‘Kong on the Planet of the Apes’ Review: It’s a Madhouse on Skull Island!

Who doesn’t like a good crossover? Done well, some of the best stories can come from a crossover. Take for example the time Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man all joined together to fight the God of Mischief Loki in the very first Avengers comic. Another good example would be when Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman came together to form the Justice League of America. Since then, both teams had inspired like-minded heroes to join forces and create spinoff teams like the West Coast, Savage, Secret, and Young Avengers, or for DC, the Justice League Dark, International, or Europe. 

Crossovers can bring some of the biggest names through verses topics, too. We all remember the classic “who wins in a fight” talks you’ve had with your pals on the playground during school. The best part is some of those same kids grew up to be writers and artists themselves, who went on to create crossovers now worth millions: Alien Vs. Predator for one, Freddy Vs. Jason, RoboCop Vs. Terminator, Batman Vs. Predator, Spawn (although never made), Judge Dredd and so many, many, many more. 

Godzilla is no stranger to these crossovers. In his early years, our beloved King of the Monsters had some of his greatest allies and enemies appear in their own separate movies such as Rodan, Mothra, Varan, Gorosaurus, Baragon and especially King Kong. They have all joined him in one way shape or form – and the crossovers keep coming – with recent entries like the Power Rangers, Marvel and DC now adding to the impressive list. But we’re not here to talk about Godzilla’s crossovers today. Nope, today we look at a crossover with the eighth wonder himself, King Kong. Kong has had a couple of cool crossovers in the last couple of years, from Tarzan to, of course, Godzilla in the MonsterVerse. With Kong in the limelight through his prominent (and at times controversial to some fans) role in the MonsterVerse, I thought I’d talk about a crossover that isn’t really discussed much, nor made as big of a splash as Godzilla’s new crossovers with DC and Marvel.

I’m talking, of course, of the time Kong went ape on the Planet of the Apes in Kong on the Planet of the Apes!

Originating from the French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle, Planet of the Apes has made a massive splash in the science fiction zeitgeist since the first movie featuring legendary actor Charlton Heston. This includes its own batch of comic crossovers; many of them like Tarzan and Star Trek seem almost tailored to the then groundbreaking discussions of racism and prejudice. But you’d never picture that with something like King Kong. At first glance, the only connection between the two franchises would be that both properties have apes in them. Written by Ryan Ferrier and illustrated by Carlos Magno, the six-issue miniseries was published by Boom! Studios in November of 2017.

The story takes place not long after Taylor’s time in the 1968 Planet of the Apes film. Dr. Zaius and General Ursus lead a mission to the Forbidden Zone to destroy the rest of the evidence of man’s past, including blowing up the Statue of Liberty (spoiler alert!) until an ape soldier shows them  an unbelievable sight: the washed up body of a Titanus Megaprimatus Kong. Zaius enlists the help of Cornelius and Zira, who were on house arrest for helping Taylor, to examine the remains of the mighty beast. In Ape City, protests of the humans’ treatment are in uproar after the talking human incident, causing great social unrest. Zaius convinces the council after looking through some ancient documents, namely old newspaper articles of the first King Kong incident in New York, and decide to go on an expedition to learn of the creature’s origins, with Urus readying a ship and setting sail to Skull Island. After being attacked by a giant octopus and Pterosaurs, they finally make it to the island where they not only discover a lost tribe of talking humans but also the last living Kong.

I remember reading this comic back in 2017 when it was first coming out and at the time, I thought it was alright. It had that crazy fanfiction feeling of two IPs that you’d never think would go well together that  surprisingly mesh well. 

I love the characterizations for the Apes, especially Zira; the character feels exactly how Zira was in the movies with her no nonsense attitude and sheer stubbornness while Cornelius tries to reel her back. These two are such foils for each other, constantly butting heads, especially in the first few issues where you can feel their relationship being tested. The events of the first movie changed their perspective on humans and their treatment for humans, meaning Taylor’s time with them affected them deeply – even affecting their marriage to each other. They also struggle with characters like Zaius and Ursus who are still stuck in their anti-human ways despite everything that’s happened.

General Ursus in particular is a major threat to not only the inhabitants of Skull Island, but also Ape City, when he brings Kong and a few Deathrunner raptors home with him… because it’s a King Kong story, so why wouldn’t you take him out of his home and put him in an environment that’s completely alien to him? Surprise, surprise, he even breaks out and causes more damage. Ursus even argues that the Queen Kong should be revered as a god, even mounting her skull as the ship’s figurehead. He also suggested training the Deathrunners as pets or as beasts of war and has plans to return to the island to plunder its resources. However it was Ursus’s own hubris that lead to his precious creatures escaping and causing Kong’s final days.

Zaius, while still being his ape supremacist self, is greatly nerfed in terms of his power and authority, often taking a back seat while Ursus is center stage. I think it works best in terms of following up the events of the movie, where he was pretty much the central figure of power and authority, now getting shafted by not only a militaristic brute, but by the council as well. He does try to use Kong to calm the public down and gets back to his social standing.

