Kong of Skull Island Featured Reviews 

“Kong of Skull Island” #1

By | July 14th, 2016
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Finally, what we’ve all been apparently waiting for, a King Kong prequel! “Kong of Skull Island” takes us right back to the beginning, to discover the origin of the iconic giant ape. It’s big, bold, and very chaotic. Unfortunately, none of this is a good thing.

Written by James Asmus
Illustrated by Carlos Magno

King Kong, world-famous and original gargantuan ape, is the progenitor of an entire genre, spawning sequels, remakes, and countless other interpretations. You know Kong. You love Kong!
King Kong was created by Merian C. Cooper, and Kong of Skull Island is grounded in artist/author Joe DeVito’s ground-breaking literary property Skull Island. This story is exclusively authorized and endorsed by the Cooper family as their official King Kong/Skull Island prequel and sequel origin story.
Two fractured and combative civilizations are forced to band together as they venture onto Skull Island-their new home.
From All-New Inhumans writer James Asmus and Planet of the Apes artist Carlos Magno.

My initial thought after reading “Kong of Skull Island” #1 is that this is a book where the writing and art is completely at odds from each other. The absolute minimum we look for with comic books is that the writer and artist collaborate to deliver a coherent story, generally speaking the writer informs the artist while artist will enhance the writer’s work. Yet, when we really look into this issue, it is obvious that something is definitely amiss. This is not to say that the book is bad, on the contrary, it is actually quite a stunning book to look at thanks to Carlos Magno’s highly detailed artwork and there are some really fascinating concepts at its heart thanks to writer James Asmus, but the book struggles to connect these two vital components.

The issue opens on a nonspecific island, which we are led to believe, through visual clues alone, is inhabited by some early civilization. The clothing and the priests suggest Mayan yet the environment is very Polynesian, of course it could be a strange blend of both, they are certainly not European, there is just no major signifier to where and when this is set. It doesn’t bother me too much not having everything laid out in front of me, but we’re pretty much thrown into proceedings immediately without any setup, as a reader you’re on the back foot from the get go and the confusion doesn’t stop there, but we’ll get to that later. Back to the opening and what Asmus does establish is that this is a society based on sacrifices and gladiatorial battles. However, what is abundantly clear is that things work a little different here, battles are not between men, but familiar looking giant apes, or as they’re called here, ‘The Kong’.

The Kongs’ entrance is quite spectacular, this is probably the only example where the writing and the art connect with each other. This being a prequel, Asmus has the space and freedom to play with the Kong franchise mythos. Saying that, has anybody really established a mythos for King Kong? Giant apes are not only very present but easily controlled, they’re made to fight for sport and seemingly to improve one’s status in society. Magno presents this fight in huge and impressive detail, befitting of the character this series is based upon. His shading is intricate and owns a real classic quality. It’s fortunate that Mango is so good because we’re treated to three more splash pages, but this is where the biggest disconnect becomes evident, let me explain.

Asmus has tried to write a very nuanced and layered script, unfortunately it’s not something I believe he succeeds in as he cannot keep focused on any particular element of his plot. It is especially damning that the ‘Kong’ are the most neglected, there is a much bigger focus on the machinations of the society’s elders. It feels like Asmus is trying to write a saga akin to that of Game of Thrones by blending politics and magic, this in itself could be interesting but he doesn’t follow through here either. Asmus’ dialogue is too dense and filled with exposition, I found myself either confused to what was being said or just losing interest altogether. There is a romantic subplot and an impending natural disaster in the form of a volcano too. This is an awful lot to fit into one issue about a giant ape, so much so we never actually meet King Kong at all.

Continued below

The book’s biggest saving grace is Magno’s art, as I mentioned before it is very spectacular in a wide scope and his line work and overall design is accomplished. So it is bizarre when the overuse of splash pages starts to becomes tiresome, he should have saved one or two for a following issue. The splash page in which he introduces us to Skull Island feels like a last page or a punctuation mark, it feels jarring when the comic continues for a few more pages. He doesn’t do too well during the more intimate moments either, there is enough drama and style don’t get me wrong, but his placement is just as confusing as Asmus’ dialogue. Characters are often indistinguishable from one another and sometimes drawn at strange angles. Brad Simpson on colours does a good job on the whole, but I find his pallet quite limited, the latter half of the book seems to blend into one. It certainly doesn’t help with the messy tone of the book.

If Asmus and Mongo could work closer a little better, this could be a fantastic book. All the elements are there, but it is a simple case of trying to do too much and without the proper care and attention, it can easily fall apart.

Final Verdict: 5.0 – An overall chaotic and confusing start to the story of King Kong’s origins. Thankfully the art is as spectacular as it should be.


Liam Budd

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