Eric's Boom! Studios Comic Review: PLANET OF THE APES #8

Planet of the Apes #8 has the great dialog and characters since the series' beginning, yet suffers from a lack of deliberate pacing and connectivity of plot elements. It's still entertaining, but less satisfying than it could be.

Planet of the Apes #8 still brings most of the quality from previous issues, but sometimes feels as if it gets ahead of itself becoming a bit confusing and disjointed. That said, the writing is very well done. Daryl Gregory's dialog is tight with a fair share of wit to go along with all of the stately goings on and rousing speeches. He accomplishes hard-to-convey-in-text sarcasm with an excellent amount of skill and precision in timing. The characters are wonderfully realized with personalities that truly represents the variety of emotions and reactions to conflict. That's the winning component. There's a beautiful tapestry at work here with memorable and consistent personae. While there is a definite protagonist and antagonist here, both geopolitical entities are portrayed in a way that allows each side to have a viable cause for action and recourse. Instead of a a clear cut dichotomy, there are various shades of gray. These are, however, aspects that have been established since the series' beginning.

From that origin, things have been building up with such a nice, deliberate pace with all of the factions fully developed. It's a small shame that this single issue is so disjointed. Instead of letting things play out, the plot jumps from promising opening to the end in a way that is almost completely inexplicable. It's almost as if the creative team had a page limit on the story arc and were trying desperately to get their main points in before it expired. It takes away much of the thoughtful work that went into previous issues. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of talent on display, but it never quite quells the feeling of being rushed.

Carlos Magno's art again is really great. He's really mastered the skill of drawing chaos. While Gregory gives readers the psychology, Magno hammers in the sociology. There's a big picture here and all of that is conveyed through the imagery. This is most apparent in the contrast found within the respective human and ape societies. From the first panel, one can see these two metropolises divided by a river with distinctive architecture on each side. This is consistent throughout giving each page a sense of conflict beyond the text. There's a lot going on and it's managed really well. There are still problems with Nolan Woodard's limited palette, but those who have been following the series thus far should see it as a facet of the book's style and not that much of a hinderance.

Story: Daryl Gregory
Art: Carlos Magno & Nolan Woodard
Cover: (A) Carlos Magno (B) Damian Couceiro (C) Scott Keating
32 Pages/FC
$3.99
On Sale November 16, 2011!