Planet of the Apes 22 (July 1976)

I wish I could say Moench arrests Planet of the Apes plummet… and I suppose he does a little. This issue features a bridging story between Conquest and Battle, the final film. Oddly, Moench’s bridge is a sequel to Conquest, the movie, not the adaptation he finished the previous issue.

It also makes no sense whatsoever. A nuclear war apparently happens, for some reason unrelated to the ape revolt. A previous issue revealed it to be the machinations of an alien species… but it’s never clear just what’s in continuity in Apes and what isn’t. One of Moench’s big problems as a writer is failing to tie his movie adaptations and original stories together.

He’s in adaptation mode here, far more than original, and it’s all rather predictable. Rival handles the first part, Alcala the second. The second’s a lot better. Rival’s not bad, he just doesn’t compare to Alcala.

CREDITS

Quest For the Planet of the Apes; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Rico Rival; editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 16 (January 1976)

Rival doesn’t get rid of the caricature entirely for the final two chapters in the Escape adaptation, but he definitely starts getting more ominous. His villain–still beaming in delight at times–is truly frightening.

Having the last two chapters in the same issue is a real downer. Escape has an affecting conclusion and Moench and Rival adapt it well. Moench knows how to pace it out, how to keep the panels busy with dialogue when needed and how to let Rival pace out a sequence.

It’s difficult to find much to say about it because it’s such a close adaptation. Moench sticks to it (just a disclaimer, I think Escape is easily the best Apes movie); it works.

The conclusion’s busy; Rival could have used another page or two. He’s got lots of panels per page this issue, usually to pace an action scene.

It’s all quite well-done.

CREDITS

Escape from the Planet of the Apes, writer, Doug Moench; artist, Rico Rival; editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 15 (December 1975)

I like how Moench continues his stories after a break. Sure, it might have been to give Sutton time to finish or Ploog time to work on his storyline, but Moench uses the breaks well. The stories pick up a nice interval later.

Here, for instance, the story of the huge city-ships continues. Sutton doesn’t get to go crazy on those, but he does have a living submersible to illustrate. He does a great job.

It’s a good story. Moench gets a little too didactic, but the pacing is fantastic.

On the adaptation, Moench turns a bunch of talking head scenes into something very tense. It probably helps he’s adapting, so the dialogue beats are already done. He and Rival collaborate impressively to bring that talkiness to the medium.

Rival is still doing caricatures, but this time it’s villainous ones. There’s not a single smile, much less a laugh.

CREDITS

Dreamer In Emerald Silence; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Tom Sutton. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Part Four: In the Cradle of a Father’s Sins; writer, Moench; artist, Rico Rival. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 14 (November 1975)

Ploog looks so loose in his portion of this issue, I’m wondering if he didn’t have inking help. The art’s still good… it’s just not of Ploog’s usual caliber when he’s inking himself.

The group—the human, the ape, the girl—are sitting around in the President’s secret residence in Mount Rushmore. Their guide has electricity and it’s all very post-apocalyptic, realizing what was before stuff.

It’s a good story. Moench is a lot more interested in that aspect of Planet of the Apes than the ape society. Maybe because no one ever concentrated on the realization stuff in the movies.

The Escape adaptation continues. Moench’s script is good. He doesn’t pause on the jokes, waiting for a smile, he just includes them. It makes it a lot smoother than otherwise.

Rival keeps caricaturing, even when the villain appears. It just makes the villain look more evil, which works.

CREDITS

Up the Nose-Tube To Monkey-Trash; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Mike Ploog. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Part Three: Trouble In Paradise Lost; writer, Moench; artist, Rico Rival. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 13 (October 1975)

Ploog’s back on the original story with Moench, continuing their long-term storyline about the human and his ape friend. Moench’s heading West, into the congenital United States, and it makes almost no sense. I’m pretty sure the imagery has shown the Golden Gate bridge in Apes land at one time or another. I don’t think anyone ever worked out a map, just winged it.

Moench’s trying not to wing it. Besides moving very fast, it’s interesting to see. Post-apocalyptic, but not exactly.

And Ploog has eased the art a little. Some luxurious ink washes, but not all. It’s excellent, but indistinct.

Whereas Rival’s art on the Escape adaptation is distinct but not excellent. His caricature approach brings out the absurdity—his government bureaucrat meeting is all officials with their eyes bugged out—and it fits the story. When the tone changes, of course, hopefully Rival will get serious.

CREDITS

The Magick-Man’s Last Gasp Purple Light Show; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Mike Ploog. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Part Two: Strangers In A Strange Land; writer, Moench; artist, Rico Rival. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 12 (September 1975)

I wonder how Moench’s original story would have gone without Tom Sutton. The setup is great–a divided city (gorillas against orangutans); only the city is a giant ship. Sutton has an amazing two page spread establishing the ship, though his background details on regular panels show the crazy setting too.

Without Sutton, Moench would have been left with a somewhat wordy story. With him, it’s a phenomenal look at ape politics in isolation. Twelve issues in and Moench is making Apes more thoughtful and stimulating every time. Even if he does make all the gorillas pirates in this story.

The backup adapts Escape From the Planet of the Apes, which has a lot of comic moments in the source film. For the art, Rival plays up the comedy. The installment looks like a political caricature.

The style works though.

Moench does a good job adapting, keeping the comedy beats.

CREDITS

City of Nomads; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Tom Sutton. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Part One: Upward To the Earth; writer, Moench; artist, Rico Rival. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 10 (July 1975)

Something happened to Rival between this issue and the last one. I think he decided it wasn’t worth the effort. His art was a lot better—far more finished—the previous issue. Here he’s not just loose, he sometimes plays for comedy.

Moench introduces a settlement of apes and people who pretend they live in Camelot. They found the books and based their civilization on it. It sort of sounds like they’re living on Long Island, but it’s never clear. Also unclear is how it fits into the Apes continuity—maybe the time traveler miscalculating. Moench doesn’t explain.

It’s a decent enough story. No real surprises, but Moench comes up with an appealing protagonist and drama for him to go through.

Alcala’s art is more sublime on the adaptation part, though Moench again has nothing to do. It’s all action scenes. Alcala makes it worthwhile, but it should be better.

CREDITS

Kingdom On an Island of the Apes, Part Two; writer, Doug Moench; artists, Rico Rival and Walt Simonson. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Part Five: The Children of the Bomb; writer, Moench; artist, Alfredo Alcala. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Planet of the Apes 9 (June 1975)

Well, Moench certainly comes up with something interesting for this issue. The original story—with Rico Rival doing the art—is about someone in the seventies, presumably just after the astronauts in the first movie launch, who builds a time machine to get them back from the future.

The story’s original and well-written, it just doesn’t make any sense. The astronauts wouldn’t have been lost after their launch. No one would think they needed rescuing. If Moench had worked in the apes from the future coming back and telling people things… maybe. But he doesn’t.

Rival does a fine job on the art, both the regular seventies stuff and the Planet of the Apes stuff. It’s an interesting story.

The Beneath adaptation continues, with Alcala stuck doing a lot of talking scenes in boring locations. Moench does what he can, but both he and Alcala are spinning their wheels.

CREDITS

Kingdom On an Island of the Apes, Part One; writer, Doug Moench; artist, Rico Rival. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Part Four: The Horror Inquisition; writer, Moench; artist, Alfredo Alcala. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.