Kong Of Skull Island #8 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 8, February 2017

Doubtless on paper, James Asmus’ idea of spending an entire twenty-two page periodical on a “Kong verses Kong” battle “as they tear through Skull Island, fighting to the death” seemed like a good one. But whilst the pair of battering and biting giant-sized hair-covered heavies must have provided this comic’s audience with more than a modicum of pulse-pounding enjoyment, the two towering apes’ bout of fisticuffs soon arguably becomes something of a pugilistic bore, which even the bizarre introduction of a flock of screeching Pteranodons can’t help spice up. In fact, it’s quite frustrating as to the contrived lengths the Harvey Award-nominee’s narrative seems to go in order to keep the combatants persistently swinging at one another, or at the very least attacking something.

For starters, having seemingly concluded that Valla’s infinitely more savage opponent has the upper hand, especially once armed with the sharp-pointed rib-bone of a previously fallen foe, the script has the facially-disfigured brute’s baby primate suddenly scamper away in terror and inadvertently attract the hungry attention of some flying reptiles. These pterosaurs, quite understandably take flight after their prey, and in doing so fortuitously distract the Exile’s ‘victorious’ adversary just long enough to allow Ewata’s trained Kong to kick the heavily-scarred beast into a nearby fast-flowing river and allow their 'gladiatorial match-up' to be significantly lengthened. Such coincidental happenstances downright plague this pyblication's drawn-out storyline, and even go so far as to have artist Carlos Magno dynamically pencil the huge leather-winged lizards swooping down upon their petrified little fur-ball of a meal with outstretched talons, simply to provide the two “enormous gorilla-like” apes something with which to swat aside in their grisly gusto to pummel one another to death. 

Quite possibly the most disconcerting sub-plot to Issue Eight of “Kong Of Skull Island” though, is the utterly bizarre decision made by four natives, including their clichéd hook-handed leader, to leave the relative safety of their settlement and scout out some new land which “will be our liberation from those beasts”. Just what makes Aguul believe he can build “a stronghold from where we can tame this place -- for our children” in the middle of the behemoth-infested jungle is anyone’s guess, but the decision appears as incredulously stupid as his later conviction that attempting to kill the baby Kong in front of its mother won’t result in the maternal monster effortlessly ripping her son’s would-be murderers apart with her bare hands. Of course, in saving her child, the furious parent once again momentarily takes her eye off of Valla, and inauspiciously pays the penalty by falling down “another mine collapse… or rather, a further cratering of the same faulty tunnel.”

Writer: James Asmus, Illustrator: Carlos Magno, and Colors: Jeremy Lawson

Kong Of Skull Island #7 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 7, January 2017

Set during the aftermath of “BOOM! Studios” original six-issue mini-series, James Asmus’ script for the seventh instalment of “Kong Of Skull Island” must surely have disappointed many of its readers with a plot that despite its gore-flecked violent action, doesn’t actually take the saga’s story forward any further until the publication’s final page. Indeed, for much of this twenty-two page periodical’s narrative it’s debatably difficult to even understand what the majority of this comic’s minimum-sized cast are actually doing, especially the plot’s two Kong Hunters who supposedly believe that the best way to eliminate a formidably tall gorilla is to incense the hairy beast to the point where it goes on an uncontrollable killing frenzy and unsurprisingly batters at least one of the nearly naked savages to death with a thwack of its fist..!

Admittedly, the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-nominee’s script starts off sensibly enough, with his previous story-arc’s heroine, Ewata, recognising her “duty to serve in my daughter’s place [as Queen] until she is old enough to rule.” However, no sooner has this ceremony taken place than the focus shifts to the ostracised Kong Valla, and the animal’s somewhat sedentary daily routine of foraging amidst a herd of Triceratops, scaring off Velociraptors from her watering hole and sleeping in the lair of her defeated enemies; an arguably idyllic lifestyle which is only brought to a sudden end by the mammal's discovery of “a miner with a broken leg, who had been injured in a tunnel collapse.”

