Third entry into Legendary's comic series on King Kong, which works as both a sequel and prequel. This comic, which has the same creative team of writer Arvid Nelson and artist Mohammad Yazid "Zid" Kamal Baharin as the previous issues, pushes the story closer to a climax. While not ground breaking, the comic has solid pacing with an interesting story and turn of events, while the art continues to impress and be the star attraction that leads to an overall very enjoyable comic.
For the issue's story, the survivors Aaron Brooks, Evegenij Medov, Evelyn Matemavi and Walter R. Riccio are joined by a few of the Iwi villagers as they stumble upon the Sirenjaw from the previous issue's cliffhanger. The beast, however, has already been slain by King Kong. The carcass attracts a swarm of Psychovultures and Death Jackals, though, who are looking to feed. Realizing the danger, the group escapes the scene. Unfortunately, they run right into large Swamp Locust, who gives chase. The group narrowly avoids the monster, and shortly afterwards hear from Cejudo, their pilot. Realizing this opportunity, the group sets up to rendezvous with the craft, although this requires venturing through the Skullcrawler infested bone yard...
Unlike the previous issue, a lot happens in this comic. It quickly covers some major story pieces, including discovering the origin of Kong, while also presenting some action pieces as well. While events like the Swamp Locust are inconsequential, literally it could have been cut out with no consequence to the story, they do a good job to show more of the monsters of the island. The series also does a good job of giving an arc to Riccio, whose earlier foolish idea of abandoning the search for the plane to look for civilizations continues to build toward what is becoming an unhinged character. One fault of the story is the way they handle the Sirenjaw... this is more of a continued complaint of the previous issue, though, as it was confusing what was going on other than Kong was approaching. While after reading the issues back-to-back it makes a little more sense, although still needs to have been conveyed better, in the end it's still a little disappointing to have a new kaiju dispatched off pane.
As for the art, "Zid" is once again on his mark for this issue. There are tons of detail located in each frame, and the way he draws the main characters continues to be masterful. He has a talent for capturing emotions on their faces that do a good job of heightening the story elements. The large battle between the Kongs and the Skullcrawlers is also well depicted. The only major complaint in the art department is the drawing of the V-22 Osprey ship. When the reader first sees it in the issue there is substantial damage to it. This includes a huge hole in the top of the ship, damage to the front of the craft, beat up wings, broken glass on the front... it's hard to imagine it ever flying again in its current state. Yet the ship is seen flying later in the comic in pristine condition. Either the story would imply that Cejudo fixed it to this state in a day, impossible for one man even with access to the parts, or either the design of the ship earlier was more damaged than it needed to be or the ship was incorrectly shown with no damage toward the end.
Bottom line, a solid issue that ends on a great cliff hanger. I'm looking forward to the next chapter in the comic series now, and if it hits the mark this will have been a good mini-series. As a side note, like other issues in the series it ends in cryptozoology listings. This includes one that people have seen on the website before for the Spore Mantis from Kong: Skull Island (2017), which was not seen in the issue. It also includes bios for the Swamp Locust and the Magma Turtle, the latter does not appear in the comic. Both bios are new to the public and nice to see this continued level of detail included in the comics. |
