King Kong, Illustrated by Christophe Blain
This re-telling of Merian C Cooper and Edgar Wallace’s famed tale is a 44 page children’s book printed in 2004 by Albin Michel.
The comic pages illustrated by Christophe Blain are more in line with the style that’s become synonymous with him: bubbly, clear-lined, cartoony, although it is more subdued here and weighted down with shadowy pencils, and are a well done use of narrative; really layering in further story considering the text is a very condensed version. At the same time he’s aware of his intended audience, so does keep them simple, in terms of composition or multiple elements in frame.
The single and double page images give Blain more room to fles and are much more impressionistic: smokier, smudged pastel-like textures that cleverly -by never really giving solid outline or shape to Kong’s gargantuan mass- have the effect of making him seem even bigger, mythic and uncontainable. They add to the ominous atmosphere, set up ambiance, and feed the tragic tone of the story.