Super Blog Team-Up: Beast on the Planet of the Apes - a Review

Planet of the Apes #21 (June 1976)
"Beast on the Planet of the Apes"
Doug Moench-Herb Trimpe/Dan Adkins

Doug: Welcome back - it's been awhile! And you're in for a treat today, as my longtime writing partner from Bronze Age Babies is along for the ride. Karen is known to many from several sources, including her work for Back Issue magazine and her recent stint as 1/3 of the crew on Planet 8 Podcast. This is certainly nostalgic for me, but an honor to team with her again! And what a team-up today is. Not only are we a small part of this summer's Super Blog Team-Up, but you'll find us in three spaces: here (of course), the BAB, and at Karen's new blog, Echoes from the Satellite.

Karen: Doug! Always a pleasure to be able to team-up with you and review some comics. Of course, I just love the fact that when the idea to do this was broached, we both thought of doing something with Planet of the Apes! It's so near and dear to both our little hearts. So let's get to it!

Doug: The topic of the day is "expanded universe", and we thought a dive into Marvel's Bronze Age Planet of the Apes magazine seemed like a solid idea in response. If you've partaken of those wonderful B&W comics, you know that the modus operandi was often sprawling epics: "Terror on the Planet of the Apes", and adaptations of the various 20th-Century Fox films. But today it's a 20-page "kind of" done-in-one, and featuring an original character in Derek Zane. From the Planet of the Apes wiki, The Sacred Scrolls (links to the source material have been left in for your convenience):

Derek Zane is a technological genius in 1970's New York who is convinced that Col. Taylor and his crew hit a time disturbance. Determined to prove his theory, Derek sets his time machine for 3975 and is thrown forward in time, destroying his machine in the process. He finds mute humans controlled by talking apes and is accused by gorilla General Gorodon of the murder of orangutan Xirinius. Fleeing across the sea, Derek discovers the island of Avedon where apes and talking humans live in equality but in the style of medieval times. He is accepted as a hero by the community and finds love with Lady Andréa. When Gorodon invades the island Derek leads the defence and kills Gorodon. Later, Derek again sets out to search for the astronauts.

Doug: And it's that "sets out again" adventure that brings us, and you, to today's review. Zane was the creation of scribe Doug Moench, and as editor Rich Handley tells us in his essay closing Boom Studios' Planet of the Apes Archives, volume 2, Moench intended to make Zane the star of the show moving forward. As there were no plans to adapt the then-completed television show and all five films had already been covered, Moench saw Zane further exploring the Apes world. Alas, the magazine was canceled a few months after this story was published.

Karen: I had a few of the Marvel POTA mags when they came out -they didn't creep me out like some of the monster mags did! - but those are all long gone. Those Boom Studio collections are just terrific. I only have the first two, but they're really high quality and I appreciate the Rich Handley essays that provide some context to the comics. 

Doug: I never owned a single copy of the Planet of the Apes magazine when I was a kid. As I read these Archives, though, I was surprised at some of the directions Moench and his collaborators took the franchise. We got mountain man Apes, weird talking brain-like organisms, Ape-supremacists in white sheets, and more! It seemed almost Kirbyesque, the places and ideas Moench explored. As we pick up the Derek Zane narrative, Zane is on Avedon - an isolated island where Apes and men live together in a medieval setting. There is a Camelot, a Robin Hood, fair maidens, dragons... the whole nine yards! Hey, if Edgar Rice Burroughs could stick Pellucidar beneath our surface, why not? Although married to the lovely Lady Andrea after winning a tournament, Zane feels the pull of his original mission: to find and aid the four ANSA astronauts who were lost in space. Solution? Leave Avedon and plunge back into the chaos on the mainland.

Karen: I have to say, I'm blown away by Doug Moench's workload with the POTA magazine. He not only wrote all the film adaptations, but to also produce his own, original series - it's impressive. Like you say, a lot of his work has a real Kirby, Kamandi-style flavor. Much of it is whimsical. I read the Zane stories before this one and they are really out there. 

Doug: Let's face it - Planet of the Apes requires a suspension of disbelief fundamentally. I was only a few pages into "Terror on the Planet of the Apes" when I threw all reservations out the door. To say Moench took us on his own version of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" would be an understatement!

