Two-in-One: Mondo Simian It's monkey comic time, as Randy and Don take a look at the massive mini-comic known as Mondo Simian. Randy: Like so many comic readers, I have an inexplicable fondness for monkeys and gorillas. True, it's partly because I find it funny and ironic in light of the numerous gorilla and monkey stories that comics have seen, but it's also true that I can enjoy a good gorilla story as more than just camp. Patrick Joseph and Justin Colussy Estes have decided to speak to the inner monkey in many of us with a thick package of a mini-comic called Mondo Simian. Don: This isn't your average talking-monkey comic book, though. Estes and Joseph present Planet of the Apes through much more intelligent and cynical eyes. While the art is far from the book's greatest strength, the way the mini-comic crosses genres makes it stand out. I honestly don't know exactly what the creators are saying, but I was definitely intrigued. Mondo Simian written and illustrated by Patrick Joseph & Justin Colussy Estes Randy: I'm very picky about what mini-comics I enjoy, and Mondo Simian misses the mark for me in some regards. Joseph and Estes use a variety of storytelling and art styles, and their work is often hard for me to keep up with or sometimes understand. However, there are some very interesting ideas here, and with a little more clarity, a tighter story focus and better production values, they could definitely produce something that would catch my eye. Don: I don't know that I agree. Mini-comics are far from my area of expertise; I've read very few. I found the shift in focus to be what makes Mondo Simian unique, and that's a far too elusive quality in comics today... hell, in any kind of pop-culture product. The creators offer up social commentary, howling-commando war stories, science-fiction, crime fiction, Hollywood parody and more. And it all came together nicely in the end. Randy: Essentially, Mondo Simian takes place in a world where apes have evolved and humanity is about to leave for the stars, leaving the planet to the apes. This story shows the way the world has been affected and will be affected, whether it's a pair of teenage monkeys sneaking onto a human space station, a giant ape considering the role of Kongo Rex, giant monster man or an army of mutated amphibious apes rising from the sea to take over. I definitely get the sense of many, many ideas from Joseph and Estes in this book, all of which are quite different. I wish that the creators could have tied their ideas together better, or used more straightforward storytelling. The stories each run about one or two pages before jumping to a completely different one, with no transitions in between. As the stories continued, I began to see links between them and to get the overall shape of the world, but you really have to work for it. And the stories are almost always hurt by being chopped into such tiny, bit-sized story chunks. Don: As I note above, I don't agree overall, but there were some brief, surreal scenes that made for some confusion. Mind you, the repeated shifts in scenes and characters helped to dispel my concerns about the weirder moments in a weird book. Randy: The artwork in the book is hit or miss as well, and that's largely because the creators are experimenting. Each story has a different style to it, and some of them are clearer than others. Combined with the small size of the packaging and the very rough lettering, though, almost all of them are a little hard to read. I enjoyed the storytelling talent on many of the pages, but I wished for clearer and more polished artwork for the most part. Don: Again, we differ. While I appreciated the efforts to bring different visual tones for different genres, the art was a disappointment for me pretty much cover-to-cover. While it was hit-or-miss for Randy, it was pretty much all miss for me. And Randy's right, the lettering needs work as well. Randy: Mondo Simian is definitely an accomplishment. It's a thick book with a lot of stories, and the seeds of really interesting stories and talent are definitely evident here. However, it reads more like a couple of creators learning their craft than any kind of finished story or even an anthology, the comic equivalent of several late night jam sessions. It has plenty of energy and style, but not enough focus and polish. Don: Not only it is thick for a mini-comic, it's a dense read. At times, the story gallops along at an entertaining pace, and suddenly, the reader is faced with verbose moments of simian philosophy. There were also scenes in which the characters were doing little, and they paled in comparison with other sections. Overall, though, it was an interesting and surprisingly entertaining experiment. Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. For more information about Mondo Simian, email Engine_A@cbrmail.com.