‘Escape From Skull Island’ #1 Review: Has Potential, Doesn’t Quite Hit The Mark

The Skull Island animated series and its sequel miniseries have quite the intriguing place within the canon of the MonsterVerse. While an official timeline has been released, it doesn’t quite fit in with the style, tone, and presentation of other sibling installments that encapsulate the media franchise’s cinematic and live-action television counterparts. That isn’t enough to entirely disregard a comic in my books, as most transmedia franchises and expanded universes always operate on a “soft canon” basis, but I was intrigued to jump into this new run with a fresh mind, especially with acclaimed Transformers writer Simon Furman attached as a writer after previously working on Return to Skull Island for Titan Comics.

The comic does a great job with some fun dialogue by Furman, especially given that it is jumping around between time periods, characters, and action that takes place on the same eponymous island, but across the past and present. Starting the comic within a World War II flashback is intriguing and fresh; it’s brand new, uncharted territory for Legendary’s kaiju franchise, and something that Kong hasn’t ever fully committed to doing in a story. It’s about as early as we’ve been in the MV, and that’s including the opening scene of 2017’s Kong: Skull Island in the equation, as that takes place in 1944, whereas the opening few pages of this book take place in 1940. Aside from that short opening scene, I can’t really think of any original Kong stories that fully take place during the Second World War, which gives this book some originality points.

However, because we’re jumping from past to present, and very similarly to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters I might add, the plot’s overall pace is affected by this. In my own opinion, the format of past/present is more fit for an episodic series, rather than the quick and fast pace of a comic book. We don’t spend enough time in either period to make a significant dent, and more questions arise, especially with the aforementioned fantastical ending. Going into this book, kaiju fans will without a doubt question how this story fits within the MonsterVerse, given the tone clash, lack of familiar faces, and more, but as its own entity entirely, there’s still some fun to be had within its pages, even if it’s not quite sure where to go until the end.

It’s fun to see Kong interact with human beings, especially given how he develops in the later MonsterVerse timeline, but it’s admittedly a little tiring to see Kong in chains yet again. The chains trope is a staple of the character that has lasted ninety years across various forms of media, but I was hoping for a different direction for this book. Thankfully, that big twist ending makes up for it, and I’m excited for the MonsterVerse to do something a little more fantasy-oriented, rather than the science fiction approach that the films have been taking. That will definitely differentiate the book from other Kong stories, but as this is merely Issue 1, the book has to set everything up to get to that exciting point.

The art by Christopher Jones is solid, paying tribute to the animation style of the original Netflix series, while also showcasing some bloody creature violence, fun action, and the best part in my opinion, Kong actually being a living, breathing character through Jones’ pencils and Charlie Kirchoff’s colors. The creature has facial expressions, different grunts to express mood, and actually seems to interact with the people around him. The very first page of this book is a great illustration of Kong up close, roaring ferociously, with spit flying just about everywhere. It’s such a great grabber and up close look at a monster, it’s just a shame we don’t get anything close to that afterwards, save for when Kong roars in victory after defeating a random kaiju foe that emerged. These closeups of Kong are phenomenal, and really sell the story for monster fans, but are sadly kept to a minimum in this first issue.

Kong’s latest adventure will get some praise from kaiju comic fans for taking the Eighth Wonder of the World into some interesting directions, but will undoubtedly leave MonsterVerse fans scratching their heads, and unfortunately, that is the baggage attached that may sway readers from checking it out. However, if you’re able to look past the timeline shenanigans and how it exactly fits within something that is kind of a “soft canon” to begin with, you will have a decent time with this book. It’s not one of the greatest kaiju stories ever put to the medium, but it will be a serviceable adventure book to enjoy, no question. It’s fairly well put together, packs some great art that matches the style of the show, while also taking advantage of the bonuses that come with the comic book medium, and is shaping up to head in some intriguing and unique destinations, even if it takes a minute to finally get there. This book has potential, but sadly, Escape from Skull Island is not quite reaching that bar yet for me. Hopefully that will change with later issues down the road.