RETRO REVIEW: Planet of the Apes Omnibus
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BOOM! Studios; $39.99
With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes due in theaters May 10, 2024, it seems like an excellent time to revisit what might be the best Planet of the Apes comic book series there’s ever been.
When the comics collected in this omnibus were running as individual issues, I wrote “Writer Daryl Gregory and artist Carlos Magno could put us on their payroll and we still couldn’t like this comic any more than we already do. Tightly plotted, relentlessly paced, brilliantly illustrated, accessible to new readers, and a balm for longtime POTA fans to the extent that while reading it one forgets there was ever a Tim Burton movie. It’s that awesome. If you are an Apes fan and you’re not reading, there’s something wrong with you. And if you’re just a fan of great, non-superhero comics, the same goes.”
Not only does that review (it was for Planet of the Apes #8, to be specific) still stand, it’s even more true of this collected edition and with the passage of time. Gregory and Magno’s pacing (the final issues are illustrated by the talented Diego Barreto) is masterful.
Set more than 1,000 years before Taylor arrives in the first movie of the original film series, it begins in an era of relative peace. A few panels into the story and that hard-won equilibrium between apes and humans is shattered and it quickly becomes a tale pondering the question “How bad will things get before it’s bad enough?”
Over the period in which it was produced, it was one of the best rides in comics – not licensed comics, not media tie-ins, just comics, period. Every single issue was a page turner, and an imaginative, well executed, and entertaining experience. It has been accessible for new fans and a rewarding journey for longtime POTA fans who have always craved further exploration of the original continuity.
And now that this book and its companion volumes are out of print, any POTA enthusiast who doesn’t have this collection should be jumping on any opportunity to pick it up.
– J.C. Vaughn
