Planet of the Apes (comics)

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

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.

Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics produced an adaptation of the second film in 1970. That was the very first comics publication in the Planet of the Apes franchise.

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. Besides adaptations of all five movies, the magazine featured original Apes stories, with writing from Doug Moench and Gerry Conway and art from Mike Esposito, Mike Ploog, George Tuska, and many others. Articles about the making of both the movies and the 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. It was written by Doug Moench.

The stories from the U.S. magazine were edited and were released by Marvel UK in a weekly title of the same name over 123 issues from 1974-1977. 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 #231-240, 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.

Power Records
In 1975, Power Records made adaptations of four of the films which were included with Book-and-Record sets, and appeared in LP format as well. 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* These strips are extremely rare and difficult to come by, and contain many continuity errors.

*Very similar to the many Give-a-Show projector sets of the 1970s.

Brown Watson Books
Between 1975–1977, 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 translations has been made available on fan sites.

Malibu Publishing/Adventure Comics
Between 1990–1993, 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 miniseries: 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 series featuring installments from Marvel's Terror on the Planet of the Apes saga.

Filipino Parody
In the 1990s, a Filipino parody adaptation called Planet op di Eyps was serialized in Pilipino Funny Komiks.

Dark Horse Comics
The Dark Horse series was written by Ian Edginton and was a tie-in with the Tim Burton's 2001 Apes film. Between 2000–2001, Dark Horse published a film adaptation, a miniseries, 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 miniseries, 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 miniseries was canceled, as was the Empire follow-up.

BOOM! Studios
Starting in April 2011, BOOM! Studios began publishing a new Planet of the Apes comic book line, written by novelist Daryl Gregory, illustrated by Carlos Magno and edited by Ian Brill, with covers by Karl Richardson and Chad Hardin. The series takes place 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. BOOM! has announced that 32 page "Special" is in the works to conclude the storylines of this series.

In late 2011, BOOM! also began publishing the 4-issue miniseries Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes. This miniseries is set 20 years before the events of the original film, and is not part of the continuity of the concurrent ongoing series. This was followed up in early 2012 by another miniseries, 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 new series is written by Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, authors of both the Betrayal and Exile miniseries, and mixes several characters from those series with characters from the original movie.

BOOM! also published a Planet of the Apes: Annual in August 2012. This 32 pages special feature four short stories written by various authors including Corinna Sara Bechko, Daryl Gregory, Gabriel Hardman and Jeff Parker.

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


 * Planet of the Apes (with Ian Edginton, for Dark Horse):
 * Human Wars (with Pencils: Paco Medina, Adrian Sibar; Inks: Juan Vlasco, Norman Lee, Christopher Ivy, 2001)
 * The Ongoing Saga Volume 1: Old Gods (with Pencils: Adrian Sibar, Paco Medina; Inks: Norman Lee, Juan Vlasco, 2001–2002, Titan Books ISBN 1-84023-429-6)
 * The Ongoing Saga Volume 2: Blood Lines (with Co-writer: Dan Abnett; Pencils: Sanford Greene, Pop Mhan, Paco Medina, Adrian Sibar; Inks: Norman Lee, Pop Mhan, Juan Vlasco, 2001–2002)

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.