Just why the “enormous gorilla-like ape” decides to safely carry the wounded man all the way back to the human settlement which has banished her is somewhat debatable, but their journey does then rather artificially set the primate up to be the subject of Utal’s bizarre trap utilising a ragamuffin scarecrow packed full of “incense… handed down generations” and a length of rope the savage B’San unwisely decides to tug in order to release the “pheromones”. Understandably the ensuing carnage results in at least one of the hunters being literally flattened, yet also leads to a surprisingly sudden sequence, albeit beautifully illustrated by Carlos Magno, where a pair of Deathrunners unwisely decide to attack one of Skull Island’s plant-eating dinosaurs and promptly get torn asunder by the manically-fuelled Kong.

This limb-ripping confrontation, as well as the aforementioned trek back to the Tagu-Atu village, was presumably penned to suggest that Valla is already beginning to establish herself as the isle’s protector. However, any semblance of sense is soon lost once the battle is over and “The Untamed” inexplicably bounds off a cliff-top into an underlying lagoon which co-incidentally just happens to lead to a small mewing baby ape and its seriously scarred, mean-looking mother…

Writer: James Asmus, Illustrator: Carlos Magno, and Colors: Jeremy Lawson

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

Kong Of Skull Island #5 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 5, November 2016

There’s quite a noticeable change to the feel and pace of James Asmus’ narrative for Issue Five of “Kong Of Skull Island”. One which starts with Ewata and her people’s untrustworthy monarchy heading out on a rather foolhardy expedition to track their new home’s most formidable “monster back to its lair”, and ends with the party, reeking of “the scents associated with these larger devils”, facing a double-headed creature of titanic proportions in a trap which seems destined to end in all their bloody deaths.

Fortunately however, such a seemingly ‘stand-alone plot’ does little to belittle the grandiose vision of the playwright’s much broader storyline about an entire relocated people surviving upon a truly hostile island, and instead actually brings into sharper focus both the murderous politics and gorily violent religion of the race’s two competing tribes. Indeed, despite the twenty-two page periodical’s plot predominantly focusing upon the exploits of a handful of characters, as opposed to its usually sweeping, and oft-times confusing, cast, this tale of giant apes battling ferocious dinosaurs contains just as much brutal butchery as the title’s preceding instalments… if not actually more so, and never lets its audience forget that Bolti and his brothers are fighting for the survival of all the Tagu and Atu left behind in their defended shelters.

In addition it is rather hard to imagine anyone turning away in boredom from a script which contains the Kong Valla, bludgeoning to death a giant Tyrannosaurus with the huge skull of a Triceratops, Ewata knifing a scuttling spider the size of a sheep just before it pounces upon her treacherous queen Usana, or later the native warriors savagely spearing an errant Velociraptor, who unwisely decides to attack the war-party single-handedly. For whilst this publication’s plot is admittedly, intermittently punctuated by some exceptionally over-crowded speech bubbles and lengthy dialogue, such as Gret risking “his Shaman’s ire to stand with a Tagu”, these word-laden discussions are soon forgotten once the isle's bloodthirsty inhabitants start to tear at one another once again...

Carlos Magno’s breakdowns for this comic are equally as pleasing to eye with the artist’s renderings of all manner of large-toothed fauna and leafy flora proving phenomenally well-detailed. Indeed, if not for the Brazilian penciller's disconcerting ability to make it occasionally unclear as to which figure is which within certain panels, his extraordinarily dynamic depictions of heavily-muscled great gorillas battering prehistoric monsters would be very hard to beat.

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

Kong Of Skull Island #4 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 4, October 2016

There’s an awful lot to like about James Asmus’ narrative for Issue Four of “Kong Of Skull Island”. For whilst the pulse-pounding pace of the twenty-two page periodical’s script does regrettably peter out midway through the publication and degenerate into a tediously tiring series of dialogue-heavy scenes, it’s opening, absolutely crammed full of giant apes, man-eating dinosaurs, native warriors and great sea beasts must have thrilled its 5,191-strong audience.

