One Perfect Moment: Kong

[cyberghostface.insanejournal.com]

I don't know if you'll be able to appreciate this unless you're familar with Ultimate Spider-Man. Kong was introduced in the very first issue as one of Flash Thompson's friends who used to bully Peter. Throughout the series he grew as a character and was revealed to be a decent guy when not being used by Flash. By the end of the series he began dating Kitty Pryde.

Anyway, all the way back in #14, he deduced that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, but no one believed him and it was dropped.

Flash-forward over a hundred issues later with #119, Liz Allan has been revealed to be a mutant (the Ultimate version of Firestar) and the following scene occurred.







Also of note: Kong is one of the few characters who has no 616 counterpart. He's also a character on the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, which is pretty impressive given that the rest of the cast is populated mostly by Lee-era characters.

Comments

[angelophile.insanejournal.com]

Kong is Bendis's self insert character, but you know what? I like him and he's always been a decent addition to the cast. It's funny how much I can still enjoy this comic - I LOVED this moment too, while the rest of Bendis' recent writing I tend to avoid like the plague.

[cyberghostface.insanejournal.com]

I don't think he's a self-insert character--Bill Jemas originally intended him to be a young Kingpin (don't ask) and Bendis just rewrote it when he took over. (And Bendis was waaay different as a teenager, if you've read his short stories...)

[jlbarnett.insanejournal.com]

Kingpin Kong? Are you kidding me?

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Maybe King Kongpin?

[cyberghostface.insanejournal.com]

Well, in Bill Jemas's original plotline, the Kingpin was the nickname for the school bully and the leader of a local gang who would always be taking money from Peter. Bendis never confirmed that this was the start for Kong, but there was a joke later on in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up about how the two looked similar.

Bill Jemas's ideas were nothing short of horrible. The only thing Bendis really used was the concept of "OZ". Here's an example of what Jemas wanted to do: The Sandman is the name of someone who Norman Osborn hired to drug Peter and put him to sleep so he could be tested on. So Sandman no longer made out of sand, but instead...you get the idea.

[thanekos.insanejournal.com]

kinda like how Ultimate Whiplash's name comes from the fact that, in his youth, he was part of insurance scams... involving whiplash injuries.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

I like his little grin at the end. He might be a little pissed at Peter for not telling him, but he's still thrilled that he figured it out.

Actually, he reminds me a little of that guy from Zot, from Jenny's world who was clearly an insert of Scott McCloud, but in an excellent addition to the cast way.