After quite a long delay, Legendary Comics releases the second chapter in their Skull Island: The Birth of Kong story. Once more, the comic is done by the creative team of writer Arvid Nelson and Mohammad Yazid Kamal Baharin, also known as "Zid". Like in the previous issue, this comic features stellar artwork, although the story suffers a bit from feeling like a middle point, without a ton of action to really make the issue memorable.
As for the story, the issue opens with Aaron Brooks, Evegenij Medov, Evelyn Matemavi and Walter R. Riccio staying amongst the Iwi villagers. Tending to their wounds, Riccio becomes fascinated by the Iwi culture. As he continues to partake in their healing practices, Riccio starts to see visions. Events long passed, of a fierce war between the Kongs and the Skullcrawlers. Convinced of a needed pilgrimage, he convinces the other survivors, and a few Iwi villagers, to join him on a quest to meet Kong...
After the first issue started with exposition before diving into the action, this one is a slow burner. While it's cool to see the group living amongst the Iwi, not a whole lot feels like it happens in this episode, other than Riccio's growing obsession with the Iwi. What saves this, though, is the amazing artwork by Zid. The attention to detail is fantastic. As an artist, he is very consistent, even on the splash page featuring Kongs and Skullcrawlers going at it when there is a lot going on.
Unfortunately, one of the major weaknesses of this issue is its abrupt end. Slight spoilers here, so turn back if this is a concern, but the issue leads the cast on said pilgrimage. However, rather than meeting Kong they instead come across a giant Sirenjaw. The team gathers weapons to fight the Sirenjaw and then hears a roar, assuming it to be Kong... and suddenly the groups is taking a leisure pace and preparing to meet Kong. My main question is: what the heck happened to the Sirenjaw? Did Kong scare it off? Did the group manage to outrun it? If it's the latter, that was poorly convened as the beast was very close to them. If it was Kong, why not at least show the creature retreating? As is, it robs the issue of what could be considered a climax, while more or less ignoring the most exciting part of the comic like it was an after thought. I mention this at the end as it's either a fault of the writing, not really having a way to transition this, or the art, failing to capture whatever event should have been taking place here.
Overall, this is an okay issue. It doesn't feel all that engaging, but will likely go over better in trade format, where the end will more naturally lead into a, hopefully, more action packed third issue. As before, the main reason to get this issue is the artwork, or to see some of the history of the Kong species on the island. Outside of the story, it also ends with some nice bios for both the Skullcralwers and the Sirenjaw monster. |
