Comics Gone Ape! [Paperback]

Michael Eury (Author), Art Adams (Author), Joe Kubert (Author), Carmine Infantino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2007

They may be only one notch below humans on the evolutionary ladder, but gorillas and monkeys have for decades climbed to the top of the comic-book world as monsters, super-villains, sentient masterminds, soldiers, aliens, buffoons, and super-heroes. COMICS GONE APE! is the definitive missing link to everything you need to know about these popular primates, including Gorilla Grodd, Beppo the Super-Monkey, BrainiApe, King Kong, Titano the Super-Ape, Cy-Gor, Konga, Magilla Gorilla, Detective Chimp, Blip, Gleek, the Gibbon, Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, Mojo Jojo, Angel and the Ape, and a barrel of others. Comics Gone Ape! is loaded with comics artwork, a chest-thumping gallery of comics covers featuring apes, and behind-the-scenes looks at Planet of the Apes, Arthur Adams’ Monkeyman and O’Brien, and Joe Kubert’s Tarzan. With its all-new Avengers-as-gorillas cover by Arthur Adams, you won’t be able to keep your filthy paws off this book!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, who was largely responsible for the early-1960s revival of the superhero genre, steadfastly believed that a gorilla on the cover guaranteed greater sales. He must not have been the only one who thought so, for as Eury proves, there have been enough monkeyshines on and within comic-book covers over the decades to fill a book. In the 1930s, comics followed Hollywood's lead and portrayed the exploits of Tarzan and dozens of imitation jungle kings. The 1960s were overrun with Kong-inspired giant apes, from Konga to Superman's simian foe, Titano, whose eyes emitted Kryptonite rays. Heroes and villains whose minds were transferred into apes' bodies get a chapter from Eury, as does a 1970s spinoff of the Planet of the Apes movies. Eury's impressively broad examination of the subject encompasses everything from cheesy 1950s horror comics to alternative-comics artist Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey. With campily delightful artwork on every page, interviews with comics creators about their monkey-oriented work, and Eury's wry commentary, the book deserves an ape-preciative audience. Flagg, Gordon

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: TwoMorrows Publishing (April 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893905624
• ISBN-13: 978-1893905627
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,608,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Bananas!, May 30, 2007

By 

N. Franklin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comics Gone Ape! (Paperback)

Be still my heart! I love this book! If you love comics and monkeys and comics about monkeys, this is the book you've been waiting for. In a perfect world it would be in color, have twice as many pages, and include an index and bibliography (in which case it would deserve TEN stars, but also cost about $100)... but I'm not complaining; as far as I can tell this is the only book about monkey comics in existence. It is quite comprehensive, covering pretty much every monkey comic you can think of, packed with lots of great pictures, and I'm very happy to have it.

4.0 out of 5 stars If you know who Monsieur Mallah and Sam Simeon are, this is for you!, August 3, 2007

By 

Pops Gustav (Hoboken, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comics Gone Ape! (Paperback)

The idea of a full book about primates in comics seems silly at first, but upon reading... okay, it's still silly, but it's as entertaining and often hilarious as hell, especially if you're a fanboy with an affinity for the great comics of the Silver and Bronze eras.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun, July 3, 2007

By 

Bret Curry (Oakland CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comics Gone Ape! (Paperback)

Eury does an almost perfect job with this. The book looks at the apes in the comics in chapters grouped by theme: Tarzan/jungle men, Kong/giant apes, humorous chimps, human apes etc. Each chapter contains a 3-4 page overview of the theme, a cover gallery (great), short write-ups on specific examples of theme (eg Konga, Titano, Detective Chimp) and interviews with artists/writers who worked on these characters (including Infantino, Arthur Adams, Tony Millionaire).

Eury maintains the right tone throughout - light but not mocking. This book is tremendous fun.