Boom! Studios takes us into the future for a prequel to the classic movies. Is this comic one people should pry from your cold, dead hands, or should you keep your hands off this damn dirty ape book?
Written by Daryl Gregory
Illustrated by Carlos MagnoTaking place before the orginal PLANET OF THE APES movies, Ape and Human societies have reached a new golden age, but peace never lasts for long. Ripples of dissent are spreading in both the Ape and Human ranks when a mysterious assassin guns down the beloved Lawgiver, tensions will reach a boiling point! Can one human solve the mystery of the Lawgiver’s murder before war engulfs all of society? Or is this the beginning of the end for Apes and Humans alike?
112 pages / $9.99
Licensed properties are a niche product in the niche medium of comics. It’s a tough job to convince someone who hasn’t seen a cult and/or classic movie to plunk down money for a sequel, prequel, or parallel storyline. It’s even tougher when previous ‘official’ comics are completely ignored and invalidated by later movies. (Was I the only person who read the “Transformers” movie-verse comics from IDW which were billed as official canon approved by Hasbro, only to see a different canon in TF2 and 3?) “Planet of the Apes” avoids this mess by using all-new characters in an all-new time period which will (probably) never be visited in a future movie.
The series begins just shy of 700 years into the future, after Apes have risen but before they have conquered. Lawgiver, an ape priest who champions co-existence, is assassinated in the opening scene. The remainder of the four issues in this collection are spent uncovering the identity and motivation of the human assassin. Along the way, you’re introduced to a host of relatable new characters of both human and ape lineage. There are complex politics at work, and characters from both species are spread along the spectrum of ideologies. Despite the forgone conclusion to the Human-Ape war, you will come to like the various characters enough to dread the outcome. While there’s plenty of it, “Planet of the Apes” isn’t an action comic. It’s a tragedy.
The forest and low-industrial setting of “The Long War” makes the book feel more like a fantasy piece than science fiction, and that’s perfectly ok. Gregory’s builds the world well, and never lets the details of the society get in the way of the characters or plot. Every character serves a purpose, and none of them feel like thin archetypes. This doesn’t feel like a gimmick, pumped out to make a quick buck off some movie hype. This feels thought-out, developed, and something planning a long story.
After coming up with a great ‘big idea’ for the series, Gregory executes it by crafting four issues which flow together almost seamlessly when collected into one volume. There is a shift in narrators, but it’s not too jarring because there’s a narrator-free issue in between the switch. The chapter breaks are fairly natural, and could even be overlooked entirely if there weren’t pages inserted to mark them. Between issues two and three there’s a jump from immediate action to a post-action recap, but Gregory handles it well by making it clear the action was anti-climactic and the reader didn’t miss anything. It also helps to smooth the shift into the different narrator. In four issues, Gregory tells a complete story, but makes you want to come back and find out what happens next.
Magno’s art work is consistent throughout the volume. The various human and ape characters are easy to distinguish from one-another. Considering the size of the cast, that’s quite a feat. His actions scenes are sometimes flat, where characters look like they’re holding poses instead of being in motion. The first issue was colored by Juan Tumburus, who was replaced by Nolan Woodard for the remaining issues. The change is mostly unnoticeable, except for the colors of the sky. Woodard covered a range between day and night, but Tumburus’ all seemed to be a sunset. This could have been a personal preference or story-driven, but all the scenes looked appropriate.
Continued belowBeyond including cover art for the issues collected, the book has nothing in the way of additional material. Then again, Boom! books rarely do. For the introductory price of $10, that’s ok.
The weakest point of “Planet of the Apes” may be the title. As noted earlier, licensed properties automatically limit their audience. That’s a shame, because this would be a perfect fit for anyone interested in a fantasy epic, but it’ll be overlooked because of the association with Charlton Heston.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
