The Damned, Dirty Crossover You Demanded Continues In Kong On The Planet Of The Apes #2

The crossover you demanded continues as Doctor Zaius, Cornelius, Zira, General Ursus, and a fleet of Gorilla Soldiers discover human natives on Skull Island…and the last surviving Kong!

Kong on the Planet of the Apes #2 opens up with the ape expedition on Skull Island, exploring ruins they stumbled across. They’re shocked to find a building that was apparently constructed by beings their own size, having evidently expected only to find Kong-sized artifacts. Primitive drawings on the wall depicting the colossal Kongs lead the apes to believe this was a temple dedicated to the massive beasts.

While they’re stood still, studying the crude drawings and tiny (compared to expectations) architecture, all hell breaks loose. The expedition finds themselves fighting for their lives against carnivorous plants, velociraptors, and pteradons. Fleeing, they’re ambushed by the local tribe, which, again, is not even close to what they were expecting. Death and dismemberment is around every corner. Locals are not friendly. Welcome to Skull Island. Enjoy your stay.

The first issue was all about exposition. Re-introduce the reader to the principals, introduce the principals to each other, set up the conflict, and go! Now, we’re starting to get into the meat of the story. Ryan Ferrier is giving us some great character work with the interactions between the apes and their reluctant hosts. He teases some big upcoming developments without giving away too much. There are still loads of awesome and terrible turns ahead.

Carlos Magno’s art is absurd. He keeps each of the apes distinct and true to the source material, which is especially impressive considering the limitations of the original character design from the 1968 film. Monsters and dinosaurs and flesh eating plants could easily come off as cheesy or comical. Not here. Magno hits all the beats in the script with dark and expressive flair.

Kong/POTA is one of those meetings that had the potential to be off-the-wall amazeballs, or completely miss the mark. I was initially skeptical, but by the end of the first installment, I was hooked. Now, we’re a third of the way through, and I’m mad there are only four more.

 
 

 
 
 

 

Kong on The Planet of the Apes #2 (of 6), from Boom! Studios, released on the 20th of December 2017. Story by Ryan Ferrier, art by Carlos Magno, covers by Mike Huddleston, Carlos Magno, and Fay Dalton, colors by Alex Guimaraes, letters by Ed Dukeshire.