Comic Info
Comic Name: Planet of the Apes
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Writer: Daryl Gregory
Artist: Carlos Magno
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2012
Planet of the Apes #5
Reprints Planet of the Apes #5-8 (August 2011-November 2011). The apes and humans are at a stalemate. Armed with dangerous weapons, the humans have managed to keep the apes from invading their town while the apes continue to keep the humans locked down. With Bako seeking help from a missing army and Sully trying to negotiate with Brother Kale and his followers, Wyn finds himself in the apes’ next plans for humans…a retraining camp that will help the apes stamp out the stubborn streak in humanity once and for all. A war is coming, and the apes’ numbers are many…
Written by Daryl Gregory, Planet of the Apes Volume 2: The Devil’s Pawn is a Boom! Studios comic book continuation of the classic Planet of the Apes film series which began in 1968. Following Planet of the Apes Volume 1: The Long War, the collection features art by Carlos Magno and was also included as part of the Planet of the Apes Omnibus.
Planet of the Apes will always have leeway with me. There have been some really bad Planet of the Apes stuff, but the ties to my childhood keeps me from hating it. This Planet of the Apes comic book is one of the better tellings of the Planet of the Apes stories and takes a darker tone.
Planet of the Apes #8
In many ways, this comic book feels a bit more like the original novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle which was published in 1963. Boulle (also known for writing Bridge on the River Kwai) had the apes be more technologically advanced. They had more modern weapons of war and here, the apes have blimps and now they have tanks. The comic started out as more of a simple parable for classism but now it is starting to turn into something different.
With the introduction of concentration camps and Alaya’s increasing power as “Voice Alaya”, it is starting to feel more and more like a tale of World War II. This story isn’t a story of a slow growing power however and it is a story of war between the humans and the apes. With indicators that the humans are going to put up a good fight, the World War II elements of this story probably will be kept as an undercurrent.
I am liking the fact that this series isn’t simply going for an extended fight and that the writers are putting some thought into what they are pumping out. I still am not a big fan of the smaller collections of Boom! and probably would recommend picking up the Omnibus if you are really interested in the series. Stories about the underdogs are always interesting from things like Les Miserables to more modern stories like the limited series V…and this time, it is the humans turn to rise against the apes. Planet of the Apes 2: The Devil’s Pawn is followed by Planet of the Apes 3: Children of Fire.
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