Today is a sad day for Broadway-theater fans and monster kids alike because it marks the final performance of King Kong, a mega-budgeted musical stage adaptation of the creation of Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace. Written by Olivier Award–winning book writer Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) with a score by Marius de Vries (Moulin Rouge) and songs by Eddie Perfect, it opened last November and its main attraction was a one-ton, six-meter-tall silverback gorilla puppet as its star. You had a good run, big guy, feel free to take the rest of the summer off!
But you can’t keep a good monster down. Not only did Kong influence a Broadway musical, not only is he set to costar in next year’s monster-movie clash Godzilla vs. Kong (a sequel to 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and this year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters)—but he also inspired all of us at StarWarp Concepts to add his story to our line of Illustrated Classics, which we did last year to celebrate Kong’s 85th anniversary.
So while his musical might be closing, King Kong still lives—and you can order him from the SWC webstore!
King Kong is an e-book-only republication of the 1932 novelization of the original movie classic. Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, it includes scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. Our version features six original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.
Not familiar with the beauty-and-the-beast story of Kong and his “love interest,” Ann Darrow (who was played in the 1933 original by the queen of the scream queens, Fay Wray)? Well, here’s our edition’s back-cover copy to bring you up-to-date:
Ann Darrow was a down-on-her-luck actress struggling to survive in Depression-era New York when she met moviemaker Carl Denham. He offered her the starring role in his latest film: a documentary about a long-lost island—and the godlike ape named Kong rumored to live there. Denham needed a beauty as a counterpart to the beast he hoped to find, and Ann was the answer to his prayers.
Mystery, romance, a chance to turn her life around, even the possibility of stardom—to Ann, it sounded like the adventure of a lifetime! But what she didn’t count on were the horrific dangers that awaited her on Skull Island—including the affections of a love-struck monster…
King Kong (the 1932 novelization) is available directly from the SWC webstore, so visit its product page for ordering information.
