Kong Of Skull Island #6 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 6, December 2016

Originally solicited as the final instalment to a six issue mini-series, this twenty-two page periodical must have delighted its 4,395 readers with a plot that not only brings James Asmus’ vision of mankind’s early inhabitation of Skull Island to a rather satisfying conclusion, but also intimates that “the first great battle for the isle’s “dark heart” is just the beginning of a much larger, far more complicated tale. Indeed, if the wizened storyteller’s proclamation at the publication’s conclusion is to be believed, “there will [certainly] be another chaos” to befall the Tagu-Atu people, and one which will most assuredly involve the newly crowned Queen Ewata, her baby daughter K’Vanni, and their ‘disgraced’ Kong, Valla…

For this particular comic however, the playwright’s narrative initially predominantly focuses upon the defeat of a twin-headed Tyrannosaurus Rex and the formidable Kong, Tuno. Such a sense-shattering gargantuan struggle between man and beast is extremely well-orchestrated by the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner, and proves an especially enthralling experience on account of the tribesmen’s additional struggle to comprehend whether what they fight is actually a hellish creation of “madness and horror”, or simply a “rarity” of natural creation, which has previously been encountered by their own breeders. 

Equally as enjoyable is Queen Usana’s ferociously savage scrap with some “hyper intelligent” Velociraptors, and the long overdue comeuppance of her despicable, bloodthirsty father, Vdrell. In fact, the demise of both the overly-ambitious monarch and her elderly parent are probably the most satisfying elements to Issue Six of “Kong Of Skull Island”, and it arguably must have been hard for this book’s audience not to wryly smile when the selfish sovereign deserts her bodyguard to a flesh-ripping fate, only to run straight into the jaws of another prehistoric carnivore; “What did he call that wretched smelling --?! N’Aaaaaaaahg --” 

All of this brutalisation, treachery and gory mutilation is tremendously well-drawn by Carlos Magno, whose incredibly well-detailed breakdowns definitely better suit the narrative’s depleted cast of characters. Certainly it is hard not to feel Tuno’s teeth sink into the exposed neck of his ‘demonic’ foe when Ewata shouts the command for him to “eat!!”, or similarly recognise in the cawing Deathrunners’ eyes, the cold-hearted calculations taking place which swiftly reason that the pregnant female warrior who verbally directs the Kong's strategy, is their greatest threat.

Writer: James Asmus, Illustrator: Carlos Magno, and Colors: Brad Simpson