Planet Of the Apes Archive Volume One
Moenchy magic
Batman fans know the name Doug Moench well, following his hugely successful run on the main book, and his stunning graphic novel Prey. But what Batfans may not realise is that Moench cut his teeth on a different animal-related comic: Marvel’s astonishing Planet Of The Apes spinoff.
This black-and-white series filled the void for fans after 1973’s Battle For The Planet Of The Apes left cinemas. Running from 1974 to 1977, it featured adaptations of the movies, making-of articles, and – most importantly for us – original stories.
And what originality they contained. Terror On The Planet Of The Apes, collected here, starts off generically, before going so wild that it feels like every 2000 AD comic mashed into one book.
Beginning in 2070, it follows two teenage protagonists, one ape (Alexander) and one human (Jason), as they team up for a series of psychedelic adventures. Terror features mutants, monsters, giant bugs and cyborg apes, as well as talking brains – but somehow it’s as politically powerful as the best of Apes.
With a key arc involving Ape Supremacists’ race hate, this often feels like the franchise’s take on fear-based groups that are still spreading terror today. The masterful allegory gives it tragically relevant depth.
It’s clear from the epic themes and action that Moench saw Terror as another movie sequel (albeit one that would take the combined budget of every MCU instalment to produce). But who needs movies when we’ve got comics this good? Sam Ashurst
A never-made 16th chapter would have featured Smashore: an albino cyborg gorilla with death-ray eyes!