Doug: Reaching the shoreline, Zane found the raft he'd used earlier when he stumbled upon Avedon. However, there's a challenger for its use and even ownership - a chimpanzee calling himself Robin Hood. Picture Errol Flynn in Roddy McDowell's make-up... Zane and Robin joust, and in the tussle they find that they've unmoored the raft and have begun to float to sea. Along the journey, Zane explains his intentions, but also what awaits Robin on the mainland. Avedon, as I said, was isolated so Robin had no idea of mute humans and militaristic apes. Once ashore, Zane and Robin ambush a chimp traveler and take his clothes and horse. And as fate would have it, before the chimp was knocked senseless he'd revealed that there were indeed rumors of talking humans in the area. So it's off to find the nearest city.

Karen: I couldn't help but wonder, what island was Avedon? But I guess after the nuclear armageddon, land probably shifted, so it could be almost anywhere. I know, I really shouldn't waste my time on things like that. Anyway, the Robin Hood character was a hoot. I'd love to see somebody cosplay that!

Doug: You bring up a point that I've actually dwelt on in watching the newest trilogy of films, and that's geography. We know that Taylor and crew landed somewhere near what used to be New York City, yet in the current series it is set near the Pacific coast. How did the apes conquer the entire continent, and indeed the world? And how long did it take? Two thousand years seems barely long enough to get to the point of an Earth as we see it in Planet of the Apes. And to say "uncharted territory" in our context of Earth's geography would now most likely be untrue given our near-complete survey of our planet, yet in the Apes world of 3978 the Earth seems a blank slate for prospective authors to explore. Sentient brains, though? Is that goofier than coonskin cap-wearing Apes?

Karen: Oh boy, I've long wondered where everything took place! And how the land was distorted by the nuclear war. I mean, some of it just doesn't make a lot of sense, but I bet someone (more than one someone) has a long and detailed essay and map that explains the whole thing.

Doug: I keep telling myself, "they're all make-believe stories", but you know how it goes...

Doug: One of our heroes' first encounters would be quite unsettling as General Zaynor gruffly introduced himself. What follows are pretty standard Apes-tropes. Zaynor is a stereotype of Ursus/Urko/Aldo, and the Dr. Cassius the boys seek is a stand-in for any of the chimp veterinarians we've met previously. The vivisection threat, talking humans scare, orangutans as defenders of the faith, and fugitives on the run all come into play. I don't want to say that from this point forward the story was not enjoyable - it was. And maybe this is how Moench felt he needed to reestablish Derek Zane in the thick of his search for Taylor & crew. But it became very predictable.

Karen: I totally agree. Unfortunately, the story lapses into formula, essentially taking us beat for beat on Taylor's journey in the original film. It's a disappointment, considering how delightfully odd and inventive Moench had been before.

Doug: It's not unlike what we found in Brent's journey in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. That movie doesn't get its legs until Brent heads down the cave and reaches the subway tunnel.

Karen: Well, Brent had to be the Taylor stand-in since Charlton Heston refused to do more than a glorified cameo. So there's duplication of the original's story line for sure. But you know, I love Beneath! I know we have slightly different opinions on this film! I'm sure all the strangeness with the mutants had to inspire Moench.

Doug: Moench included a damsel in distress. I was unclear of his intention, as she exists seemingly only to die. A male character could easily have carried out the plot points that "Hope" did, and I was left to ponder if she had a place - or was supposed to have a place - in Zane's heart. There obviously wasn't time to generate any romantic feelings or even tension, and her demise was quick and seemingly without lasting consequence.

Karen: I'm guessing Moench used a female character as she might elicit a more sympathetic reaction from the mostly male readers? Perhaps it makes Zane look more heroic? And let's face it, it's another chance to draw a scantily-clad woman, something comics have always taken advantage of. I did think she would be a continuing character, so I was quite surprised to see her killed. I figured she'd lead Zane to more speaking humans. I don't know what role she served -- or to be honest, how this story set up much of anything.

