| Saru no Wakusei | |
| |
| Publisher | Manga Tengoku Zôkan |
| Cover Date | 7 June 1971 |
| Mangaka (Artist) | Kuroda Minoru |
Kuroda Minoru, better known for horror comics, wrote an epic 250-page manga adaptation of Planet of the Apes for Manga Tengoku Zôkan ('comic heaven - special issue') in 1971. The comic book (which may or may not have been officially licensed) included multiple colour pages featuring pictures from the movie.
Chapters[]
- 1: Emergency Landing
- 2: Land Where The Apes Hunt Man
- 3: Man - The Caged Animal
- 4: The Trial
- 5: Escape - Wandering
- 6: Forbidden Zone
Synopsis[]
The storyline and artwork closely mirror the movie itself, but a number of extra scenes were added which are unique to this comic. Although no English-language translation has yet been published, these additional scenes are broadly outlined below.
- Immediately after hunt scene, the gorillas engage in target practice by allowing pairs of captive humans to escape and using white flags to signal to waiting shooters. Much later, as they escape into the Forbidden Zone, the fugitives are feasting on crops when Taylor recognises the same flags. He shows Zira and Cornelius the skeletal remains of the massacred humans. Taylor then suffers an hallucination in which the skeletons of Dodge and the primitive humans come back to life and begin to attack him.
- Taylor retains his astronaut uniform until after he is captured. He is undressed by the gorillas while unconscious in a wagon. Later, Cornelius studies the recovered uniform and pays particular attention to the USA flag patch. During their final confrontation in the excavation cave, Zaius shocks Taylor by showing him a stone tablet featuring the USA flag and the number '1998'.
- More chimp scientists are involved in the storyline. One - probably Dr Galen - harvests human body parts for experimental surgical procedures. The result is a two-headed creature splicing half of a female body to half of a male body. The creature is briefly seen as it frantically tears itself apart and dies. Later, Taylor spots Nova being taken for surgery in this laboratory and creates a disturbance which results in Nova being placed in Taylor's cage. The doctor evidently sees more scientific value in allowing Taylor to mate, but is frustrated by Taylor's reluctance. This impasse is resolved when Taylor and Nova are given alcohol. The laboratory offices are equipped with telephones.
- Taylor does not lose his ability to talk during the hunt. He speaks to Zaius and the chimp scientists in the laboratory, though possibly not in a language they can understand. Zaius orders the apes present keep this secret. Taylor later uses paper to write his name and draw his spaceship, and to create a paper plane.
- Black-clad apes patrol Ape City, recapture the escaped Taylor and prosecute him at trial. The trial is conducted in a public amphitheatre. Across its multiple sessions Taylor is injured by a spectator and shaves off his beard. Evidence presented includes Taylor's paper plane, a statue of a pterodactyl, the USA flag patch, Landon, and Nova with two young children.
- Immediately after the trial Taylor escapes the city with Zira, Cornelius, Nova and the two children. Their trek to the Forbidden Zone takes them through a dense forest which makes them ill. After Zauis and his gorillas catch up with the fugitives they blow up the entrance to the excavation cave. This causes a landslide revealing the buried Statue of Liberty (intriguingly, this element matches a discarded early Rod Serling script). The fate of mankind is thus revealed to Taylor in the presence of the apes, but they allow him, Nova and the two children to sadly continue on their way.
Notes[]
- This issue followed a previous manga adaptation of the first movie in 1968. Additionally, Japanese special edition magazines commemorated the first two Apes films, while Battle for the Planet of the Apes was also adapted in manga format in 1973.