As for the new characters, I think the Skull Island natives (I guess we can still call them Iwis?) being able to speak normally makes so much sense from a lore standpoint. Remember the apocalypse that brought Apes to power and muted mankind affected the larger developed world like the West, so smaller pockets of humans wouldn’t be affected that much if at all. It really makes you think: If Skull Island was left untouched, just imagine what other tribal communities are out there that survived. Anyway, the main human character Ni’ta is what you come to expect from someone who meets a new culture; she wants to see the world and experience this new thing instead of living on an island full of prehistoric nightmares. The classic “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere” situation. However, this proves to be a “grass is always greener” case, as even Zira and Cornelius warn her the world she’s looking for died over a thousand years ago, and what awaits her is a place of prejudice, where humans are now a mute primitive race hunted for sport. This becomes prophetic when she’s taken to Ape City and thrown in with the rest of the humans, with whom she tries to talk to, but ultimately fails.

Kong is awesome in this. Right away, it’s explained that the Kong that washed up on the shore was this one’s mate and queen. He’s very benevolent and initially allows the apes like Cornelius and Zaius examine him and observe him, having no qualms about them being on the island until Ursus goes in guns blazing and captures him. As far as King Kong stories go, this one follows the similar story beats to the original King Kong movie, with this one technically being brought to New York city exactly as the first one, only more post-apocalyptic and dystopian. And much like those previous incarnations, Kong meets his end in the heart of the city (now the Forbidden Zone) in a pretty epic final match between him and the ape army. It’s an intense final confrontation, with Kong getting shot up, arrows sticking out of him and the even jab a huge spear into his side. Ni’ta, who had escaped with him, even takes a bullet and falls into the Forbidden Zone city. 

In the end, Kong lays dying from his injuries. It was not beauty that killed the beast, it was ape that killed ape. Unfortunately this is not a perfect story. It’s pretty much a retelling of the original King Kong movie but with Planet of the Apes instead of the humans, and that’s not a bad thing in itself. The story is a classic; retelling it for newer generations is what’s expected at this point.

I do have some personal gripes with it. Particularly, I’m not a fan of Carlos Magno’s art style, especially on Cornelius and Zira in the beginning when they’re on house arrest. When they’re with Dr. Milo (the ape scientist who was with them in Escape), you couldn’t tell them apart. I had to go by the speech bubbles to tell who was speaking. Even the speech bubbles had a tough time. This got better as the series went on and you could see noticeable differences, like Zira’s dress and the way her hair curls, but then it was difficult to differentiate the two. Not to mention some of the facial features can be a bit janky. Some of the apes look like they’re drooling and Kong like he needs a tissue. The style was too sketchy for a monster story and needed something more crisp and clear.

Another major issue I had was the lack of dinosaurs and dinosaur fights with Kong. When I think of Skull Island, I think of this place locked in time where prehistoric beasts roam the plains of a hazardous jungle with Kong at the top of the social pyramid. Things like pterodactyls, brachiosaurs and T Rex set on a forgotten island. But the most we get here are the Deathrunners and Kong, which is super disappointing, but I think I know why that is. The version of King Kong they use in this is the version from the Kong of Skull Island property. Illustrator Joe DeVito had made a book with writers Brad Strickland and John Michlig based as an official prequel and sequel to their 2005 rewrite of the novelization of the 1933 King Kong, which was authorized by Merian C. Cooper’s estate. Since then this version has branched off as its own separate retelling of the King Kong mythos, there had been a few bits of media. This includes the game Skull Island: Rise of Kong (which we won’t hold it against) and of course Boom! Studios’ comic run in the late 2010s, which is the version of King Kong they have the publishing rights to.

Boom! Studios, if they wanted to use Kong and the assorted lore, had to use what they had available instead of using, say, the Skull Island of Peter Jackson’s King Kong or the original. They did the same thing with the crossover between Tarzan and King Kong; they put him in the DeVito take. In short they couldn’t make up their own take on the character without being sued by a number of sources. I haven’t read the Kong: King of Skull Island comics, but I’m sure they’re good. 

Personally I think they missed out on this comic by having just the Deathrunners. Raptors are awesome and all, but in this comic, they look more like orangutans with raptor heads and claws. Just imagine if the ape expedition was attacked by T-Rexes or some other large dinosaur, with gorilla soldiers being eaten and gunfire only serving to piss them off. All hope seems lost before Kong shows up and does his classic jaw-breaking move and saves everyone and introduces himself to the company. I imagine they didn’t have a lot of time to put everything on in this miniseries.

But for what it’s worth, it was a decent comic book run. While the art was lacking, we got some great moments and callbacks from both franchises, like the newspaper articles of Kong’s initial rampage and final stand atop the Empire State building. We even got a hint of what’s to come in Beneath the Planet of the Apes with Taylor’s ship and Dr. Milo. Kong on the Planet of the Apes is meant to be a bridge between the two movies. For what it’s worth, it’s one of the lesser known bridges, but it had great character moments, great attention to detail and references scattered throughout the comic’s run. The book was flawed, but still readable and enjoyable. If you’re a collector of niche comic crossovers like this one, I highly recommend you add it to your collection. If only it wasn’t such a bear to find at a decent price in the aftermarket. 

Always remember, no matter the size, apes together strong!

See you Space Cowboy!