With a new film coming and current comic book from BOOM! Studios King Kong is quite popular but he has been part of the comic book world more then some my realize.  Some of those apprearances came from Marvel and DC Comics, Kong made multiple ​appearances in the Marvel Universe, one as a giant robot ape called "Kong" appeared in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #2 in 1969, drawn to look exactly like the famous movie monster. The character Warlock from The New Mutants turned into Godzilla and then King Kong (one of those interesting trivia fact) during a rampage through New York City in Web of Spider-Man Annual No. 2 from 1986. In Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man No. 1 from 1999, Peter Parker is seen watching the film King Kong at a cinema alongside Quentin Beck. He would return to watch the film again in issue #3.

For DC, he appeared via a poster in 1961's Adventure Comics #289. In that comic's back-up strip called Tales of the Bizarro World, Bizarro encounters Titano on Earth's prehistoric past. When he returns to his home world, he's inspired to make a TV series based on the character only to be accused of ripping off King Kong. King Kong appeared as a statue in Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane No. 73 in 1967 and as a robot brought to life (among other giant robots in an amusement park created by Toyman) to fight Superman in Adventures of Superman No. 475 in 1991. In issue No. 226 of Superman in 1970, Clark Kent is seen watching the film King Kong at a Metropolis cinema and after being exposed to Red Kryptonite (as Superman) grows into a giant who rampages through the city in a story called When Superman became King Kong!. In issue No. 120 of Weird War Tales from 1983, G.I. Robot encounters a giant female ape referred to as "Mrs. King Kong" on Dinosaur Island who saves him and his allies from a Tyrannosaurus. In 1985's Blue Devil No. 15, Blue Devil battles a giant robot King Kong that malfunctions at the "King Kong Attraction" located at the "Verner Bros" studio in Hollywood.

​King Kong #3
Monster Comics
May 1991
Editor: Gary Groth, Ryder Windham

Cover Artist: William Stout
Artist: Donald Simpson, William Stout
Writer: Donald Simpson 

​Part 3: Death in Devil's Chasm!
Kong shakes most of the sailors off the log bridge and into the chasm, where they are eaten by a swarm of giant spiders.

Kong's efforts to catch Driscoll are interrupted when Ann is attacked by a large meat-eating dinosaur, an Allosaurus. Kong fights and kills the dinosaur, then picks up Ann and moves on with Driscoll in pursuit. Denham, meanwhile, is sent back for reinforcements.

Trivia: Stout's cover shows Kong battling a Tyrannosaurus (when it is clearly an Allosaurus in the actual story).

Based on the 1932 novelization by Delos W. Lovelace and thus differs from the movie in numerous places. Notably, the ship is called the Vastator instead of the Venture and the characters of Charlie the Chinese cook and Second Mate Briggs are absent, replaced by a character from Lovelace's novel named Lumpy. The comic also contains several scenes not found in the film including the infamous "spider pit" scenes and extra encounters with dinosaurs by the search party. Other notable changes include the addition of a character totally original to this comic, Denham's assistant Wally, and an extended sequence of several dinosaurs joining Kong in attacking the native village.

CREATORS
Writer: Joe DeVito & Brad Strickland with John Michlig
Artist: Joe DeVito
Pubisher: Dark Horse
Publication Date: November 24, 2004

The story begins in 1957, twenty five years after King Kong's fall from atop New York City's Empire State Building. Following Kong's death, both Carl Denham and the body of Kong quickly vanished before any investigation could be launched, leaving rumor and speculation in their wake. Carl's son, Vincent, was left behind. He is now a paleontologist facing a spiritual dilemma, which has its seeds in the disappearance of his father. Upon a chance finding of the hidden Skull Island map, Vincent contacts Jack Driscoll, one of Kong's original captors. They piece together a plan and go to Skull Island in search of Carl Denham, King Kong, and answers to questions spanning a quarter century.
During a disastrous landing attempt, Vincent is almost killed and Driscoll sets out to find his stricken friend. Upon waking in a dark cavern, Vincent finds himself being cared for by an enigmatic island elder and her young, exotically beautiful but ominous assistant, Kara. The ancient woman, who asks to be called "Storyteller," seems to possess extraordinary knowledge about Vincent and his father. She relates a story from a century earlier that Vincent half-hears and half-dreams through the haze of narcotic herbs kept burning to aid his recovery. Her tale hints at the true origin of the island's culture and the mystery behind questions such as: Who built the Wall and how? If the Wall was built to keep Kong out, why are its doors big enough to let him in? How could such an island and its monstrous creatures still exist? The answers to those questions and more are all revealed.

Or are they?

While the Storytellerís tale is sometimes confirmed, it is often refuted by the sights and experiences of Jack Driscoll. He stumbles upon pieces to Skull Islandís mysterious history as he struggles to survive the various threats of the island and find his friend. When Driscoll and Vincent reunite, their experiences combine to determine just who the Storyteller and Kara are, what became of Carl Denham, the story behind King Kong and clues to the origins of Skull Island itself. As a result, their lives are all changed forever.

As the story unfolds against a fantastic prehistoric backdrop, woven throughout are themes of personal redemption and reconciliation. All the protagonists have a particular cross to bear: Vincent is on the brink, both emotionally and spiritually; Driscoll comes face to face with past fears and prejudices; in the wake of Kong's death, the lives and culture of the islanders themselves hang in the balance; and we find that Carl Denham's desperate attempt to assuage his conscience decades earlier had very unexpected consequences.

Mysteriously, everyone is inextricably bound to the Storytellerís tale. It tells of two ancient native children, Ishara and Kublai, and their quest to escape a terrible fate which threatens both themselves and their people. That struggle has the power to reach across time and change the destiny of all. If they survive. For at the nexus of every event is the beast-god of Skull Island: KING KONG.

Giant Classic King Kong Comic Book
Art: Alberto Giolitti
Publisher: Whitman
Released: 1968
Cover Artist: George Wilson


This Whitman Giant Classic featured terrific cover art by George Wilson of King Kong atop the Empire States Building. And the excellent interior art was by Alberto Giolitti.

The familiar story itself was split into seven short chapters, and all the familiar characters are present, from Carl Denham (here with gray streaks in his hair, and a moustache), and Captain Englehorn, to Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, and Kong himself.

In Chapter Two, the voyagers reach Kong’s island, and the adventure really begins.  Interestingly, the comic version features some sequences deleted from the film.  For instance, a Styracosaurus chases several sailors onto the log over the chasm, a moment not in the final cut.  

And also, in the comic-book version of the tale, Englehart’s ship is named The Wanderer, not Venture.