Gabriel Hardman — The True King Of The Monsters

Original Art and The Artists

King Kong, Commission, 2014

Godzilla got most of the attention in the last few posts. But Kong needs some love as well.

So here’s a terrific commission by Gabe Hardman to provide a solution.

Between American and international film releases and re-releases, there is a ton of great movie poster art out in the world. Much of it is quite striking, and my favorites always involve the penultimate scene of Kong fighting the “air force” on top the Empire State Building. (Spoiler alert: he loses and plummets to his death moments later.)

So this piece is a no-brainer for my collection. (Plus, my dad loved King Kong, and he would have seen its original release as an 11-year old, so there’s that reason to own it too.)

And even though Kong “died” in the original classic, he came back 30 years later to fight — and apparently defeat — Godzilla in the original match between those screen titans.

I wonder who wins this time around. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

It took more than 30 years for the original King Kong film to receive a comic adaptation, but it when it did, it was a glorious 64 pages for a quarter. Cover by the incredible George Wilson.
A few interior pages from the end of the Gold Key King Kong adaption , and Marvel’s classic parody cover that somehow manages to combine Kong, The Marvel Universe, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.