Planet Of The Apes #1: REVIEW
Planet Of The Apes #1
Written by: Daryl Gregory
Artwork by: Carlos Magno
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Publication Date: April 27, 2011
List Price: $3.99
Rating: 
I’m not the biggest lore master when it comes to the Planet of the Apes franchise, having only seen the original film, bits and pieces of the sequels and the so-so remark with Mark Wahlberg. Nevertheless, I’m a bit at a loss to understand where BOOM! Studios latest comic offering fits into this complex cosmology. While billed as some sort of prequel, according to the title page captions, I thought the Planet of the Apes came about after mankind blasted themselves back into the Stone Age.
Regardless, writer Daryl Gregory does craft an interesting tale of human/ape relations that exists in a proto-steam punk world filled with inter species tension and intrigue. It is an interesting take on the venerable film franchise that may not be accurate but is well told enough to be engaging on its own.
The introduction is a bit confusing, jarring in a way, as the expectations of the reader are more geared towards this being some sort of distant future when humans and apes live in peace, rather than some never mentioned Golden Age where the two mammals shared the Earth. The sudden appearance of an assassin only reinforces the confusion but this issue is quickly addressed as Gregory begins to deftly identify the players and establish the stakes of this comic.
The art by Carlos Magno is a crisp, detailed panorama of city life that really jumps off the page. He arranges his backgrounds with such activity and busyness that it helps sell the angle of a bustling metropolis filled with a mixture of modern day technology, clockwork gadgets and medieval tools.
While not what I was expecting, Planet of the Apes #1 is an entertaining comic that has plenty of potential.
