Planet of the Apes: The Human War (Paperback)

~ Ian Edginton (Author), Paco Medina (Author), Juan Vlasc (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To coincide with the big-screen release of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Dark Horse released both a graphic novelization of the movie and this, a separate miniseries set decades later. Collecting all three issues of The Human War, this trade paperback follows the progress of a brutal civil war between human guerillas (along with their sympathetic ape compatriots) and a beefy, well-armed gorilla army. Things aren't going so well on the simian side, and there's even been some grumbling in the senate about negotiating with the human rabble. The descendants of some of the movie's main players--including the evil Minister Shiva, mongrel granddaughter of General Thade--duke it out in a war that threatens to escalate to genocide. --Paul Hughes

Product Description

Several decades after human astronaut Leo Davidson`s adventure on the ape world, ape society has been torn apart from within by a horrible civil war that`s erupted between ape rebels advocating human integration and the fearful but powerful ape regime. Is the ape Seneca and his scattered but loyal followers of humans and apes enough to defeat the charismatic Shiva and her imposing ape army? The conflict has reached a bloody stalemate. But Shiva has a deadly secret that will end the war...and wipe out mankind! After all, the only good human is a dead human!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156971584X
• ISBN-13: 978-1569715840
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,581,859 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's a MADHOUSE!!!! A MADHOUSE!!!!, June 23, 2002

By	Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Planet of the Apes: The Human War commits the cardinal sin for a movie tie-in: It assumes you've seen the movie, and loved it so much that you'll buy into a story that really has nothing in common with it except the basic framework.

Considering that Tim Burton's film wasn't well received by either critics OR fans (I liked it, though!), maybe Dark Horse's decision to have this book revolve around a trip to Calima (Astronaut Leo Davidson's downed ship, from which all Ape and Human life on the planet evolved) wasn't such a good idea...Why not? Well, because they assume the reader KNOWS what Calima IS, and what it's secret is, so they never tell us...we're just supposed to KNOW. I knew, and I was still unsatisfied, so I can imagine how a casual reader would feel after putting this book down. I was also disturbed by the totally out-of-place art, and the slang the Human characters use...."I am SO gonna kick your butt!!" doesn't scream out Planet of the Apes to me...it screams out sloppy writing, which surprised me, since I only bought the book because of Writer Ian Edginton, who is usually rock-solid.
All in all, a terrible effort, which makes it easy to see why Dark Horse's Ape revival only lasted a pitiful six issues. Avoid at all costs!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great but entertaining, March 10, 2002

By	Guy DuBlanc (USA) - See all my reviews

I picked up this comic book since I liked Tim Burton's movie a lot and wanted to read some other stories in this world.

It takes place at least 40-50 years after the movie. The main characters are grandsons of some of the characters from the movie.

The story is pretty interesting. I liked how it was linked up with the movie. The characters were fairly good.

The artwork is somewhat cartoony and not for all tastes. I found it to be satisfactory. Because it has more of a cartoon feel, it is colorful and also clear. Although I like lots of detail in comic art, sometimes it gets annoying in the action when everything is too cluttered. This comic avoids that.

Regarding the content: there is some graphic violence and some brief cursing.

All in all it was a brisk, entertaining read. Followed by an on-going monthly series published by Dark Horse, which continues with this story and characters. I read the first three issues of that series and found it to be along the same quality, perhaps a little better.

Worth checking out if your an APES fan. If not, you might want to steer clear of this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great but entertaining, March 10, 2002

By	Guy DuBlanc (USA) - See all my reviews

I picked up this comic book since I liked Tim Burton's movie a lot and wanted to read some other stories in this world.

It takes place at least 40-50 years after the movie. The main characters are grandsons of some of the characters from the movie.

The story is pretty interesting. I liked how it was linked up with the movie. The characters were fairly good.

The artwork is somewhat cartoony and not for all tastes. I found it to be satisfactory. Because it has more of a cartoon feel, it is colorful and also clear. Although I like lots of detail in comic art, sometimes it gets annoying in the action when everything is too cluttered. This comic avoids that.

Regarding the content: there is some graphic violence and some brief cursing.

All in all it was a brisk, entertaining read. Followed by an on-going monthly series published by Dark Horse, which continues with this story and characters. I read the first three issues of that series and found it to be along the same quality, perhaps a little better.

Worth checking out if your an APES fan. If not, you might want to steer clear of this.