After a twelve issue series and a crossover with the Planet of the Apes, King Kong returns with a double sized spectacular from BOOM! Studios. ComiConverse’s Mitch Nissen takes a closer look.
Review: Kong Of Skull Island 2018 Special
King Kong’s pop-culture status has received a major boost in vitality over the last few years thanks in large part to the 2017 Legendary Pictures film, Kong: Skull Island. King Kong has now become a part of Legendary Pictures’ burgeoning Monsterverse (a giant monster cinematic universe). If the forthcoming entries in the Monsterverse are a success then King Kong’s pop-culture status may reach all new heights in the coming years.
While we wait for the 2020 sequel, BOOM! Studios and DeVito Artworks have been hard at work on their own King Kong universe. Creator Joe DeVito’s 2004 book, Kong: King of Skull Island, explored Skull Island’s past and inhabitants, providing a rich backstory and lush history to the fictional world of Kong.
In 2016 BOOM! Studios partnered with DeVito Artworks to continue expanding the world and story of the 2004 novel further deepening the mythology. The story continues in this latest book, Kong Of Skull Island 2018 Special.
The Synopsis
A Viking ship has run aground on a mysterious island. Prehistoric monsters, demons like none these Nordic warriors have ever seen, descend upon them. The ferocious redheaded warrior, Gudrun, watches as her husband and friends are eaten alive. A giant ape-like creature arrives, attacking the monsters, allowing the Vikings to return to their ship and flee. Three years later, Gudrun returns to the island of monsters, determined to avenge the deaths of her loved ones and conquer Skull Island.
The Breakdown
Paul Allor pens this double-sized extravaganza, providing a simple yet brutal story. The narrative is told through a letter of one of the supporting characters, an outside view looking in. Through this character’s eyes a picture is painted of the lead heroine, Gudrun, and the awesome yet fearsome King Kong.
While we read one point of view of the situation the art gives the reader another impression, that perhaps what our narrator is seeing is not the whole picture. Allor skillfully delivers these contrasting views, leading the reader to interpret the story in multiple ways. In this fashion Allor parallels the themes of the original 1933 film without retreading familiar story beats.
Women have always played key roles in every King Kong story, females often finding connections with Kong that male characters cannot. The lead character of Gudrun is a powerful female character, not a damsel in distress, but a warrior to fight alongside Kong. The relationship between such a woman and Kong breaks new and interesting ground for the mythology.
It also makes one imagine that this is what a Red Sonja and King Kong team-up would look like.
The Art
Carlos Magno returns to render Kong once more and this book may be the finest display of his work yet. Magno once more utilizes the same realistic style as the previous Kong books, maintaining beautiful visual continuity across the line of titles save for the Gods of Skull Island 2017 one-shot (the sole Kong book from BOOM! Studios he did not work on).
Dynamic action set pieces fill the book, displaying Magno’s talent to the fullest. The intensity of the artwork on previous books is further elevated by the ferociousness of the Vikings. King Kong looks stunning as do the nightmarish monsters of Skull Island.
Marcelo Costa provides the colors for the book, magnifying the beauty of Magno’s pencils. The colors are rich, striking, and deep. Costa’s work compliments Magno’s art far beyond previous colorists. As a result the book looks gorgeous.
Artist Carlos Magno has contributed the pencils for all but one of BOOM! Studios King Kong catalog. Magno’s art is on display in all twelve issues of the 2016/2017 series and all six issues of the Planet of the Apes/Kong crossover. The artist adds another to the growing list of Kong books here.
Overall, the Kong of Skull Island 2018 Special is an action packed, strikingly beautiful book. BOOM! Studios and DeVito Artworks continue producing high quality Kong books worthy of the legendary cinema icon. I for one hope more Kong books continue to appear in the future look forward to more stories set in this world.
I’d love to see the monsters of Skull Island explored in greater detail someday.
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