Planet of the Apes (comics)

Last updated

Planet of the Apes comics are tie-ins to the Planet of the Apes media franchise. They have been released by several publishers over the years and include tie-ins and spin-offs.

Contents

Publishers

Japanese comics (manga)

There are two manga adaptations of the first film, both entitled Saru no Wakusei (lit. "Planet of Monkeys"). The first was written and drawn by Jôji Enami and published in the manga magazine Bessatsu Bôken'Ô in April 1968. The second was drawn by Minoru Kuroda and published in the manga Tengoku Zôkan in June 1971. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (最後の猿の惑星 - Saigo no Saru no Wakusei, "Battle on the Planet of Monkeys", in Japanese) was also adapted into a manga by Mitsuru Sugaya, and published in a 1973 special issue of the magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion . [1]

Gold Key Comics

Gold Key Comics produced an adaptation of Beneath the Planet of the Apes the second film in 1970. That was the first Western comics publication in the Planet of the Apes franchise. [2]

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics released a number of titles, the longest-lived being Planet of the Apes (published under the Marvel imprint Curtis Magazines), which appeared in black-and-white magazine format, and ran for twenty-nine issues from 1974 to 1977. [3] Besides adaptations of all five movies, the magazine featured original stories set in the same universe of the movie, with writing from Doug Moench and Gerry Conway and art from Mike Esposito, Mike Ploog, George Tuska, and others. Articles about the making of both the movie series and the later Planet of the Apes television series were also a mainstay.

In 1975, Adventures on the Planet of the Apes offered color versions of the adaptations of the first two films in five- or six-issue arcs, for total of 11 issues. [4] It was written by Doug Moench.

The stories from the U.S. magazine were edited and released by Marvel UK in a weekly title of the same name, lasting 123 issues from 1974 to 1977. This included adapted reprints of the Killraven comic, renamed as Apeslayer and with alien apes as enemies. The British title changed names to Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives , before merging into The Mighty World of Marvel #231-246, where the title spot on the cover was shared between Planet of the Apes and The Incredible Hulk —also being stories from the U.S. runs.

In 2022, Marvel announced that they had reacquired the comics license to Planet of the Apes and it will release the new comics in 2023, following a reprint of the company's heavily edited 1970s comic Adventures on the Planet of the Apes. [5] The new series was initially written by David Walker with art by Dave Wachter, and set in the universe of the reboot film series, but without specific characters from it. [6]

In 2024, Marc Guggenheim and Alvaro Lopez conceived the next comic book series titled Beware the Planet of the Apes which is a prequel to the 1960s franchise and feature Cornelius, Zira, and the woman that will later be named Nova. [7] Issue #2 reveals that the gibbons are the servant class of the ape community. [8]

Power Records

In 1975, Power Records made adaptations of four of the films which were included with book-and-record sets, [9] and appeared in LP format as well, as an audio only compilation album featuring all four adaptations. The only film in the original series that did not receive an adaptation is Conquest of the Planet of the Apes .

The company also produced an audio-only series on LP that featured the main characters of the television series—Virdon, Burke and Galen—in original stories.

Chad Valley

In 1975, Chad Valley, a U.K. toy company, produced 32 short film-based comic strips containing illustrated scenes from various TV series episodes, packaged as part of the slideshow projector playset, named respectively Chad Valley Picture Show: Planet of the Apes Sliderama Projector [10] These strips are extremely rare and difficult to come by, and contain many continuity errors.

Brown Watson Books

Between 1975 and 1977, Brown Watson Books published a trio of UK-published hardcover comic annuals based on the spin-off 1974 television series.

Editorial Mo.Pa.Sa.

Editorial Mo.Pa.Sa., an Argentine company, published seven Spanish-language Apes comics in the 1970s, featuring original tales about the television series' characters. It was written by Jorge Claudio Morhain, and Ricardo Barreiro, with art by Sergio Mulko and T. Toledo. Five additional issues were planned, but were never produced. To date, the Spanish stories have never been published in English, but translations have been made available on fan sites.

Hungarian comic

In 1981, a Hungarian company published a comic adaptation of Pierre Boulle's original novel, titled A Majmok bolygója (lit. "The Monkey Planet"). This adaptation was written and drawn by Hungarian comic artist Ernő Zórád. To date, the Hungarian comic has never been published in English, but a translation has been made available on fan sites.

Malibu Publishing/Adventure Comics

Between 1990 and 1993, Adventure Comics, a division of Malibu Publishing, produced more original storylines, set after the time of Caesar. These included a 24-issue monthly title, a one-shot (Sins of the Father), a Planet of the Apes annual and five original mini-series: Urchak's Folly, Forbidden Zone, Ape City, Blood of the Apes and a crossover with Alien Nation called Ape Nation. Adventure also reprinted Marvel's adaptations of the first three films as well as a four-issue mini-series featuring installments from Marvel's Terror on the Planet of the Apes saga.

