| Saigo no Saru no Wakusei | |
| |
| Publisher | Akita Shoten |
| Cover Date | 1973 |
| Mangaka (Artist) | Mitsuru Sugaya |
In 1973 the Monthly Shōnen Champion manga anthology publication commissioned young artist Mitsuru Sugaya to adapt the recent movie Battle for the Planet of the Apes. This formed part of a series that also included Ben-Hur, The Last American Hero and McQ. The series was curtailed when the oil crisis caused the price of the recycled paper used in comic magazines to soar, leading to the total number of pages being reduced to maintain the price.
Synopsis[]
The storyline largely follows that of the movie, but with some alterations. The opening pages recap the first four Planet of the Apes films and the off-screen nuclear war. Caesar, Virgil and McDonald are seen driving to the dead city in a dune buggy. Caesar's son Cornelius is an infant who idolises Aldo. A confrontation between Aldo and Caesar is interrupted by an attack of mutant humans, during which Cornelius is killed. An outraged Aldo swears vengeance on the mutants but Caesar foresees a future in which the mutants co-exist with other human and ape species.
Notes[]
- This adaptation followed a manga adaptation of the original film from 1968 and a second adaptation from 1971, along with Japanese special edition magazines commemorated the first two Apes films.