In 1972, George Taylor and the crew of the Liberty-1 crashed on an unknown planet… A planet where apes evolved from men! Your Major Spoilers review of Beware The Planet Of The Apes #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

BEWARE THE PLANET OF THE APES #1

Writer: Marc Guggenheim/Doug Moench
Artist: Alvaro Lopez/George Tuska
Colorist: Alex Giumaraes/George Roussos
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: January 3, 2024

Previously in Beware The Planet Of The Apes: In a hostile world run by aggressive gorillas, scientists Cornelius and Zira are the only apes alive who see value in the mute, dumb human race, but even they know human capabilities have severe limits. So when their nephew Lucius goes missing, it is with great trepidation that they turn to a human ally, a young woman who will someday earn the moniker “Nova”…

IN THE RUINS OF THE CITY

Not long before the first scenes of 1968’s Planet of the Apes, we find General Ursus tracking an escaped human, the girl who will become known as Nova. As she flees, she bumps into Lucius, a young chimpanzee who helps her to escape the gorillas. Almost immediately afterward, Lucius bumps into an unseen person and goes missing. That’s when we discover that he is the nephew of Cornelius and Zira, and his absence actually has Zira out searching for him, where she encounters Nova. Unable to speak, Nova tries to communicate where Lucius went, leading Doctor Zira to realize that the young ape has entered the Forbidden Zone. Unable to get permission from Doctor Zaius, Zira enters the zone anyway, with Nova and Cornelius following closely, ending up at what was once Yankee Stadium…

…and in the crosshairs of an unidentified sniper.

THE BOUNDARIES OF THE FORBIDDEN ZONE ARE INVIOLATE!

The biggest disappointment for me comes in the fact that this issue just sort of mixes up the players and settings of the movie, serving less as the first chapter of a prequel than as a straightforward moving of characters to where they need to be when the film starts. The most interesting bits of it come from seeing Zira exploring areas that readers will recognize, such as the sewer tunnels of what was once New York City. There’s also a charming sequence where she nicknames Nova “Dark Eyes,” a moment that feels genuine and natural, even if it’s just an echo of the same character calling Charlton Heston “Bright Eyes.” I really like the art of Alvaro Lopez, especially in his renditions of Doctor Zaius and our hero chimpanzee couple. There’s also an interesting use of reprints, intercutting the story with Moench and Tuska’s 1974 adaptation of the movie whenever references are made to the events of Planet of the Apes, but that ends up heightening my feelings that this issue doesn’t have much to say on its own.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT BREAKING A LOT OF NEW GROUND

As a first chapter, Beware The Planet Of The Apes #1 is visually quite impressive, though I might have liked a little bit more vividness in the color palette, like the film itself had, providing support for a script that feels a little flat, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. It is nice to see Zira getting a spotlight in these pages, even if much of it is little more than a foreshadowing of what is to come.

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