Marvel Apes

Marvel Apes

Cover of Marvel Apes 1 (Nov, 2008). Art by John Watson.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Schedule Bi-weekly
Format Limited series
Genre
Publication date November — December 2008
February 2009 ("0" issue)
Number of issues 5 (4 issue limited series followed three months later by a "0" issue)
Creative team
Writer(s) Karl Kesel
Artist(s) Ramon Bachs
Letterer(s) Jared K. Fletcher
Colorist(s) Javier Mena Guerrero
Editor(s) Thomas Brennan
Joe Quesada
Stephen Wacker

Marvel Apes is a four-issue limited series by comics publisher Marvel Comics which started publication in October 2008.[1] The series is written by Karl Kesel with art by Ramon Bachs and covers by John Watson.

The Marvel Apes reality is designated as Earth-8101.

Premise

Marvel Apes was first suggested as a successor to Marvel Zombies by artist and fan Mark Walsh during a convention Q&A session with Joe Quesada.[2] As with Marvel Zombies before it, Marvel Apes takes place in an alternate universe, in this case a simian-dominated counterpart to Earth-616 that hosts anthropoid versions of popular Marvel Superheroes.

As with the introduction of Marvel Zombies in the pages of Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Marvel Apes universe is visited by an existing Marvel character, in this case Martin Blank a.k.a. Gibbon.[3] He is accompanied by a female scientist named Fiona Fitzhugh in what has been described by Kesel as a "Lord of the Rings-style sprawling epic".

Plot

The Gibbon, apparently restored to his simian appearance with the related abilities, is left with his personal life in shambles. His attempts to side with the heroes are frustrated by his ineptitude, and even Princess Python, previously a caring and deeply devoted wife, is now fed up with the meek loser that Gibbon has become. Out of boredom and depression, he replies to an ad posted in the Daily Bugle by Fiona Fitzhugh, a spunky and cheery young scientist hoping to study the nature of super-powered individuals. Upon hearing that Gibbon had his powers since birth, as opposed to the majority of mutants who gain their first mutation during puberty, and analyzing his aura, she supposes that Gibbon may hail from another reality in the Multiverse. Attempting to contact such a reality, she's sucked into a portal along with Gibbon, and both of them end in a world populated by simian versions of the Marvel Heroes.

There, Gibbon manages to help Spider-Monkey and the Ape-Vengers, simian versions of the Avengers, into subduing Doc Ooktavius, and he's inducted into the Ape-Vengers, while Fiona is sent to ask for Reed Richards' help.

While Fiona tells the simian version of the Fantastic Four about Earth-616, she discovers that in the Marvel Apes reality the cosmic storm that gave the Fantastic Four their powers also gave a human appearance to Susan Storm. Gibbon is acquainted with the roster of the Ape-Vengers, a formation composed of a large roster of heroes and reformed villains, in which Captain America himself offers Gibbon a spot on the team. After witnessing the brutal lynching of Doctor Ooktapus upon refusing to reform, Gibbon discovers how savage and bestial the Ape-Vengers really are.

Pursued by Captain America, the Gibbon finally discovers the truth: Captain America is really the simian counterpart of the vampire Baron Blood, who in this reality was able, by sampling Captain America's blood in the forties, to take over his appearance and powers, subsequently using the brutal lynchings by the Ape-Vengers as a means to feed. With the help of a cadre of dissident heroes, the Gibbon finds the real Captain America, still frozen in ice, and thaws him to lead the last free heroes against their vampiric foe.

Characters

Heroes

Villains

Other characters

Sequel

A sequel to the above, which pits Earth 2149's Marvel Zombies against their alternate metasimian equivalents, entitled Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution has been released, as well as 4 other one-shot issues: Speed Ball Special, Amazing Spider-Monkey, Grunt Line, and Prime Eight.

See also

References

  1. ↑ NYCC '08: Marvel Apes Run Wild, Marvel.com, April 20, 2008
  2. ↑ MyCup o' Joe Week 5, Marvel.com, April 22, 2008
  3. ↑ NYCC '08: Marvel Apes, Newsarama, April 20, 2008

External links