Indeed, for the first half of the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner’s story, it genuinely seems hard to believe any of the lead protagonists will survive for long on the “isle of demons” as the reader encounters “creatures of pure violence [which] burst from every brush -- and descend from every cloud.” It certainly appears clear that without the likes of Tuno, an enormous primitive who literally flattens a grounded pterodactyl with a well-placed foot, Ewata and her “brothers and sisters” would soon have fallen to the “deathrunners and dinosaurs” picking off her people; even if the determined warriors do manage to take down the occasional carnivore with their flame-arrows.   

Perhaps this book’s most notable passage however, is not one based solely amidst the mire of artist Carlos Magno’s well-pencilled mutilation, but rather a heart-wrenching look deep inside the souls of two Atu Kongs, as one sacrifices herself “to save all of us” by bodily grabbing two mighty lizards threatening her beloved, and running off the top of a cliff with them into the razor-toothed maw of a gargantuan fish. This noble loss of B’Lan is incredibly well-penned by the New Orleans-educated author, and the pain in her mate’s eyes as he initially tears into more of the bipedal “sentient dinosaurs”, then later sinks to the ground in utter grief, is visible for all to see…

Disconcertingly though Asmus’ sensibilities do arguably seem to leave him at this comic’s end, as the elderly Vdrell appears before his astonished people claiming he has simply walked along the bottom of the sea from the tribe’s razed homeland, in order to reach “our people… and guidance of Usana… as she leads us to our new destiny.” Admittedly the Tagu and Atu are a highly superstitious race, yet surely even they, despite just hearing the tragic news of former prince K’reti’s cold-blooded murder, wouldn’t trust such an utterly unbelievable falsehood as the Shaman somehow managing to breathe underwater for an entire day and then conveniently finding his way to his daughter’s side on Skull Island?

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

Kong Of Skull Island #3 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 3, September 2016

Whether because of James Asmus’ illogical and oft-times unfathomable narrative, or due to Carlos Magno’s incredibly detailed, yet resultantly indecipherable artwork, it’s probably a fair bet to believe that the majority of this twenty-two page periodical’s 5,716 readers found Issue Three of “Kong Of Skull Island” a mesmerising mess. Indeed, this publication’s storyline is simply so pulse-pounding, that it’s genuinely hard to discern just what is actually happening from one moment to the next, as Kongs subdue one another amongst fleeing villagers, savage indigenous subjects suddenly murder their king whilst being ‘drowned’ in boiling lava, and a newly-wed queen treacherously has her husband dispatched by a wizened old shaman…

Foremost of this comic’s faults is the multiple Harvey Award-nominee’s infuriating habit of consistently ‘spot-lighting’ numerous different characters throughout the events, and then just as quickly focusing upon someone entirely dissimilar a moment later. On paper, these frequent references to K’Reti, Usana, Ewata, Valla, Tuno, Takani, Agani, the storyteller, V’drell, and the King doubtless made total sense to the author. But it becomes increasingly difficult to follow just who is doing what and why, when there are so many supposedly distinctive personalities being repeatedly thrown at the reader; especially when it also helps to know whether both the individuals and giant apes belong to either “the Tagu and Atu tribes -- two ideological factions of a great people”, in order to better understand their motivation.

Similarly befuddling is Asmus’ bizarre sub-plot to wipe out the Tagu King and his male heir. Admittedly, the destruction of their native island as the result of a massive volcanic eruption makes for the perfect background to Usana’s Machiavellian gambit to become sole monarch of both tribes. Yet the cold-blooded sacrifice of the woman’s former sovereign at the hands of one of her father’s fanatical “anointed” makes little sense when the duo are literally seconds aware from a horrifyingly painful death beneath a sea of boiling molten rock anyway. In fact, considering that the ‘deed’ takes place within sight of a multitude of witnesses, such a bold act seems rather ‘sensationally contrived’, even if it is highly unlikely any of the spectators will live to tell their tale.

