical Details and Observations” section (@33K+ words) of “King Kong of Skull Island” delves further still into all things Skull Island (flora, fauna, geology, etc.), greatly expanded details of the origins of the Kongs, the Tagatu civilization both pre and post the original King Kong tale, and much, much more. The book concludes with the "Carl and Vincent Denham Sketchbook” section composed of two dozen hand drawn, annotated pages.
There are many illustrations in the new Kong book that are not in my '04 Kong book and visa-versa. The two books are also different in overall layout and approach: the first book is heavier on paintings, light on sketchbook; the new book is a slipcased Limited-Edition that is physically bigger, has a much higher page count, and is far heavier on sketchbook art, drawings and sketches and far deeper on all Kong and Skull Island details.
As I mentioned earlier, the BOOM! series is based on my "Kong of Skull Island" Universe that has since been exponentially expanded in both words and pictures in the new book, “King Kong of Skull Island.” (for much more related info go to www.kongskullisland.com and the FB page, “Kong of Skull Island")
Boy: Wow. That's an unexpected response, but I suppose it makes sense that you couldn't be overseeing the BOOM! crew's every move, eh? Well, with the Elseworlds status cemented, can we expect to see any familiar faces in King Kong of Skull Island's expansion on their source material, such as Valla, Fer'rah, V'drell, Ewata, K'vanni, or any of our other various apostrophe-weilding friends? That aside, have you read any of the BOOM! entries? Do you have any opinions on them? Furthermore, I've noticed that you contributed to Kong Unbound. If I may ask some more opinion-oriented questions, What do you think of Peter Jackson's Kong mythos?
JD: On the contrary, I’ve read every panel and reviewed every image (Carlos Magno's art is quite spectacular). I have also done the same for every other BOOM! comic based in my Kong IP and have greatly enjoyed the finished books, in particular the range of styles in both art and writing. That said, none of the characters particular to any of the BOOM! storylines appear in King Kong of Skull Island. They are fascinating explorations into an ever-expanding Kong Universe. I’m not sure if all of the various BOOM! Skull Island-based books have hit the stands yet other than the Asmus/Mago series and the first of the Planet of the Apes cross-overs.
In terms of all Kong movies since the original, IMO the Cooper/Schoedsack/Willis O’Brien 1933 classic has no peer.
Boy: I guess you're right, seeing as not even they themselves could make that lightning strike twice. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