Doug: As long as you brought up the art, I'd like to pay tribute to Herb Trimpe and Dan Adkins. While we certainly get some signature Trimpe poses and facial expressions, I felt Adkins rounded out Herb's pencils and gave them some weight and texture. There were some panels throughout the story that were stunning - I am particularly thinking of the intro. of Zaynor atop his steed. Solid!

Karen: Typically, I am not a big Trimpe fan, except when it comes to Hulk comics. But you're right, the combo of Trimpe and Adkins is a very solid one.

Doug: I did like the Robin Hood character, as his swashbuckling nature was a departure from the usually scientifically-oriented chimps. Robin saved the day, and although he and Zane chose to part, I was left wanting a "Road to"-sort of buddy movie with these two. Alas, this was Derek Zane's swansong, so we'll never know. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever picked up the story and run with it. Seems like it would be a no-brainer for a mini-series or novella.

Karen: I kind of wonder if Moench was just feeling his way with this? I think I would have enjoyed a more fantastic take rather than revisiting the films. But maybe Moench felt he'd already done some pretty far out stuff. Of course, I could have stayed on Avedon! An orangutan King Arthur. Yes please.

Doug: Overall, I enjoyed "Beast on the Planet of the Apes", and found Moench's title thought-provoking. Was the beast Derek and the humans? Or was it the Apes? Was it specifically General Zaynor? Or was it the notion of incompatibility between Apes and Man? Could it have been evolution gone awry - that the very existence of the upside down relationships were the untamed wildness? But I wax philosophically...

Karen: Ah, my friend the philosopher. Well, I noticed that Moench referenced King Kong in this (and also in the other Zane story). Kong too was a beast, but you could say that our society was beastly to him. I enjoyed the story, but I think the earlier Zane story, "Kingdom on an Island of the Apes", was a little more fun. Still, I'd encourage any Apes fan to get these Archives. 

Now it's time for you to jump all over the blogosphere and enjoy some cool content from our #SuperBlogTeamUp partners. Leave 'em a comment!

Super-Hero Satellite: M.A.S.K.: The Road To Revolution

Between The Pages Blog: The Star Wars Expanded Universe

Comics Comics Comics: Indiana Jones, with a focus on the Marvel series The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones

Comic Reviews By Walt: The Aliens vs Predator Universe 

Dave’s Comic Heroes Blog: Logan’s Run Marvel Movie Adaptation

The Telltale Mind: Archie Andrews - Superstar

Radulich In Broadcasting: Flash Gordon Universe

The Source Material Comics Podcast: TMNT/Ghostbusters

Unspoken Issues: Mad-Dog 

Crapbox Son Of Cthulhu: Marvel’s 2001: A Space Odyssey Issues 3 & 6 

The Daily Rios: Little Shop of Horrors

Echoes from the Satellite: Tales from the Forbidden Zone - The Pacing Place

Bronze Age Babies: Seven Decades of Apes-mania, and We’re Afflicted! 

Lost N Comics YouTube: Expanding the medium by delving into the world of motion/audio comics

Pop Culture Retrorama: The Phantom Universe

Cavalcade of Awesome: Jumper Universe

MichaelMay.Online: Treasure Island Universe   

DC In The 80s: The TSR Universe (DC comics)

Stay Tuned to This Space!

Newsflash, friends - coming your way on June 24, 2020, this blog will once again come to life for participation in summer's Super Blog Team-Up. And a treat is in store, as I team with my former partner, Karen, to launch three posts that day. We'll be reviewing the short story "Beast on the Planet of the Apes" here at the BWBC. We'll also check in with tons of Apes memorabilia from our childhoods on into the present at Bronze Age Babies. If all that doesn't fill you up, Karen is about set to launch a new blog - at that location you'll find our thoughts on one of the prose stories from the anthology Tales from the Forbidden Zone.

Mark your calendars, as you won't want to miss our content, and certainly not that of the many, many other blogs and podcasts who will participate that day.

Looking forward to it!

Before You Ever Saw It, There Were Roughs

Hi, friends! A happy Thursday to you. I'm pretty much going to get out of the way today and let the art do the talking. If you're like me, you not only like to hear alternate takes and rehearsals from your favorite bands - it really gives the listener an inside look at the creative process. Comic art, particularly covers, can also be like that. So what I've gathered today is some before-and-after work from some of the best in the business. Enjoy!