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

Kong Of Skull Island #2 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 2, August 2016

Packed full of titanic struggles between gigantic apes, prehistoric killer fish and razor-sharp clawed devil lizards, all of which are superbly pencilled by Carlos Magno, it is clear from the narrative to Issue Two of “Kong Of Skull Island” just why James Asmus, an author perhaps best “known for his work on “All-New Inhumans”, “Quantum & Woody” [and] “Gambit”, felt that this “chance to jump into and build on the original King Kong’s DNA was too incredible an opportunity to pass up!” It’s certainly clear from this book’s harrowing depiction of a great gorilla fending off an enormous Pachycormidae as it gobbles up shipwrecked survivors that the New Orleans-educated comedian thoroughly enjoyed scripting a storyline where mankind trades “one disaster for [another upon] a savage island of dinosaurs”; even if his plot does disappointingly flounder mid-way through the twenty-two page periodical as it frustratingly, and almost exclusively, focuses upon the heathen nuptials of K’Reti and Usana.

Indeed, for many bibliophiles the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner’s tale of the Konga dramatically slugging it out with primordial meat-eating predators, whilst the hapless humans surrounding them can only gaze in awestruck wonder and foolishly pray to their false gods, must genuinely have reminded them of just how impotently small many astonished cinema-goers surely felt when they first watched the crew of the Venture follow an abducted Ann into the monster-infested jungle of Skull Island during Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 “American pre-code disaster film”.

Sadly however, these colossal brutal bouts between the likes of the primitively loyal Tul and beach bound rampaging Carnosaurs eventually give way to an incredibly dialogue-heavy series of 'conversation pieces' which lamentably labour upon K’reti’s well-founded doubts regarding his imminent “theatrical marriage” to a woman whose "self-serving" father is likely to manipulate the tribesmen against him should he go against his wishes. “Already married” to an apparently pregnant Ewata following “a private ceremony months ago”, the most unhappy Prince therefore disappointingly spends the majority of this comic simply flitting from one unaffected person to another, telling them how the enforced “pageantry will not avert [the] catastrophe” of their island’s volcanic eruption and consequently, swiftly sucking all the energy out of what was initially a genuinely pulse-pounding read; “Ha! Ah… Youth. So we’ll have it severed. But you can keep her as your mistress. There are some perks to being king.”

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

Kong Of Skull Island #1 - BOOM! Studios

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND No. 1, July 2016

Publicised as “an original, limited comic book series… featuring the famous gargantuan ape, King Kong”, and coinciding with the increasing public interest generated by “Legendary Pictures” planned release of a “Kong: Skull Island” motion picture in 2017, the plot to Issue One of “Kong Of Skull Island” must surely have still come as something of a surprise to the twenty-two page periodical’s audience. For whilst Merian C. Cooper’s colossal-sized anti-hero does feature somewhat throughout James Asmus’ narrative, the gigantic gorilla is actually just one of several simian monstrosities referred to as "The Kong", who have been bred to compete in gladiatorial confrontations.

In fact the activities of the great warrior primates are undeniably secondary to a storyline which primarily focusses upon the mounting political tensions between the Atu tribe (who “gorge their Kong on our island’s precious limited resources) and the Tagu people (who “must sail for greener grazing -- just to ensure there will still be enough here for the people”). Certainly “BOOM! Studios” incarnation of the “prehistoric type of ape” appear to be just as much a victim of the events on Skull Island as their accompanying superstitious native sailors are, and swiftly succumb to the sudden savage attack of a giant Pteranodon flock.

  

Fortunately, despite its arguable lack of any titular character, the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner’s tale of a female Kong trainer and her beloved Prince K’Reti is rather well-written, even if it is a little too stereotypical in its portrayal of Usana as an evil, manipulative rival for the royal’s attention. The barbed banter betwixt Ewata and the various members of the arrogant Atu clan rather succinctly illuminates the fragile, patently one-sided arrangement the two populations ‘enjoy’; an understanding which presumably won’t last once the island's "comfortable" inhabitants realise they need the Tagu fleet to evacuate them before they fall prey to a volcanic eruption.

Carlos Magno’s artwork for this opening instalment of a ‘six-issue series’ is incredibly well-detailed, as his pulse-pounding drawings of the Kong battling one another attests. But whilst the Brazilian’s panels are somewhat reminiscent of an overly-cluttered Gil Kane illustration, the sheer volume of detail he depicts can at times actually make it hard to distinguish one cast member from another, especially when both Usana and Ewata are together.

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