In 1967, Shōnen Magazine published a set of illustrations detailing the secret weapons of Dr. Who, an evil scientist bent on capturing King Kong who regularly appeared in “The King Kong Show,” a popular animated series on Japanese and US television at the time (not related to the British “Doctor Who”).

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“Death Battle with Robot Kong,” an illustration by Takashi Minamimura, features a cutaway diagram of Robot Kong, also known as “Mechani-Kong” in the US version of the cartoon and in the 1967 spin-off film “King Kong Escapes.” Built to defeat King Kong, the 50-meter tall remote-control robot is powered by a 200,000-kilowatt nuclear reactor and can shoot laser beams from its eyes and poison gas from its nose.

The accompanying text describes Dr. Who’s sinister plans to capture King Kong, place a mind-control helmet on his head, and use him to hijack ships and rob banks. He estimates King Kong can carry about 100 million yen in cash in his giant paws.

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Appearing in the same issue of Shōnen Magazine is a schematic illustration by Takayoshi Mizuki entitled “Secret Pyramid Base,” which shows Dr. Who’s secret base inside one of the Giza pyramids in Egypt.

The pyramid is equipped with advanced military hardware, including 3D radar, jet launchers, recoilless guns, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and military tanks that burrow underground. Dr. Who monitors all the action from a wall of TV screens in his room at the center of the pyramid. The base is powered by a nuclear reactor in the basement and surrounded by giant ant-lion sand traps.

Situated nearby is a giant nuclear-powered Sphinx Tank. King Kong battles a variation of this weaponized Sphinx in an episode of “The King Kong Show.” (Watch “The Jinx of the Sphinx.”)

The diabolical Dr. Who and Mechani-Kong also appear in the 1967 film “King Kong Escapes,” which was an adaptation of some of the cartoon episodes.

In the film, King Kong is captured and hypnotized by Dr. Who, but he eventually snaps out of it and escapes to Tokyo. Dr. Who sends Mechani-Kong after him, and the two end up in a battle to the death atop Tokyo Tower.

+ King Kong Escapes – US trailer

[Images via: 昭和の雑誌広告・懐かしモノ]

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