Planet of the Apes 4 (January 1975)

I hope Moench had fun with the original story in this issue of Planet of the Apes. While journeying through the Forbidden Zone, the heroes discover a settlement of mountain men apes. Moench uses them as a gag—and a plot device—and while the protagonists never know to ask how they learned about the lifestyle to adopt it… the reader does.

Of course, ignoring logic is part of the Apes franchise, so the magazine fits right in.

Chiaramonte’s back, sharpening Ploog’s lines (the human hero’s nose is a constant reminder of how fluid it used to be).

It’s not a bad installment, just silly. It’s filler; it doesn’t do anything to progress the overall story.

As for the adaptation, Tuska goes crazy with differing body sizes. Moench’s hit the “meat” of the film and can’t do much original. It’s the weakest of the scripts, but it’s not Moench’s fault.

CREDITS

Terror On the Planet of the Apes; writer, Doug Moench; penciller, Mike Ploog; inker, Frank Chiaramonte. Planet of the Apes, Part Four: Trial; writer, Moench; penciller, George Tuska; inker, Mike Esposito. Editors, Moench, David Kraft and Don McGregor; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 3 (December 1974)

Ploog’s got Frank Chiaramonte inking him this time. The result is all those smooth Ploog lined becoming all of a sudden sharp. Chiaramonte seems to concentrate on making the apes look more like the movie apes, removing the Ploog fluidity.

Moench and Ploog’s original story is, again, really well-paced. The first part of the story is all action, with Alex the chimp and Jason the human on the run from mutants and gorillas. It slows for the second part, introducing the bickering mutant brains who use zombie drones. Moench comes up with some great details.

He also plots Return of the Jedi. It’s so similar I can’t believe no one’s ever mentioned it.

The adaptation continues without a hitch. Moench uses this installment to move emphasis from Zira to Taylor. It’s nicely done. And with Chiaramonte inking the other story, Tuska’s art is no longer as shocking a change.

CREDITS

Terror On the Planet of the Apes; writer, Doug Moench; penciller, Mike Ploog; inker, Frank Chiaramonte. Planet of the Apes, Part Three: Manhunt; writer, Moench; penciller, George Tuska; inker, Mike Esposito. Editor, Tony Isabella; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 2 (October 1974)

I love the way Moench plots the original story. It opens with a title suggesting the heroes on the run will end up in the Forbidden Zone then he does everything he can to keep them out of it.

Moench also gets a lot of mileage out of the diversions (they do end up in the Forbidden Zone) and he shows a real understanding of pacing. He’s able to convince the distractions will work, even with the title forecasting the plot developments.

Plus, he’s got Ploog art. And the Forbidden Zone proves to be full of creatures for Ploog to render… though Ploog on the apes is more than enough.

On the adaptation part, Moench finds a good sequence of the movie to summarize and he turns Zira into the installment’s protagonist. Again, the pacing helps a lot.

But Tuska can’t differentiate between apes. The story frequently becomes unnecessarily confusing.

CREDITS

Terror On the Planet of the Apes; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Mike Ploog. Planet of the Apes, Part Two: World of Captive Humans; writer, Moench; penciller, George Tuska; inker, Mike Esposito. Editor, Tony Isabella; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 1 (August 1974)

I guess since Marvel started their Planet of the Apes magazine after the final movie, they didn’t worry about mixing up the magazine. For example, this issue starts with a story by Doug Moench and Mike Ploog (Gerry Conway gets story credit) set after the final movie… in the new Apes timeline. But the second half of the magazine is an adaptation of the first movie by Moench and George Tuska, with Mike Esposito inking. It’s set before the new timeline.

Or I’ve completely wrong.

Moench’s got a human protagonist in his original story (with a chimp buddy). He gets in some analogies to the KKK and human racism; it works okay. Ploog’s art is great. Moench has strong dialogue here.

But he also has it in the adaptation, which he makes into a simple story of bickering astronauts. He does it well. Tuska’s better on scenery than people though.

CREDITS

Terror On the Planet of the Apes; writers, Gerry Conway and Doug Moench; artist, Mike Ploog. Planet of the Apes, Part One; writer, Moench; penciller, George Tuska; inker, Mike Esposito. Editor, Tony Isabella; publisher, Marvel Comics.