Rating: 4/5 – An Interlude with the Simians of Anarchy.
by ComicSpectrum EiC Bob Bretall.
When Adam Alamo reviewed issue #1 he referred to this book as “Planet of the Apes meets Sons of Anarchy”. I have to agree with him, but I think the emphasis is heavily on the side of the Sons of Anarchy. This is biker gangs a’la Sons told with anthropomorphized apes; The Humans being the name of the main biker gang. I’m currently catching up on Sons of Anarchy and am watching the final season, so I’ve got the kind hi-jinks fictionalized biker gangs generally get up to on my brain.
A great way of looking at this book is that it’s an excellent read if you like that sort of thing. And I do like this sort of thing. That said, I can easily see other readers being totally turned off by this. Keenan Marshall Keller and Tom Neely have packed this series full of violence, language, and sex/nudity. If reading about that sort of thing isn’t your cup of tea, stay clear! On the heels of last issue’s mayhem, this issue is kind of a quiet interlude. At least as quiet as such things get, we still get a pretty savage beat-down. This issue focuses on Johnny, back in Bakersfield and looking for his long lost love, Peg, who happens to be working as a stripper, so we get a long sequence in a strip club, with the requisite anthropomorphized nudity one would expect in such a setting.
The Humans is not for everyone. That said, if you like aw and uncensored stories about the outlaw fringes of society this could be the book for you. There is something freeing about casting apes as the protagonists. Keller and Neely immediately remove standard societal racial bias and can focus directly on the underlying themes of outlaws vs. other outlaws vs. the law vs. “normals”. I’m highly entertained by this book, and if my attempts to discuss it without any overt spoilers sounds interesting to you, do yourself a favor and pick up an issue. #6 could serve as a decent jumping on point for you. Humans For Life. Humans Til Deth.
Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
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