Leading off: Neal Adams and the cover to the Ballantine Paperback edition of Tarzan and the Lion Man.

 Here's something you don't see every day - Jazzy Johnny Romita drawing our favorite Cimmerian!

 Frank Frazetta - The Huntress. Nuff said.

Frazetta again, this time toying with the positioning of Tarzan and the very large bear. I think I like the rough better than the finished product. You?

I actually used to own the rough below and sold it when I liquidated my collection around five years ago. It's from the one-shot Marvel Heroes and Legends; this section of the book was of course penciled by Big John Buscema. That energy comes through even in the loose version, doesn't it?

Everyone has a copy of the Les Daniel coffee table books, right? Mine is a personal treasure, as for years I took it to conventions and had creators sign inside. Among the luminaries who've scratched in it are Stan Lee, John Romita, Sal Buscema, Jim Shooter, George Perez, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Rich Buckler, and more! Here's Romita's sketch when he was laying out the cover.

Another Romita layout, this time for a mag in the second go-round for What If?

Ploooooooooggg! Mike Ploog. Master. I love the image at left, as you can see him tinkering with the cover. I think I actually like the rough at top right the best.

And just to show how much I like you and appreciate you taking a couple of minutes out of your day, I'm going to leave you with a couple of gems from Earl Norem. That man was a master on the Marvel magazine covers!

Appreciating Arsenio "Sonny" Trinidad

Celso "Sonny" Trinidad was one of the B&W masters. Whether as penciler, inker, or both, I think the samples below will show that. Here's a bit about his career, from his Wikipedia page (hyperlinks have been left in, if you're so inclined to make those jumps):

Along with a number of other Filipino comics creators in the 1970s, Trinidad found work in the American comics industry, initially for DC Comics on such titles as The Witching Hour, House of Mystery, The Unexpected, and Weird Western Tales.^[5]

It was in the U.S. that he began using the pen name "Sonny" Trinidad. When he moved to Marvel Comics in 1974, he was given the moniker "Slammin' Sonny Trinidad" in the "Bullpen Bulletins".^[6] Trinidad supplied full art or inks over other artists (frequently John Romita Sr. and John Buscema) on horror titles such as Vampire Tales (Morbius the Living Vampire stories written by Doug Moench), Dracula Lives!, Marvel Chillers, and The Son of Satan, as well as fantasy and adventure titles like Skull the Slayer, The Savage Sword of Conan, and Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. Other highlights of Trinidad's tenure at Marvel included "Hellfire Helix Hex!," written by John Warner, for Marvel Presents #2 (Dec. 1975); in addition, Trinidad inked the feature story (written by Bill Mantlo and penciled by Tom Sutton) in Man From Atlantis #1 (Feb. 1978).^[7]

Trinidad was often hired to do adaptations. One of his biggest commissions was the black-and-white magazine one-shot Marvel Movie Premiere, which featured his and writer Marv Wolfman's adaptation of the 1975 movie The Land That Time Forgot. With writer Roy Thomas and penciler John Buscema, Trinidad adapted Robert E. Howard's "The Pool of the Black One" in Savage Sword of Conan #22–23 (Sept.–Oct. 1977). And with writer Doug Moench, Trinidad adapted H. G. Wells' The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth for Marvel Classics Comics #22 (1977).^[7]

I think you'll agree that man left us a feast for our eyes.

 

Evolution's Nightmare - a Review from Planet of the Apes 5

Planet of the Apes #5 (February 1975)
"Evolution's Nightmare"
Doug Moench-Ed Hannigan/Jim Mooney

I read this story for the first time about two weeks before Christmas, at the back of the Planet of the Apes Archive, volume 4. It was the final Apes story reprinted in those fabulous hardcovers from Boom! Studios. And I'll say that while I was "Meh..." about the inclusion of all of the articles in the Deadly Hands of Kung fu Omnibus, I really missed them in the recent PotA Archives. I can recall, as a child, generally skipping the comics within the PotA mags and skimming the articles at the grocery store. Stills from the films, especially those dealing with production aspects of the make-up, etc. were enthralling to my young eyes. But as was my condition back then, I was allergic to black & white comics... Dumb me.

