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Adventures on the Planet of the Apes was a standard-sized 32-page comic book series published by Marvel Comics from October of 1975 until December of 1976. The series featured colorized reprints of the official movie adaptation of Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes which had been originally printed in Marvel's Planet of the Apes Magazine. Marvel thought that some customers would be more likely to shell out 25 cents for the colour comic rather than the high cost $1 for the black-and-white magazine format. The gray wash shading of the magazine was retouched (by George Roussos) using the conventional four-color process common to most comic book issues at the time. While the Planet of the Apes Magazine ran for a total of twenty-nine issues, Adventures on the Planet of the Apes only lasted eleven issues before poor sales forced its cancellation. The Adventures comics also featured new cover illustrations unique to their run.
Issues[]
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #1
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #2
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #3
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #4
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #5
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #6
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #7
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #8
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #9
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #10
- Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #11
Reprints[]
Planet Of The Apes Adventures: The Original Marvel Years[]
The announcement of the series being released in a compilation was made in mid-2022[1] and the collection was released in 2023 as part of the first batch of Planet of the Apes products following Marvel's reacquisition of the rights through Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. This omnibus was titled Planet of the Apes Adventures: The Original Marvel Years, and it was printed in both trade paperback and hardcover omnibus formats.
"Collects ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES #1-11. The simian sci-fi staple, in the mighty Marvel manner! Relive the classic films Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes as Marvel's 1970s color comic adaptations are collected in one action-packed volume! When a crew of astronauts crash-lands on a strange and desolate world, they discover a society of apes with heightened intelligence and speech! And here, a race of mute humans are their slaves! Can the mission's leader, Taylor, fight his way free and hold onto his humanity? What is the shocking secret of this Planet of the Apes? And what unfathomable danger lies beneath the surface? Find out when a second spaceship makes its way to this uncanny world and another astronaut faces a battle for survival, with the fate of the entire planet at stake!"[2]
| Hardback (2023) | Softcover (2024) | |
|---|---|---|
| Publication date | April 18, 2023 | May 14, 2024 |
| Print length | 224 pages | |
| ISBN-10 | 1302950738 | 1302959999 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1302950736 | 978-1302959999 |
| Item Weight | 1.89 pounds | 13.6 ounces |
| Dimensions | 7.52 x 0.64 x 11.15 inches | 6.64 x 0.39 x 10.19 inches |
Hardback vs Paperback Edition[]
An odd occurrence in the reprint of this series is that there is virtually no difference between the softcover and hardcover omnibus — no extra content nor any variation aside from the hardcover itself. One would think this would mean only a small price hike from one release to another, right? Of course that was not the case. The softcover was priced at around $25 USD, while the hardcover was listed at $100 USD. Naturally, this upset many fans who rightly felt they were being screwed over by Marvel. The hardcover edition would later drop in price to around $50, as many longtime fans didn’t feel a strong urge to buy a re-release of a comic series most of them already owned.
All around, this re-release is considered an enormous missed opportunity and an embarrassment to the rich quantity of comics the franchise has to offer, especially for a pair of omnibus priced at $30 or $100. While BOOM! Studios had just released, 5 years prior, the original restoration of the black-and-white Apes Magazine as part of the four-volume Planet of the Apes Archives hardcover collection, there are still many stories that have yet to receive a reprint. Such cases include the entirety of the Malibu Graphics era, the 2001 reimagining tie-in era by Dark Horse Comics, MR Comics’ Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, and the most recent titles by Boom! Studios — which they themselves reprinted as various omnibuses just before losing the license to Marvel in 2020. The audacity of Marvel’s release is on full display when one considers how differently the Predator and Alien franchises—also former 20th Century Fox licenses—were treated once they received their ‘Original Years’ omnibus editions prior to Planet of the Apes. Predator received two omnibus volumes worth $100 each, with around 1,000 pages and additional features, while Alien received the same treatment with four omnibus volumes to date. Of course, one must acknowledge that both franchises have a stronger niche fanbase than Apes. Still, the mere fact that Marvel tried to get away with selling a lackluster hardcover for $100 USD with no more than 300 pages shows a clear lack of care and a willingness to settle for the bare minimum.
Notes[]
- The coloring of the series is iffy at best, making the art look bland and often lacking color continuity. Zaius is the most egregious example, changing color between issues at least five to six times.
- The re-release of this series as part of the Adventures omnibus marks the latest acknowledgment of notable authors Pierre Boulle and Paul Dehn since the reboot franchise launched in 2011 decided to omit credits to them, despite being based on their ideas.
- Rod Serling and Michael Wilson are also credited. The last tribute Serling received in comics, alongside Paul Dehn, was the Revolution on the Planet of the Apes miniseries, which was dedicated to both authors.
- Various panels from the series were directly used in the Beware the Planet of the Apes miniseries the year following its re-release. This was likely done to maintain visual consistency with the rest of the comic and to serve as an easy promotion for the omnibus.
External links[]
- Planet of the Apes Adventures: The Original Marvel Years (Softcover) at Penguin Random House Site
- Planet of the Apes Adventures: The Original Marvel Years (Softcover) at Hamilton Books
- Planet of the Apes Adventures: The Original Marvel Years (Hardcover) at Abe Books