Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm Vol. 2

Classic Planet of the Apes #9

by Corinna Sara Bechko (Creator), Gabriel Hardman, Damian Couceiro (Illustrations)

In the face of catalcysm, can Doctor Zaius and his family rebuild Ape City?

Cataclysm has wreaked widespread destruction, but will the fallout prove to be even more catastrophic for the apes? After the destruction of Ape City, Doctor Zaius, his family, Cornelius and Marcus are faced with the difficult and often treacherous task of rebuilding...but what terror lies beneath the ruins? Find out what the Ape City cataclysm has awoken... The criticially acclaimed series by Corinna Bechko (STAR WARS: LEGACY, HEATHENTOWN), Gabriel Hardman (STAR WARS: LEGACY, SECRET AVENGERS), and Damian Couceiro (IRREDEEMABLE) continues at a breakneck pace!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Corinna Bechko has been writing comics since her horror graphic novel Heathentown was published by Image/Shadowline in 2009. Since then she worked for Marvel, DC, Boom!, Image, and Dark Horse, among others, on titles such as Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: Legacy, Savage Hulk, Aliens/Vampirella, Invisible Republic, and Green Lantern: Earth One. She was recently short-listed for the Aeon Award for her prose short Sooterkin. She is a zoologist by training.

Reviews

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boom Studios does it again! Every single one of their Planet of the Apes books has been a home run and money well spent. I try not to get my hopes up too high or heap unrealistic expectations on each new book, but they always deliver.

Ape City is on the brink of starvation, with nearly all of their crops wiped out by the flood caused by the cataclysm in Volume 1. Doctor Zaius sanctions and organizes an expedition to the chimpanzee colony beyond Mount Lam. I found the name to be interesting, since the Lam are the extra-dimensional “demon” aliens that Aleister Crowley claimed to have contact with, but I digress. Once the small group arrives, they are “greeted” by some giant mutated beast. Once all that is settled, they then discover that thew vegetables grown in the valley are mutated, likely the result of radiation. The group has to decide which is worse: starvation or eating radioactive vegetables.

Then things start seeming fishy at Mount Lam...and that's all that I'm telling you. So many reviews are nothing more than Wikipedia level synopses with no insight or opinion, coming off like a ninth grade book report. I try to give you an idea about a book you may not have read, and hopefully intrigue you enough to want to give it a shot. My reviews are like tenth grade book reports plus an OCD zone.

Needless to say, I am on board for all future Apes books from Boom, and I am still waiting impatiently for Planet of the Apes Archives collecting the entire 1970s Marvel black and white magazine with full color covers in the same hardcover format as Dark Horse's Creepy and Eerie or Dynamite's Vampirella Archives.

[Zoë Birss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cataclysm continues to have really interesting ideas. I'm highly motivated to read further. However, I find the pacing to be inconsistent compared with Bechko and Hardman's first two pieces with Apes. It keeps promising payouts, but so far has not delivered. The final trade will either show this to be a pretty okay story, or a disappointment. Even two thirds in, it is too soon to tell.

I do appreciate seeing elements in this series that Hardman and Bechko later bring to bear with great mastery in their creator owned series, Invisible Republic.

[David Finger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I still have issues with the outlandish story elements involving a nuclear bomb destroying the moon and a race of humanoids using mind control to create an elaborate illusion (including a giant wolf monster) the story is engaging and slowly hooking me in. I do like the general world building where a literal caste system exists amongst the different primate races, and the problems that emerge in a society that has to navigate these tensions after a terrible tragedy befalls the society as a whole.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great when an ongoing series can take an unexpected twist without gutting the established style and mores of the work.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting sidetrip to the painted valley fleshes out this world even more

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas with the mutated chimps, but it could have perhaps been explored and presented better.

[Alfred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

[Dann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boom! Studios continues their acclaimed comic series Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm with a second volume that seeks to deliver more thrills. In the aftermath of the devastation of Ape City Dr. Zaius puts together an expedition to a nearby valley to gather supplies; meanwhile a rebellion foments in the chimpanzee district. The story starts out alright, but ends up going in some strange directions that don’t seem consistent with the series; bringing in mutant apes and ancient civilizations that don’t quite fit within the canon. Additionally, the subplots that appear throughout the comic seem especially disconnected from each other. Though it does a few interesting things with the series, Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm – Volume Two fails to build on the promise and excitement of the first book.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that the story focused on ape politics and the mystery from volume one, but it still wasn't quite enough to hook me like the first two volumes in this series. Part of the problem might be the lack of character development in this story arc thus far. There just isn't one character to grab onto so instead there is just the main plot which is good, but not amazing. The art remains solid, if a little unspectacular as well. While I liked this volume better than the last, I'm still hoping that I like the last volume of Cataclysm even more.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel picks up from issues 5-8 of a twelve issue series. It delves more into the political atmosphere between the gorillas and chimpanzees as the tension begins to rise due to destruction caused by the flood and the starvation and homelessness which followed. Dr Zaius also sends a team out to find food in the "Painted Valley"....but what they find there brings more questions than answers.