Read our review of Beware The Planet Of The Apes #1 from Marvel, written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Álvaro López.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Beware The Planet Of The Apes #1 Review:
In this official prequel to the original Planet of the Apes, we’re not just getting a new origin story for the film, we’re also “flashing back” to the original Marvel Comics adaptation of the film, in a unique graphic strategy.
“I’m not the biggest Planet of the Apes guy,” offered host Alex Zalben, “but I thought this was very cool the way it was laid out… I was really fascinated by making this experiment, to make a prequel by using vintage comic book panels.”
Justin Tyler also loved the use of the original comic panels, “and it really put a pin in what the project here is, which is hard… It’s not the modern Planet of the Apes. It’s very specifically before the only Planet of the Apes that existed back then… A hard geography to understand, and those panels really helped. I liked the characters. I like the part of the world this is exploring… It reminded me of you when I was in high school, I read the Planet of the Apes book. And that is not nearly as campy as the movie. It’s just a very over the plate, literate sci-fi book. And this feels like it’s in the vein of that.”
Pete LePage agreed, calling this an “amazing looking” book. And wrapping up, Zalben lauded 20th Century Studios and Marvel for really pushing into an “experimental phase” with their comics adaptations. Noting that we’ve gotten some excellent Aliens, Predator, and Planet of the Apes books through the collaboration, they’ve all been “straightforward.” Versus now between this book, and the upcoming What If…? Aliens, the line is branching out.
“They’re really taking chances here with these books,” Zalben said. “That’s the sort of thing you can do with comics that you can’t necessarily do with TV or movies. So cool. More of that please.”
Beware The Planet Of The Apes #1 Official Synopsis:
INTO THE FORBIDDEN ZONE! In a hostile world run by aggressive gorillas, scientists Cornelius and Zira are the only apes alive who see value in the mute, dumb human race – but even they know human capabilities have severe limits. So when their nephew Lucius goes missing, it is with great trepidation that they turn to a human ally, a young woman who will someday earn the moniker “Nova”… Steeped in a love for the classic tales, Marc Guggenheim and Álvaro López’s series will take the Planet of the Apes legacy to explosive new heights – and it all starts here!
