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.
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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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4] 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.
In 1975, Power Records made adaptations of four of the films which were included with Book-and-Record sets,[5] 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.
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.
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., 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.
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.
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.
In the 1990s, a Filipino parody adaptation called Planet op di Eyps was serialized in Pilipino Funny Komiks.
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 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.
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 comic occupies a strange place in franchise continuity, as it is stated to take place prior to the original film but is also shown to be taking place immediately after the end of the final film in the original franchise, Battle for the Planet of the Apes. As these two films present canonically different timelines, the actual placement of the comic remains unclear.
Some of the comics have been collected together as trade paperbacks:
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.
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