The premiere issue of this six-part series focuses on General Ursus, the overly aggressive gorilla first seen in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. It begins with Taylor and his crew coming across the group of mute humans and being hunted by the apes. Ursus isn't among them because he thinks such hunts are a waste of time. He thinks the same of politicians. We also learn that he lives alone, without any servants, and that he's had a deep personal loss that's still engulfing him. The Department of Simian Affairs reports that they are facing the biggest crisis since the moon fell from the sky-that feral humans have ravaged the crops and food supplies. It's proposed that soldiers will be turned into farmers to help grow more food. Ursus strongly disagrees and tells the orangutans that he's been warming about the human pests for years. And he asks, if all apes are turned into farmers who will stop the humans? To further his convictions, he sees that the gorilla soldiers had killed a dark skinned human (one of Taylor's crew) and this brings worry from an incident when he was a child, with intelligent humans. This ties in the previous BOOM! series, BETRAYAL and EXILE ON THE PLANET OF THE APES). There are some “in-jokes”, like the naming of Sergeant Moench (Doug Moench wrote the majority of the stories for the 70's PLANET OF THE APES magazine), and also a glimpse of a different ape city, Terminus, where humans are pit against each other in battle for ape entertainment. All in all, a good first issue that takes into account all the continuity before it. Recommended.
The premiere issue of this six-part series focuses on General Ursus, the overly aggressive gorilla first seen in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. It begins with Taylor and his crew coming across the group of mute humans and being hunted by the apes. Ursus isn't among them because he thinks such hunts are a waste of time. He thinks the same of politicians. We also learn that he lives alone, without any servants, and that he's had a deep personal loss that's still engulfing him. The Department of Simian Affairs reports that they are facing the biggest crisis since the moon fell from the sky-that feral humans have ravaged the crops and food supplies. It's proposed that soldiers will be turned into farmers to help grow more food. Ursus strongly disagrees and tells the orangutans that he's been warming about the human pests for years. And he asks, if all apes are turned into farmers who will stop the humans? To further his convictions, he sees that the gorilla soldiers had killed a dark skinned human (one of Taylor's crew) and this brings worry from an incident when he was a child, with intelligent humans. This ties in the previous BOOM! series, BETRAYAL and EXILE ON THE PLANET OF THE APES). There are some “in-jokes”, like the naming of Sergeant Moench (Doug Moench wrote the majority of the stories for the 70's PLANET OF THE APES magazine), and also a glimpse of a different ape city, Terminus, where humans are pit against each other in battle for ape entertainment. All in all, a good first issue that takes into account all the continuity before it. Recommended.
