Graphic Novel Review - Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1

Name: Planet of the Apes Archive Vol. 1: Terror on the Planet of the Apes

Published by: BOOM! Studios 

Writer: Doug Moench

Artists: Mike Ploog, Frank Chiaramonte, Tom Sutton, Herb Trimpe, Virgil Redondo

Let me start by saying that I am a relatively new Apes fan. Despite watching the original movie as a kid and the reboot as a teenager I was never much invested previously, which might have been due to the fact that I wasn't never really aware of the racial and political issues that this franchise tried to focus upon. But after quite recently rewatching the first movie and following up with watching (for the first time!) the next four I became quite enamoured. 

As I began to gradually delve deeper into the tie-in stuff, I decided to check out the various comics from different publishers. And these archives published by BOOM! Studios seemed a great way to read the older Marvel stuff in an organized way. 

The first volume of this archive series contains an original storyline set in the Planet of the apes depicting an action packed tale of two friends, a human and an ape going through almost limitless obstacles while re-exploring their friendship. Despite losing momentum towards the end and not having a proper ending, 'Terror on the Planet of the Apes' is an action packed journey that manages to combine the epic tone of the planet of the apes with the weirdness inherent to the comics as a medium. 

The story has many interesting and varied characters. Although the protagonist Jason and his friend Alex and the main antagonist Brutus might seem rather one dimensional caricatures; the likes of Gunsmith Julius, Steely Dan, Saraband, Lightsmith and a myriad of interesting villains  steal the show with their uniqueness. 

Doug Moench really knows how to spin a tale to keep his readers guessing what new perils might come next for our heroes and what new fascinating bits of weird and unorthodox locale or creatures we might experience next. And especially during the first half each chapter adds further layers of world-building to keep readers excited to keep on turning the pages. 

The first nine chapters are drawn by Mike Ploog, and his drawing is just something that is a pure joy to experience. The level of detail in his black and white pages kept me engrossed and returning for stuff I might have missed. The last six chapters are also well drawn and eye catching, but lack Ploogs artistic brilliance and pales a bit in comparison. 

Overall, the merits far outweigh the minor lacks in this story and the introduction and ending by the Apes expert 'Rich Handley' also add a sense of perspective to this historic piece of work. 

This gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.