Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Part One: The End of the World
Story Monkeys: Ty Templeton and Joe O’Brien
Script Monkey: Joe O’Brien
Drawing Monkey: Salgood Sam
Color Monkey: Bernie Mireault
Cover by: Dennis Roder
Publisher: Mr. Comics
The films in the Planet of the Apes series were among my favorites growing up. Since I was born in the mid-70s I missed the phenomenon that POTA was in the early-70s, but I grew up on these movies just as sure as I did Star Wars and Star Trek. I most especially remember the frequent times that my grandmother and grandfather would watch me. Among the first things I would do upon arriving is ask my grandmother to check the newspaper to see if any Apes movies were on that day. More often than not, there was. It seemed like a POTA film was on one of the local station most afternoons.
As the years have worn on my love for the Apes has not diminished in the least. In fact, unlike Star Wars and Star Trek, I actually enjoy the movies as much if not more now than I did as a kid. The social commentary, acting, and amazing visual effects never get old for me. The five Apes films and the original Star Wars all fall into the ten year period from 1968 and 1977. For me there’s no other era of popular culture that looks or has the heart of that time period. Movies hadn’t yet become event driven fluff, visual effects were still created physically, and there was an interest in commentating on life that wasn’t diluted so there was no chance to offend.
Unfortunately, the Planet of the Apes largely disappeared from mainstream popular culture after a short-lived television series which lasted part of a season in 1974. There was a cartoon series the following year, various comics in the ’80s, and a few kitschy products, but that was about it until the turn of the century. Tim Burton’s 2001 film had its moments, but it was a real disappointment to a longtime POTA fan that hoped to see the story continued and not rehashed.
Thankfully the fine folks at the recently-launched Mr. Comics have secured the right to make a comic series fitting into the original Planet of the Apes universe. The love by the Mr. Comics creators for the original series of films is apparent from the title of the series, Revolution on the Planet of the Apes. The title’s naming convention fits right into the glory days of the sequels Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
The first two pages of the book serve as a nicely laid out timeline that pulls together most of the events of the five Apes films. Not only does the timeline work to remind fans of what’s happened, but it’s a pretty good primer for new fans.
Ty Templeton and Joe O’Brien’s story isn’t a loosely based sequel that makes no sense in the grand scheme. Instead we’re treated to a fresh story that fills in one of the gaps in the previously told adventures. The story itself picks up just after the close of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth Apes film. We follow the rise of the Apes as they set about fashioning the Planet of the Apes seen in the first film.
Hopefully I’m not being confusing. To be clear, the third, fourth, and fifth films occurred chronologically before the first two films in the series. The five films eventually linked together in a circle. Revolution serves as a bridge to link the fourth film, that shows the start of the rise of Apes, to the fifth, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which shows the Apes gaining their foothold. There was a drastic jump between the two films, so there’s lots of room for Templeton and O’Brien to tell their story.
Revolution on the Planet of the Apes survives my number one litmus test with any piece of literature, it’s well written.
The characterizations are solid, the plot brings you into the story quickly, and there is plenty of social commentary. The new book deals with many contemporary issues such as: homeland security, what’s on television, the power of the American presidency, as well as ever-delicate racial issues. I find it extremely refreshing to see a book that’s both action-packed and socially aware. A very similar mix to what was seen in the original films in the series.
There’s quite a bit of history from the series packed into the book. You don’t need to be a crazed Apes fan to enjoy it, but anyone with even a passing enjoyment of the previous films would get more out of this issue.
The artwork has its ups and downs. Salgood Sam does a great job with his renderings of the titular monkeys, but his humans weren’t quite my cup of tea. They seemed a little too basic and lacked much of the detail the apes received. That’s my only complaint as the backgrounds and settings looked good and the action worked from panel to panel. All told, a pretty good effort.
As a new publisher Mr. Comics goes out its way to include some nice extras to complete the package. The book contains a 16 page main story, a five page back-up, a three-page journal “written” by Caesar (the protagonist of the story), and the two page timeline I mentioned earlier, not to mention two pages of letters from Apes fans lucky enough to get an early look. 21 sequential story pages and all those extras is a pretty good package for a 32-page publication. The cost, $3.98, isn’t. I’m a person that’s not happy paying $3 for a comic, let alone $4. I don’t blame the guys at Mr. Comics, though. As a creator that’s busy getting my own comic projects moving, I have a fair understanding of the cost of doing business in the comic industry. If nearly $4 a pop will make these gentlemen enough money to keep putting Revolution out at similar quality every month, then I am willing to spring each month. Although I must say that DC and Marvel, with their larger print runs and loads of advertising, better never approach this pricing.
