Conan the Barbarian story (with art by APE CHRONICLES Neal Adams, who actually did a number of books for Power) and International movie adaptations like Beneath the PLANET OF THE APES Planet of the Apes. What made them so cool was the art, which was Fan Club occasionally spectacular. [email protected] PlanetOfTheApesFanClub.com This was the third comics adaptation of this movie, the first being an expurgated Gold Key one-shot and the Issue #43 second being a gorgeously illustrated May 1st, 2008 Alfredo Alcala epic serialized by Marvel. The Marvel version can be President of the found in full color in the Adventures International POTA Fan Club on the Planet of the Apes monthly, in Publisher / Editor / Writer the b&w Apes magazines and in a graphic novel reprint from now- Terry Hoknes defunct Malibu Comics. 739 Taylor Street East Beneath the Saskatoon, SK Canada Planet Of The Apes But this? This is a compressed version S7H 1W1 (306) 270-9387 you read while listening to a record (Power Records version): with bad acting and sparse sound Issues #40 onwards A Comics Review! By Joel Bryan effects. Like the Marvel version it $9.99 US funds per issue starts with a dramatic splash image of http://iagainstcomics.blogspot.com/2007/10/ben the ruined Statue of Liberty: includes Free shipping eath-planet-of-apes-power-records.html anywhere worldwide Beneath the Planet of the Apes The artist isn't credited by name. Publisher: Power Records/Peter Pan Instead, there's a catch-all credit for Back Issues #1-39 Writer: Unknown "Arvid Knudsen and Associates," $4.99 US funds per issue Artist: Arvid Knudsen and Associates which is probably a packaging firm, an Buy 3 or more issues and get artist's agency or an advertising firm of Free Shipping Anywhere some sort. Info is sketchy; believe me, worldwide I've looked. OR buy a complete run of back issues From appearances, I'd say the #1-40 for $120.00 shipping included anonymous artist was Filipino. In the early to mid-1970s, a number of Payments made by either: brilliant Filipino artists had come to PAYPAL.COM at the States to work with DC and [email protected] Warren, including Alcala (who international money orders / checks / produced quality pages at an cash in US funds absolutely insane rate far exceeding the fabled "Kirby Barrier") and the All back issues of Ape Chronicles undersung Nestor Redondo. The art and Ape Crazy are still available definitely has a Nestor Redondo quality about it, but isn't quite as Ape Chronicles is the bi-monthly modeled as Redondo's art. Which may magazine for the International Planet be the result of it having been a rush Of The Apes Fan Club formed to promote POTA job, or a side effort for some cash. But I suspect the actual artist wasn't All materials contained in Ape Chronicles Redondo but instead was another of are copyright 2008 of each writer and may One of the coolest things about being a his countrymen, possibly Mar not be copied without permission Amongo. child of the 70s was having access to the illustrated book/record sets put out Some info reprinted from Internet sites Mar Amongo was a protege of such as www.IMDB.com and by Peter Pan and Power Records... www.Wikipedia.com which I think are one and the same. Redondo's, and the line quality here Their line included popular (especially the way the anonymous superheroes like Batman, Star Trek, artist deals with feathering) looks more the original G.I. Joe toys, at least one like Amongo's. While the two artists' figure work could look remarkably similar, the unknown Knudsen stomach virus and spent the entire PS- If you look at the cover again, illustrator, like Armongo, doesn't seem week in and out of his hotel bathroom. you'll notice the apes aren't gorilla to have used as much of the ultra-fine, soldiers. Instead, they're peace-loving etching-like crosshatching that But no trip to the New York Fun chimpanzees and one of them appears characterizes Redondo's artwork. Festival is complete without running to have shot Charlton Heston in the into the local mutants of the skinless back with an arrow. Obviously these There's also a chance it's by Rudy variety: apes were part of a picnic or day camp Nebres. That's a possibility given the featuring an archery contest that went Neal Adams connection. Nebres came Brent then demonstrates the extreme horribly awry. We did things like that to the States in 1975 and later did tactfulness for which he was known back in the 70s, what with all the lawn some work for Adams' Continuity back in his own time, a quality that led darts and Alpha-Omega nuclear Studios. It could also be the work of to his being chosen as America's devices lying around. It's a wonder any the underappreciated Tony DeZuniga. second "ambassador to the stars:" of us made it to adulthood. Note Dr. Zaius angrily shouting about all It also bears the influence of Alcala's What else could make a trip to a violations of camp safety regulations adaptation of the same material, ruined, subterranean of New York (also Brent and Nova are running on especially in how the artist costumes populated by skinless mutants the pool deck in blatant disregard of General Ursus, the movie's powerful complete? Why, taking a gander at the rules!) in the lower right hand ape general (a rabble-rousing their god, an atomic bomb! Hanging corner. Although he's a major player in performance by James Gregory in a around at this point is a bad mistake the movie, he doesn't appear in this role actually written for Orson roughly on a par with your paroled comic at all! Welles). The film Ursus wears a cousin Randy's get quick rich scheme distinctive headpiece with a large, involving a crystal meth lab: bubble-shaped crown with long side flaps. For his ape warlord, Alcala Actually, it's not quite that bad. collapsed and toned it down a bit and Because the reassuring thing about so did the anonymous Knudsen atomic weapons is how they act as the illustrator: ultimate deterrent against violent invasion by war-mongering gorillas: It looks a lot like he'd seen Alcala's artwork. And why mess with Oops! Don't worry, kids. All we have perfection? Weirdly, he also makes Dr. to do is set the bomb's coordinates for Zira a bit more butch, almost the apes' nearby city and... interchangeable with her fiance Cornelius. Who wears the pants in this Because everything is so telescoped, loving chimpanzee household? Why, the storytelling is closer to pure they both do, in the latest unisex styles illustration, or the tableaux style of a for ape scientists: Hal Foster Prince Valiant Sunday strip. Yet it's surprisingly effective for This is a good example of how the something so short. This, along with writer and artist condense the film the lush figure work and rendering story. In the film (and the Marvel provide evidence of the strong version), there's a whole ton of illustrative traditions of the Filipino business about Zira's not applauding comics industry. And considering the the Ursus speech and some arguments amount of work many of these artists with Dr. Zaius about military could turn out, it's not surprising adventurism. Here it's just a one-page companies were snatching up the top encounter and then Zira and Cornelius pros at the time and bringing them disappear into the sunset in a kind of across the Pacific. melancholy fugue. Also, little of the gruesomeness or the Immediately afterward and without bleakness the Apes films frequently explanation, astronaut Brent turns into indulged in are toned down. That's a Nature Boy and begins running around bit surprising when you consider the in a soiled loincloth: intended audience of kids. While the dialogue is extremely simplistic, the Looks like he made it just in time for artwork alone makes this a rare comics the famous New York Fun Festival. gem, along with the adaptations by the The year before his spaceflight into the Arvid Knudsen crew of some of the future he missed the festival entirely other Apes films. when he came down with a nasty JAMES GREGORY career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to GENERAL URSUS - POTA Hollywood. In 1959, James Gregory made television history by www.imdb.com costarring in the pilot episode of the "The Twilight Zone" (1959); the http://www.timem.com/starwebs/jamesgregory/index.htm episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. James Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). But he won his biggest acclaim as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of the TV series "Barney Miller" (1975) (1975-1982). This was his signature role; as the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. He was Barney's buddy for 7 years, and the series ended with the Inspector getting himself a mail-order bride. James Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits.