Planet In Peril By The Coming of Kong

by Vince Brusio

BOOM! Studios will soon be adding a new chapter to the playbook for how one goes about engaging in revisionist history with Kong On The Planet of The Apes #1 (SEP171275). Imagine a giant obelisk appearing overnight in your bedroom. Recall the reaction that ape men had when the black monolith appeared in the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both scenarios can give you an inkling as to what catastrophic revelations are ahead for Cornelius and Zira in the upcoming six-issue mini-series. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview with writer Ryan Ferrier, we get first-hand details on how things are truly going to be bananas when chaos is compounded by a giant footprint that belongs to the greatest of great apes.

Kong On The Planet of The Apes #1 (SEP171275) is in comic shops November 8.

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Vince Brusio: Can you explain for us at length how Kong On The Planet of The Apes #1 ties into the first Planet of the Apes film that was released in 1968?

Ryan Ferrier: I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re really excited that this series takes place within months of the events of the original film, before the events of the sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. And we’re treating it totally in canon with the film.

Taylor’s arrival in the future, and subsequent reveal as a talking human, has sent a shockwave through the ape society. As such, there are some splintered ideologies on how to move forward, now that the secret of their past has been revealed. Cornelius and Zira, having this new perspective on their history and a revitalized quest for truth, clashes with Dr. Zaius, who is bending the lines between faith, science, and covering up that truth. Then there’s Ursus, who downright holds humans in pure contempt and wants nothing but ape supremacy.

So that’s where the apes are at before a giant Kong body washes up in the Forbidden Zone. Now all of those clashing motives and ideologies have to come together; but what we’re really excited about is how do each of these characters deal with another shocking revelation in the form of a giant primate.

Vince Brusio: It looks like quite a few cooks are stirring the stew pot for this six-issue series. In looking at the solicitation for the book in the September PREVIEWS catalog, DeVito Artworks, World Builder Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox are shown to be associated with this project. That’s a lot of hands on deck. What’s been the nature of communication between you and these three partners in developing this story?

Ryan Ferrier: Honestly, writing this series has been not only a total dream project for me as a lifelong, die-hard Planet of the Apes and Kong fan, but the actual process has been, as a creator, more than ideal. I work closely with my brilliant editors, who encourage and inject this project with amazing guidance. It really doesn’t feel, at the end of the day, that there are many hands in the pot, so to speak, but that’s because everyone involved is so in love with these characters and their mythos.

Everything is just firing away so genuinely and it’s so much fun. My role as the writer is the story and characters first, and it’s been an absolute thrill every day I get to work on it. And having artist Carlos Magno is just another incredible addition to that excitement. Every page of this book is being made with total love.

Vince Brusio: This story looks to be very interesting, as we’ve heard the term “revisionist history” before, and this series appears to be the poster child for making such a claim. Are you interested in the mythology of the Planet of the Apes because you feel that its history is open to many interpretations? Given that you have so many parties invested in this book, was your interpretation of that history the subject of more than one email?

Ryan Ferrier: I’ve gone on record multiple times, at great lengths, especially at parties and family gatherings, insisting that Planet of the Apes is the greatest time-travel story ever told. It is as unique as it is cautionary in its cyclical, paradoxical nature, but what I love about it is the pure humanity of it all. Yes, these are primates, but everything relates to the human experience in such a distinctive way. When it comes to that mythology, believe me, I’ve done some really deep diving on this one. Both Planet of the Apes and Kong, I feel, have such huge mythologies that are still untapped. We’ve seen this with the various books, and especially in the BOOM! series, most recently the wonderful Kong of Skull Island; it’s all still so begging to be expanded on.

When it comes to our series, especially when bringing these two franchises together, we wanted that to be a very genuine, logical thing. So, we’re not relying on time travel or alternate history or timeline tampering at all to make that work. What I love about this is how much it makes sense, and that gives us an unobstructed way to explore these characters all coming together and the story that comes out of it. It doesn’t hurt that everyone involved are major fans and aficionados of the mythologies.  

Vince Brusio: Which characters take a prominent role in this series? Will we know everyone? Are you allowed to say if will there be any new characters introduced?

Ryan Ferrier: Our main characters in this series are the classic apes: Zira, Cornelius, Dr. Zaius, and General Ursus. They all have such unique, distinct personalities and motivations. And, aside from Ursus, they maybe all aren’t wrong. Zaius is admittedly choosing a different route with his motivations, perhaps less noble than that of Zira and Cornelius, but they’re all very driven by their species, and ensuring their own futures. The addition of Kong will certainly change these characters, profoundly, which is really exciting for us. 

We’re also really excited about several new characters, who you will meet. A big part of our story takes place on Skull Island, and a new human character, Ni’Ta, will play a large role in how the entire adventure unfolds. I’ve also always wanted to create a new ape character, and am so thrilled to be able to do that with an impressionable young soldier named Argus. 

Vince Brusio: If you could pick a favorite Ape, who would it be and why? If you could finger one of the simians as he or she that bears most watching, who would those characters be?

Ryan Ferrier: That’s like picking your favorite child! I don’t know if I can do it. I love them all for many different reasons. I loved the companionship and open minds of Cornelius and Zira, especially their fleeting moments of sass (take, for example, the “banana” scene in Escape from the Planet of the Apes — brilliant and hilarious). Dr. Zaius has long been a favorite of mine, because despite that gruff exterior, we do see glimpses of vulnerability inside of him; there are moments we can see that he knows he may be wrong, and redemption could be just barely outside of his grasp.

As for Ursus, who doesn’t love a good villain? Totally despicable, but more importantly totally capable. He’s a terrifying presence if you put yourself in the humans’ shoes. The thing we’re doing with our series is exploring each of these characters intensely; their motivations and goals will change wildly throughout the story, and they will converge and clash with each other. For that reason, watch them all. We’re taking them all on a real journey, and it’s going to be intense!

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.