For today’s installment for KONGTOBER, you get two for the price of one! First up is the May 1977 issue of National Lampoon…
Vintage magazines like this one give a snapshot of the time period that they were published. This “Gay Ish” magazine is 35 years old and is filled with poltically-incorrect and insensitive articles that would never be printed today. This is one book that I bought just for the cover, as there is nothing related to King Kong inside (but there is a photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger ironing in tight shorts).
This Mad Magazine from July 1967 has a humorous King Kong organ grinder cover, but sadly no further appearance of the beast on the inside pages.
—
“Don’t be alarmed, ladies and gentlemen. Those chains are made of chrome steel.” All month long, I will be showing off King Kong collectibles from my personal collection in a series called KONGTOBER, so if you’re a fan of King Kong and movie monsters, I think you’re going to like what you see.
Humor magazines almost always have amazing cover art.
Re:
“filled with poltically-incorrect and insensitive articles that would never be printed today.”
You ARE kidding, right? Besides the fact 1970s NATLAMP issues are among the most brilliant and hilarious comedy ever produced, this style of humor fortunately still exists today on the web and elsewhere, such as the TV shows SOUTH PARK and TOSH.0. Poopy doo!
No doubt this humor is even more prevalent today, but I don’t think you would see it from a nationally renowned publication today. Smaller blogs and websites have certainly taken over the mantle, but the public outcry over articles such as those in this issue would be fierce in today’s climate.
Tosh.0 is a good comparison to what National Lampoon was doing–it’s not for everyone.
that king kong national lampoon is pretty awesome.
Am I crazy? I distinctly remember there was an official issue of MAD that did a spoof of the Jeff Bridges King Kong. I think I actually owned it as a kid.
Nope, you’re not crazy. I think the cover shows Dwan knitting a Kong-sized booty for her new baby.