Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Planet of the Apes #3
Boom! Comics
Gregory & Magno
The third issue of the Planet of the Apes is a game-changer. It sounds bizarre to make that sort of remark for a third issue but it sure seems like this series is about to heat up and that the pace is going to remain fast. Generally, this is a good thing as my concerns with the first two, very solid, issues was that the series would suffer from a slow-burn-type pace. While it may have been interesting, ultimately it would have gotten too caught up in the politics of the Ape universe and not focus enough on moving the story to a place where the human-ape conflict takes over. It appears based on this issue that we will get no such slow story. This issue makes sure the reader is on the edge of their seats with the cliffhanger at the end. This was a very good read.
The issue starts out with the Nix, the mercenary brought on in the last issue, confronting the humans. Nix is basically putting the humans on house arrest and they revolt, but only slightly. The conflict really puts the artwork on display in ways that the first two issues did not.
The opening pages contain only limited dialogue as the artwork is allowed to tell the story. I found these pages to be very powerful. The art captures chaos, pain and anger very well. I was particularly impressed with the rendition of the apes mounted on horses as they charge the crowd. This seems like a difficult sequence to pull off artistically but it looks flawless in the book. The ending sequence plays out beautifully, visually, as well.
After the near riot, the issue falls back into the familiar territory of each of the main characters, Alaya and Sullivan, as they let their thoughts known within their inner camps. Each seems to be drifting further apart as the issue progresses.
The issue does present another important figure in the form of Bako's daughter, Chaika, the silent human. She has sort of been in the background in the last two issues but in this issue it becomes apparent that she is the narrator and is the face of the changing views that the humans have towards the apes. This was a welcome development.
I was on the fence about this series but the last few pages have me hooked. I am now convinced that this series is going to be all that I hoped for. It may not fully spell out the demise of the humans but it sure seems like this series is going to illustrate the major conflict that puts the humans in the inferior role that the films project. This was a solid and entertaining read.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
