The only particular thing in this issue is someone writing an Apes comic finally got around to an orangutan called King Louie. Otherwise, the issue’s pretty drab.

Marshall does a Western with apes and it’s impossible not to compare it to Doug Moench’s work back on the Marvel series. Only, Marshall just does a Western. It doesn’t have anything to do with Planet of the Apes. After the King Louie reference, none of it needs apes.

Still, Wyman and Pallot’s less detailed art style fits a Western atmosphere better—there’s scenery they can’t get away with ignoring—and the story’s not terrible. If it were just a Western, it’d probably be better, because I had an expectation Marshall was going to make it somehow important these were apes not humans.

But he doesn’t.

The issue, which is clearly meant to be seen as a creative experiment, isn’t creative at all.

Marshall’s author’s note at the beginning of the issue mentions Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is his favorite in the series. Oddly, it’s one of the ones he ignored when mentioning history in a lot of issues.

But his one shot here, it’s pretty great. It’s Conquest from the perspective of some average guy who lives through the ape uprising. His kid gets killed by the household chimp (off page), he gives all sorts of insight. It’s a really good issue. I’m sort of stunned.

Not because it’s a revolutionary story (it’s good, not amazing), but because Marshall pulls it off. A comic side story to a movie is common-place, but having it come in this particular Apes series, over a year into the publication run… it’s a strange move. And Marshall writes the hell out of it.

The art isn’t exactly better, but it’s more agreeable.

The first page made me think Wyman and Pallot were back to doing good work. Unfortunately, they are not. It’s this detailed, beautiful piece of black and white comic art. The rest of the issue is their new low standard.

Marshall returns to his original cast, either starting a new storyline or wrapping up unresolved issues. His solution to one of his two major problems is a complete cop out. On part of the issue deals with suicidal depression, another with the sitcom antics of the gorillas. There’s no unity. It’s not just bad, it’s heavy-handed and bad.

And then–not sure who’s at fault, writer, artists, editor or publisher–there’s an orangutan with two chimps for children. Again, not even sure that one’s genetically possible.

The issue’s a slight improvement over the immediately previous ones, but Marshall’s out of good plot ideas. He’s just lazy at this point.

Interesting. Very, very interesting.

Marshall’s either a terrible writer or he just never really wrote the comic and editors did.

This issue ties directly to the first Planet of the Apes movie. It does so in a neat way. The neat connection almost makes up for the fact Marshall has his protagonist recount events, until this issue, she never knew about.

She summarizes the Conquest plot, which directly refutes the previous few issues. I wonder if Adventure paid its editors in Hostess Fruit Pies.

There’s some other bad stuff here too–Marshall gets even worse with the tense, for instance. Then there’s the person living who shouldn’t be (twice, sort of). It’s all incredibly lazy writing.

Though Marshall is predating a lot of zombie stories by fifteen years with his empty American landscape and sole survivors.

Sadly, the art is no better. It made me almost miss the ending’s significane.

Wow.

Reading the issue, I kept wondering how the comic could get worse.

First, Wyman and Pallot have completely gone to pot. If I’d picked up this issue first, I would have never believed this art team could do the work they did on their first couple issues. It’s not as horrific as the original series artist, just because that guy was incompetent, but it’s bad art.

Second, Marshall’s handling of a female protagonist is disastrous. He seems to think strong woman equals sexually promiscuity. It’d be loathsome if it weren’t so earnestly idiotic.

But the character’s a moron too. At one point she’s equating horses to apes in terms of intelligence.

Worse—in terms of little details—there’s more of Marshall’s terrible continuity. In ripping off first movie, Marshall made the story a headache.

I don’t even have space to mention Marshall’s inability understand tense when telling a story.

I think Marshall’s trying to combine Ripley from Aliens with Charlton Heston for his female protagonist.

But he does get one big point of originality in this issue of Apes. He has his humans on the run and they’re traveling cross country. And none of the apes speak. So it becomes akin to a cross country zombie movie. The protagonists keep moving, one of them goes crazy, there’s some romance and some jealousy. It’s all the standards.

Marshall is doing this approach years before any of those zombie movies. Unless maybe the Italians made one.

Unfortunately, that innovation aside, it’s not a good issue. The art’s dropping. It’s still serviceable, but Wyman and Pallot were doing a lot better when they started. Maybe the settings are just boring, but post-apocalypse Americana shouldn’t be boring.

Plus, Marshall addresses the pet apes. The narrator apparently just forgot about them last issue.

I’m once again convinced Marshall didn’t see all the Apes movies. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t even read the comic books he’s written.

This issue features some astronauts going through time and ending up on the Planet of the Apes. Sounds familiar, right? It is. Marshall rips off the arguments between the astronauts from the first movie, changing the gender and race of the characters. Then, in maybe the most extraordinary move, he forgets the history of the franchise.

The astronauts are from the 1990s (one references “The Simpsons” in her narration) but they have no idea apes have been slaves. Just like earlier, when Marshall had a World Book with an actual entry on apes, not one appropriate for an Apes comic.

Even worse than Marshall’s disregard for continuity is the art. All the wondrous Wyman lines are gone. He either got lazy or Pallot got out the eraser.

Can orangutans even breed with chimps?

New artists M.C. Wyman and Terry Pallot take over the art chores this issue (I really hope to stay) and Wyman can actually draw, so one can tell the difference between chimps, orangutans and gorillas. Well, there’s a little trouble with the gorillas and chimps, but it’s usually clear.

And, since Kent Burles was incapable of enough detail to show species, I was shocked to discover Roddy McDowell’s descendent in this series is an orangutan.

Did Marshall even watch the movies?

Anyway, nice new artists aside–Wyman isn’t great, but he has that black and white, nineties indie artist enthusiasm–Apes still isn’t on its way back up the hill.

Marshall’s plot is still silly. It’s a happy wedding issue, only there’s a big mean gorilla out to scare everyone. If it weren’t for the constant torture, I’d think his target audience was children.