Filipino parody

Debuting in 1978, a long-running Filipino parody adaptation called Planet op di Eyps was serialized in Pilipino FUNNY Komiks.

Dark Horse Comics

American company Dark Horse published a series written by Ian Edginton, tie-in with Tim Burton's 2001 Apes film. Between 2001 and 2002, Dark Horse published a film adaptation, a mini-series, a brief ongoing run, a Toys R' Us minicomic and a three-part serial in Dark Horse Extra.

Mr. Comics

Mr. Comics had the license until 2005 and released a six-issue mini-series, Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, by Joe O'Brien, Ty Templeton Sam Agro, and other writers, with art by Gabriel Morrissette and additional artists. The story picked up shortly after Caesar's conquest of the Earth after the apes' revolt and attempted to bridge the time gap before Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). Further stories were slated for release, including the next planned title, Empire on the Planet of the Apes, but the graphic novel collecting the Revolution mini-series was canceled, as was the Empire follow-up.

Boom! Studios

Classic continuity

Boom!'s Planet of the Apes series of comics is the longest-running adaptation of the series, publishing more comics than Marvel (29 issues) and Malibu (50 issues). [11] Beginning April 2011, Boom! Studios launched a new series written by novelist Daryl Gregory, illustrated by Carlos Magno and edited by Ian Brill, with covers by Karl Richardson and Chad Hardin that took place 500 years before the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie in the continuity of the first five films. It ran for a total of 16 issues, ending in August 2012. [12] The storyline was continued in Planet of the Apes Annual #1 [13] (August, 2012), then furthered in Planet of the Apes Special #1 [14] (April 2013), then furthered again in Planet of the Apes Spectacular #1 [15] (July 2013) and finally wrapped up in Planet of the Apes Giant #1 [16] (September, 2013). His entire run was collected in Planet of the Apes Omnibus (2018).

In late 2011, Boom! also began publishing the four-issue mini-series Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes. This mini-series is set 20 years before the events of the original film, and features different characters, like Dr. Zaius, than the concurrent ongoing series. This was followed up in early 2012 by another mini-series, Exile on the Planet of the Apes, set two years later. Beginning in September 2012, Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm took over as Boom!'s regular monthly series. Set eight years prior to the original Planet of the Apes , this series was written by Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, authors of both the Betrayal and Exile miniseries, and mixed several characters from those series with characters from the original movie. This entire run was collected in Planet of the Apes: Before the Fall Omnibus (2019).

Boom! and IDW Publishing published a crossover between Planet of the Apes and Star Trek: The Original Series , titled Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive . The first issue was published in December 2014. In 2016, Boom! started a miniseries crossover between Planet of the Apes and Tarzan , titled Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes . In February 2017, Boom! and DC Comics published a 6 issue crossover called Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern . It was set soon after the events of the first film. This was also the setting for a crossover with King Kong in Kong on the Planet of the Apes.

In August 2018, Boom! published a one-shot comic titled Planet of the Apes: Visionaries , which is a comic book based on the Rod Serling script for the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie. [17] [18]

A self-titled six-issue mini-series by David Walker looked at the early years of Ursus, starting in January 2018. The one-shots The Time of Man and The Simian Age drew together stories from different continuities in the same year.

Reboot continuity

Just before the release of the feature film Rise of the Planet of the Apes Boom! serialized 6 installments of five-page webcomics that served as a prelude to the movie. The stories featured Alpha and Bright Eyes, Caesar's parents, and detailed their capture in the wild and the time they spent in the Gen-Sys Laboratories. At San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, Boom! published a one-shot stand-alone print comic book, called Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Contagion bridging Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes . [19] In December 2014, Boom! started the six-issue series Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , set in the movie continuity of the second reboot film. [20] A four-issue 2017 War for the Planet of the Apes series served as a prequel to the movie of the same name. All these reboot continuity comics were collected in Planet of the Apes: After the Fall Omnibus (2019).

Series

Limited series titles

This is a list of all ongoing Planet of the Apes comic book series:

TitlePublisherIssuesDatesNotes
Planet of the ApesMarvel#1–291974–1977
Adventures on the Planet of the ApesMarvel#1–111975Adaptations of the first two films
Planet of the ApesBoom! Studios#1–162011–2012
Betrayal of the Planet of the ApesBoom! Studios#1–42011Prequel to the original film
Planet of the Apes: CataclysmBoom! Studios#1–122012Prequel to the original film
Dawn of the Planet of the ApesBoom! Studios#1–62014Set before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes Boom! Studios#1–52017Alternate timeline to Beneath the Planet of the Apes
War for the Planet of the ApesBoom! Studios#1–42017Set before War for the Planet of the Apes
UrsusBoom! Studios#1–62018Prequel to the original film
Beware the Planet of the ApesMarvel#1–2024-Prequel to the original film

Compilations

Some of the comics have been collected together as trade paperbacks:

In addition, Adventure Comics released trade-paperback compilations of Marvel's adaptations of the first three films, as well as a collection of its own first four monthly issues, entitled Monkey Planet.

