Writer – Denny O’Neil, Dave Kraft
Artist – Keith Giffen, Mike Nasser
Inker – Jack Abel, Joe Rubenstein
Escaping the death-trap that Looter had set them in, Kamandi, Ben and Rongo break free only to watch Ben go on a rampage. Having been a prisoner of one person or another for the last while, Ben has had more than enough and means to take down everything around him. Kamandi too, is tired of being treated like a slave and once Ben regains his composure, it is now his turn to try and calm Kamandi down before our hero murders everyone around him, such is the rage that he is in. Ben continues to remind Kamandi that this is entirely out of character for him and eventually, Kamandi realizes so. As it is, it is not Kamandi or Ben or Rongo who come out the winning side but the little people, largely forgotten amidst the chaos taking place. Having learned that they are not in fact human but genetically modified monkeys, they are also quite upset and they do not want to be anyone’s puppets and therefore target everyone evenly in order to escape. When it is all said and done, Kamandi and his companions are lucky to get away and head off on a new adventure. This issue also sees the finale to Urgall’s story as he, Myra and Otis are able to fend off the New Jersey Coppers, but not before one of them loses their life. Though the overall story was not a bad one, the ending here felt rushed, crammed into the few pages it was allotted and while it did provide a conclusion, it almost leaves the reader a little cold. Additionally, the artwork by Mike Nassar was not as good as it could have been and so it is a good thing that this backup feature ended so that we can get back to feature-length stories starring Kamandi. The purpose behind the stories was a good one, it was simply that Urgall’s did very little to explore this strange, post-apocalyptic world.
3 out of 5
Categories: Comics, Issue by Issue