—George TaylorThere's only one reality left. We're here and it's now. You get a hold on that and quit feeling sorry for yourself, or you might as well be dead.
Appearing in "Terror on the Planet of the Apes"
Featured Characters:
- Alexande
- Brutus
- Jason
- Lawgiver
Locations:
- New York City area (First appearance)
- Ape City (First appearance)
- Ape City (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Terror on the Planet of the Apes"
- Synopsis not yet written
Appearing in "Planet of the Apes, Part I of VI"
Featured Characters:
- George Taylor
- Dodge
- John Landon
Supporting Characters:
- Nova (Unnamed)
Antagonists:
- Marcus (Unnamed)
Other Characters:
- Stewart
Locations:
Vehicles:
- Icarus (space vessel)
Synopsis for "Planet of the Apes, Part I of VI"
NASA astronauts George Taylor, Dodge, Landon and Stewart lock themselves into suspended animation for a long-term voyage through deep space. The purpose of their mission is to test the Hasslein theory of the effects on a vehicle traveling at the speed of light.
During the journey, the ship is pulled into a planet's gravitational field and it crash lands into a lake. Automatic recovery systems awaken the crew – all but Stewart. An air leak had ruptured in her cubicle during the journey and she is now nothing but a dessicated corpse. After discovering Stewart's corpse, the astronauts take a reading and find that they have traveled some two-thousand years into the future. The hull of the ship ruptures and water begins pouring in. Taylor, Dodge and Landon grab some meager supplies and hop into a life raft. They paddle to shore as their space capsule sinks beneath the surface of the lake.
They have no idea what planet they are on, but theorize that they are in the constellation of Orion. Taylor chides Landon for his scientific ambition and Landon fires back on Taylor's cynicism and antisocial tendencies. But their most pressing concern right now is finding food and water before their supplies run out.
After wandering through a barren desert for several days, they eventually come upon a waterfall and a grove of trees. Overjoyed, the astronauts take off their clothes and go swimming, But a hidden observer steals the clothes from the shoreline. Discovering the theft, Taylor and the others track the thieves down. They find a colony of mute, savage human primitives and an attractive dark-haired woman that immediately catches Taylor's eye.
Suddenly, a pack of horseback riding, rifle-bearing gorillas storm through the brush and begin hunting the savages. Taylor and the others have no choice but to flee along with the others. A rider's bullet fells Dodge, and Landon disappears among the crowd. As the gorillas chase them through the fields, the hunt leader begins speaking to one of his confederates and expresses shock at the idea that he heard one of the humans speak.
Notes
- The Planet of the Apes magazine series is distributed through Curtis Publications and published on a bi-monthly schedule.
- Terror on the Planet of the Apes is divided into two chapters:
- Part I: The Lawgiver
- Part II: Fugitives on the Planet of the Apes
- Chronologically, Terror on the Planet of the Apes takes place some time following Battle for the Planet of the Apes, but prior to Planet of the Apes.
- "Planet of the Apes" (second story) is part 1 of the official comic series adaptation of the 1968 Arthur P. Jacobs film, Planet of the Apes.
- "Planet of the Apes" (second story) is reprinted in Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #1.
- This issue includes an interview with Science Fiction author Rod Serling. Aside from his well known contributions as writer and host of the cult television classic, The Twilight Zone, Serling was also the screenwriter for the first Planet of the Apes film.
- This issue includes a feature entitled, How to Make a Man-Ape.
- First appearance of all characters. The character of Nova is not to be confused with Nova (Richard Rider) or Nova (Frankie Raye). This Nova exists in a separate continuity from that of Earth-616 continuity.
- Marcus is one of the gorilla hunters that captures Taylor. He won't be mentioned by name until Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #2 however.
- Although Dodge is killed in this issue, his severed head makes an appearance in Planet of the Apes #3.
- John Landon is referred to only as Landon in this issue. He is not provided with a first name until his next appearance in Planet of the Apes #4.
Trivia
- Additional information is based on material originally supplied in the 1968 Planet of the Apes movie.
- This series began publication following the release of the final theatrical film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, but prior to the production of the live-action Planet of the Apes television series.
- Marvel UK published a British weekly edition of Planet of the Apes concurrent with this series, reprinting material which had previously appeared in this series. However, the British edition's weekly publication schedule meant that that edition quickly overtook the US edition, resulting in the original series effectively reprinting stories which had already appeared earlier in the 'reprint' UK edition. In an attempt to generate more stories than Marvel could provide in time, Marvel UK resorted to publishing Killraven stories with the characters redrawn as Apes and with Killraven renamed 'Apeslayer'.
- A colorized version of Planet of the Apes was released as a read-along book and record collection by Power Records in 1974.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
- Planet of the Apes article at Wikipedia
- Planet of the Apes (1968 movie) article at Wikipedia
- Planet of the Apes comic series index at the Grand Comics Database