See also

Related Research Articles

Transformers, is a media franchise produced by Japanese toy company Takara Tomy and American toy company Hasbro. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

Douglas Moench is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, Harvey Bullock, Electric Warrior, and Six from Sirius. He is also known for his critically acclaimed eight-year run on Master of Kung Fu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malibu Comics</span> Former comic book company now part of Marvel Comics

Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included The Men in Black, Ultraforce, and Night Man.

The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronze Age of Comic Books</span> Early-70s-to-80s era of comic books

The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books, usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books.

<i>Planet of the Apes</i> (TV series) 1974 American sci-fi television series

Planet of the Apes is a 1974 American science fiction television series that was broadcast on CBS. The series features Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton, and Mark Lenard. It is based on the 1968 film of the same name and its sequels, which were, in turn, based on the 1963 novel Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle.

Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as X-Force, Scarlet Traces, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and Leviathan.

There have been four main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third and fourth series have been published by IDW Publishing with the third series starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006 to November 2018. The fourth series started in March 2019 with issue #1 and concluded in June 2022. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. Skybound Entertainment began publishing Transformers comics starting in June 2023, kicking off the Energon Universe. In addition to these four main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.

<i>G.I. Joe</i> (comics) Comics

G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, G.I. Joe comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year. As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero has been covered by three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name.

RoboCop refers to a comic book series spun off from the feature film of the same name.

The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series has led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Publishing, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and WildStorm Productions. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their House of Horror licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, WildStorm Productions which then published several new stories based on the franchise before their license expired as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boom! Studios</span> American comic book and graphic novel publisher

Boom! Studios, is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House since September 2024.

<i>King Kong</i> (comics) Appearances of King Kong in comics publications

Throughout the decades King Kong has been featured in numerous comic book publications from numerous publishers.

This is a list of comics regarding the Star Trek media franchise.

A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.

<i>Dracula Lives!</i> American black-and-white horror comics magazine

Dracula Lives! was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 13 issues and one Super Annual from 1973 to 1975, and starred the Marvel version of the literary vampire Dracula.

<i>Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive</i> Comic book series

Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive is a five-issue crossover comic book series produced in partnership by IDW Comics and Boom! Studios and released between December 2014 and April 2015. The series was written by brothers Scott and David Tipton, with artwork by Rachael Stott, her debut work. The Primate Directive combine elements and characters from the original Star Trek series and the original Planet of the Apes film series. It features Captain James T. Kirk seeking to prevent the Klingons from installing a puppet gorilla government on the planet, which requires them working with various Apes characters such as George Taylor, Cornelius and Zira.

Power Rangers is a series of various comic books spun off from the Power Rangers television show. Each series was published by a different comic book publisher.

References

  1. ↑ "まんだらけ 中野店 4F マニア館 ヴィンテージ入荷情報 猿の惑星たち！！ - まんだらけトピックス". Mandarake.co.jp. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ "GCD :: Series :: Beneath the Planet of the Apes". Comics.org. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ Planet of the Apes at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ↑ Adventures on the Planet of the Apes at the Grand Comics Database
  5. ↑ "Marvel Comics to Publish New 'Planet of the Apes' Stories".
  6. ↑ Spencer Perry (January 20, 2023). "Marvel's Planet of the Apes Comic Confirms Connection to New Movies". Comicbook.com. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ "New "Beware the Planet of the Apes" Comic Series Returns to the Foundation of Planet of the Apes". Marvel Comics. September 21, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  8. ↑ Tardive, Ambrose (February 16, 2024). "Planet of the Apes Officially Introduces New Ape Species to Original Movie Continuity". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  9. ↑ Planet of the Apes Book and Record Set, Beneath the Planet of the Apes Book and Record Set, Escape from the Planet of the Apes Book and Record Set, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes Book and Record Set at the Grand Comics Database
  10. ↑ Very similar to the many Give-a-Show projector sets of the 1970s.
  11. ↑ "Did you know... ...that BOOM! Studios'... - The Sacred Scrolls: Comics on the Planet of the Apes". Facebook . Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Planet of the Apes (2011 Boom Studios) comic books". Mycomicshop. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Planet of the Apes (2011 Boom Studios) Annual comic books". Mycomicshop. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Planet of the Apes Special (2013 Boom) comic books". Mycomicshop. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Planet of the Apes Spectacular (2013) comic books". Mycomicshop. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Planet of the Apes Giant (2013 Boom) comic books". Mycomicshop. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Rod Serling's 'Planet of the Apes' Script Inspires Graphic Novel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. February 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  18. ↑ "New Planet of the Apes Adaptation Revives Rod Serling's Original Screenplay". pastemagazine.com. February 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  19. ↑ "BOOM! Studios - Come Innovate with Us. - BOOM! Studios |". www.boom-studios.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Moreci Rises To The Challenge Of". Comicbookresources.com. September 18, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.