I wondered as I read through the four PotA Archive collections how it was arrived to organize the books as they did. At times I felt, and I suppose this is the most practical way, stories were fit into the page allotments of each volume. Sort of like working a literary jigsaw puzzle. Today's offering is a case in point - first appearing in the 5th issue of the PotA magazine, it was the last tale to be included in the the hardcover series. One might argue they saved the best for last, though, as it is a pretty good story. Let's check it out --

100-Word Review:

War rages on the Planet of the Apes in a time long before Taylor’s arrival. Armed humans on one bluff, equally-equipped Apes across from them, with a Forbidden Zone valley the site of what will become near-complete carnage. Yet two survive the drenching of blood – Jovan the human, and Solomon the gorilla. Mutually disabled post-battle, they are forced to collaborate for survival. Setting off in a symbiotic relationship, they encounter the mixed-breed hermit Mordecai. A man-ape of thought and good will, Mordecai nurses the former combatants back to health. But once healed, their hatred still burns. Will it consume them?

The Good: What can I say about Doug Moench's tenure as scribe of these Apes adventures that others have not already said? I certainly was aware of Moench's various writings when I was a child (and onward), but I don't know that I comprehended just how prolific he was - and especially in the B&W mags. Having taken the complete tour of the PotA magazines over the past two years, I think I've elevated Moench in my personal rankings of the pantheon of comics writers. What an imagination, and a true mastery of pace, plot, and parlance. This story is certainly no exception. While the theme is borrowed, that of two former combatants forced to rely on each other for survival, Moench throws this into the apes/humans dichotomy with that extra flair that resonates with the watcher/reader of the PotA mythos. I found myself on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how these sworn enemies would resolve their foundational issues. I was not disappointed, even though the morality play conclusion seemed predictable. 

The introduction of the hermit Mordecai proved pivotal, and it was a stroke of genius to craft the character as a human/ape hybrid. Of course, that raises all kinds of other issues (moral, biological, and so on), but maybe that's the point: If Mordecai could grow from a union that would undeniably be considered taboo among the races (nay... species) of his parents and be a fount of virtue, then surely good could come to our combatants if they would but tolerate one another.

As an aside, Andrew E.C. Gaska delved into various ape/human and ape/ape hybrid possibilities in his highly recommended (by this reader) Death of the Planet of the Apes novel. Get a copy!

Ed Hannigan and Jim Mooney were solid on the artwork. Mooney seemed a bit out of his element, as those "Mooney eyes" are perhaps better placed in a Spider-Man or especially Supergirl comic. But for the most part I could get past the inks and enjoy Hannigan's pencils. This team did an excellent job of pacing Moench's script. While the inital battle scene seems long in retrospect, on my first read it was appropriate in length. Moench wanted to establish a) how brutal was the fighting and b) that it could only end in extinction of one side by the other. Yet, when that did not happen, the table was set for the main course. Hannigan and Mooney showed the scope and scale of Moench's desired carnage. I was reminded of another battle that raged to an equally-dreaded conclusion. That panel appears below, by John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga, and comes from Thor Annual 5. Overall, Hannigan chose a pretty straightforward panel layout, but as you can see from the samples I've provided, he did occasionally burst the conventional bounds.

The Bad: I don't have much to say in this box, other than the perplexing implications of Mordecai's parentage. My mind wandered to Dr. Zira's rebuke of Taylor's kiss, telling him, "You're so damned ugly!" Indeed...

The Ugly: And speaking of "ugly", I'd just say that while well done and effective, the previously-mentioned length of the opening battle had a "make it stop!" quality. So while brutal in its telling, Moench achieved his goal. 

If you've never read any of the PotA Bronze Age magazines, I'd heartily encourage you to seek and obtain the four Archive hardcovers. They are a treasure. A pricey treasure, but nonetheless I am happy to have provided them a warm home. These are books I'll return to over and over. As mentioned above, I do wish they'd included the letters pages and articles, but it is nice to have access to the comics. As we move on during the life of this blog, I'll hope to bring reviews of some of the other material from those books - the roster of artistic talent is beyond compare. 

Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to leave me a comment below, if you're so inclined.