Friday, July 15, 2011

Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes



I'm enjoying my Planet of the Apes marathon way more than I expected to, so I've started looking for ways to continue exploring that world. Though I'm keeping my expectations for Rise of the Planet of the Apes modest, Boom!'s current Planet of the Apes comic is awesome and I have high hopes for Archaia's prose novel Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes.

From the press release:
Archaia Entertainment has set July 25th for the release of Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, its first illustrated novel, through its new book trade distributor Publishers Group West (PGW).

Written by celebrated author, artist, and digital producer Andrew E.C. Gaska, and adapted from a story by Gaska, Rich Handley, Christian Berntsen and Erik Matthews, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes recounts what happened between the scenes of the classic 1968 Twentieth Century Fox film, centering on the astronaut John Landon, Chimpanzee scientists Dr. Milo and Dr. Galen, and Gorilla Security Chief Marcus. The book contains 30 full-color paintings and another 19 black-and-white illustrations, including a cover by legendary artist Jim Steranko (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and interior art from some of the top talent in the industry, including renowned book cover painter Ken Kelly (ConanKISS), Joe Jusko (Savage Sword of Conan, Tarzan), Sanjulian (Eerie, Vampirella), Mark Texeira (Ghost Rider, Wolverine), Leo Leibelman (Heavy Metal), Matt Busch (Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica), Brian Rood (Indiana Jones, Star Wars), Tom Scioli (Godland), David Hueso (G.I. Joe: Storm Shadow) and newcomers Dan Dussault (Critical Millennium) and Dirk Shearer (Mice Templar).

Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes marks an expansion of Archaia’s successful collaboration with Gaska, following up on his science fiction comic epic, Critical Millennium: The Dark Frontier, which has received early critical acclaim.
My only concern about the novel is the mention of Dr. Galen. Hopefully I'm forgetting a different Galen that might have actually been on the East Coast during the events of Planet of the Apes [update: I was; see the comments below], but the character I'm thinking of is the one Roddy McDowell played in the live-action TV show. That took place on the West Coast and probably not even during the same time period as the original movie, though my copy of Timeline of the Planet of the Apes doesn't arrive until later today for me to check and make sure.

6 comments:

Staz Johnson said...

If I remember my 'Apes folklore correctly, Galen was the chimp who Zira is seen assisting before she is introduced to Taylor in the first movie. The producers of the TV show names Roddy McDowell's character after the Galen from the movie.

Michael May said...

That makes a lot of sense. There's a Zaius in the TV show too, but he's obviously a different guy. I'd forgotten all about Zira's assistant, so thanks for clearing that up! Zaius and Galen must just be common names in ape culture.

Kal said...

I hope you move on to talk about the TV series too. I am enjoying this monkey business very much. Gotta steal that Steranko image. Very cool.

Michael May said...

Absolutely. Both live-action and cartoon.

giantsizegeek said...

I am blown away by that Steranko painting. Good stuff!

Mike D. said...

Steranko is a master alright.

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