Graphic Novel Review - Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1

Name: Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1: Terror on the Planet of the Apes

Published by: BOOM! Studios 

Writer: Doug Moench

Artists: Mike Ploog, Frank Chiaramonte, Tom Sutton, Herb Trimpe, Virgil Redondo

Let me start by saying that I am a relatively new Apes fan. Despite watching the original movie as a kid and the reboot as a teenager I was never much invested previously, which might have been due to the fact that I wasn't never really aware of the racial and political issues that this franchise tried to focus upon. But after quite recently rewatching the first movie and following up with watching (for the first time!) the next four I became quite enamoured. 

As I began to gradually delve deeper into the tie-in stuff, I decided to check out the various comics from different publishers. And these archives published by BOOM! Studios seemed a great way to read the older Marvel stuff in an organized way. 

The first volume of this archive series contains an original storyline set in the Planet of the apes depicting an action packed tale of two friends, a human and an ape going through almost limitless obstacles while re-exploring their friendship. Despite losing momentum towards the end and not having a proper ending, 'Terror on the Planet of the Apes' is an action packed journey that manages to combine the epic tone of the planet of the apes with the weirdness inherent to the comics as a medium. 

The story has many interesting and varied characters. Although the protagonist Jason and his friend Alex and the main antagonist Brutus might seem rather one dimensional caricatures; the likes of Gunsmith Julius, Steely Dan, Saraband, Lightsmith and a myriad of interesting villains  steal the show with their uniqueness. 

Doug Moench really knows how to spin a tale to keep his readers guessing what new perils might come next for our heroes and what new fascinating bits of weird and unorthodox locale or creatures we might experience next. And especially during the first half each chapter adds further layers of world-building to keep readers excited to keep on turning the pages. 

The first nine chapters are drawn by Mike Ploog, and his drawing is just something that is a pure joy to experience. The level of detail in his black and white pages kept me engrossed and returning for stuff I might have missed. The last six chapters are also well drawn and eye catching, but lack Ploogs artistic brilliance and pales a bit in comparison. 

Overall, the merits far outweigh the minor lacks in this story and the introduction and ending by the Apes expert 'Rich Handley' also add a sense of perspective to this historic piece of work. 

This gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. 

New Book Review - Wastelanders: Star-Lord by Sarah Cawkwell

Name - Wastelanders: Star-Lord

Series - Marvel’s Wastelanders 

Written by - Sarah Cawkwell

Adapted from - The scripted podcast by Benjamin Percy

Published by - Aconyte Books 

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this opportunity.

I wanna start with a little confession, I initially requested the ARC for this one due to interest in the Wastelands setting but totally forgot about it. I only remembered the book after watching 'Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3' and starting to miss Quill, Rocket and the gang. I am quite glad that I did start reading it, as I loved the book and finished it in only a few days despite my busy work schedule. 

The book is set in an alternate universe where things have taken a very bad turn for both the Guardians and planet earth some 30 years into the future. The much older duo of Star-Lord and Rocket returns to earth to complete a job for the Collector, but things are not as it used to be on the planet which they realise in a matter of moments after their crash landing. Soon, the duo with their robot companion Cora gets embroiled in an adventure that will introduce the readers to a very different western influenced post-apocalyptic Marvel universe. 

Quill and Rocket are the main stars as to be expected, and their banter will keep the readers chuckling despite being very emotional at times. Quill behaves just as optimistic as always and keeps on jumping into no win situations headlong. Rocket Raccoon is also on character, acting all gruff with a much softer interior. Another character that steals the show at times is Cora with her dialogues and mannerisms. The character of Red Crotter is also really well fleshed out. 

As this is based on a podcast, the dialogue is the main driving force rather than action most of the time. And the dialogue is very skillfully written, one can get so engrossed in the oftentimes humorous banter it could really drain time. The chemistry between Quill and Rocket has always been one of the main reasons why I love the Guardians movies, so I rather enjoyed their banter. 

The ending could have been a bit more action oriented if you asked me, but you have to consider the original source material. It has to be said, all through the book there is not a single boring page and this is mostly due to the excellent characters and the dialogues. This is a definite recommendation for any fan of superheroes or post-apocalyptic fiction. 

I will give this 4 out of 5 stars. 

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