PLANET OF THE APES #28

“Revolt of the Gorilloids!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Artists: Herb Trimpe & Virgil Redondo

Brutus and his army of Gorilloids start to shell Ape City. Moravius the new peace officer organizes a defense of the city. They manage to hold off the first attack but are having problems with the crossbows they are using. They need guns and fortunately Steely Dan and Gunpowder Julius come to the rescue. Still with guns they still have trouble stopping the cybernetic Gorilloids. They must retreat and Brutus has won. Only the Gorilloids go nuts and continue to destroy the city. So Brutus has to use his tanks to destroy his Gorilloid allies. Yet this leaves him without a sizable army and the citizens of Ape City manage to arrest him.

“Profiles of the Future A Look at Conflict and Characterization in the Planet of the Apes”
By Ron Borst

A long article that basically summarizes all five movies. Said it before that they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel for article ideas.

“Tremor of Doom!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Virgil Redondo

The mutants have been driven off but Aldo defies Caesar and continues to hunt them down. He comes back and wants to kill the caged humans but Caesar intervenes. Aldo threatens to kill Caesar which causes the apes to be stunned. For Ape shall not kill Ape. Only Aldo has already killed an ape. One of his gorillas exposes him and a fight between Caesar and Aldo starts. Aldo being a coward tries to run away but falls off a tree and breaks his neck. The apes and humans decide to live in peace while the mutant Mendez also decides not to use the nuclear missile. In the future the Lawgiver concludes his story and hope for a better future. Outside a human and ape child are fighting.

So we are getting to the close of this series. This is the last of the Terror stories. It manages to come to a close but does have some threads hanging. Young Thaddeus has been turned to a cyborg and serves the Makers. The Makers plan to come and destroy all the humans and apes in the city. It seems the magazine still hasn’t found out its cancelled because it carries on as if there is a future. Its too bad since I enjoyed this series and would have liked to see where the writers were going with it.

The final adaptation also comes to an end. For the most part similar to the movie. The ending was different. I think they should have used it for it was more powerful. Actually they could have combined the fight with the crying statue which would have been awesome. So we also never get a look at what they had planned to replace this in future issues. I know they had something planned. Oh well.

Here is the trailer to the final movie.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #37

“The Curse of the Golden Skull!”
Writer: Roy Thomas based on short story by Robert E. Howard
Artist: Neal Adams

Rotath of Lemuria lay dying killed by Kull. He utters a curse and many years later a hillman comes to the ruins of the temple. He finds a golden skeleton and when he touches it the skeleton takes the man’s flesh. Conan is part of a troop of Turanians transporting the princess Yolinda north. They are ambushed by hill-men. Well armed hillmen with armor and good weapons. Only Conan and a black Juma are spared to be slaves. They are taken to a tropical valley and a mysterious tower. The hillmen’s leader is a golden skinned man. He plans to marry Yolinda and have his children be heirs to the Turanian throne.

A brief fight sees Conan and Juma knocked out and put to work in the gold mines. They escape to the passage where the gold is sent and find a giant lizard. The lizard is eaten by a giant snail. The snail chases the two after they load up with gold. They lead the giant snail to Rotath who is about to marry Yolinda. The snail eats Rotath’s golden skeleton and Conan and Juma ride off with the princess.

So this story was originally meant for the Savage Tales magazine but it was on hiatus so got transferred to the Conan series. It had twelve pages cut so some stuff is missing. Still the story was exciting and filled with many interesting monsters, wizards and action. This is also the first time Juma appears in the series. Juma was a creation of deCamp and Carter so obviously their stuff was becoming available to the series. I can see this as a Howard story. Another excellent story in the series.

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT #1

“Fear on Four Worlds Part IV”
Writer: Mike Wolfer
Artist: Bruno Bull

Abby and Ethan are making their way back to Caspak through the passages between Pellucidar and the surface. They talk about what they miss the most. The Horibs are following and they come on a chamber full of portals. With the Horibs closing in they take a gamble and jump through one. It deposits them in the lake just next to the U-33. They are captured by Von Schoenvorts. Soon after the Horibs also come and attack the sub. They manage to take it over. The Germans along with Abby and Ethan abandon the sub and make it to the shore. Now the Germans are trapped without their sub and must form an alliance with Abby and her group.

So the big four issue crossover to introduce the new shared universe of Burroughs comes to an end. It ends where it started and I found it quite satisfying. Ethan manages in a sweet way to confess his love to Abby. A bit of humor when the two introduce themselves as Arnold Schwartzenegger and Kate Beckinsdale. So now they must form an alliance with the Germans which I think will lead to some interesting future stories.

As for the other worlds they left plenty of loose threads for stories there too. Already we have a Carson of Venus out. A Moon Maid one is coming. Some others are a Princess of Venus series and a John Carter/Carson of Venus crossover. So I guess the Barsoom world is joining the lineup. I think American Mythology has done an excellent job of resurrecting Burrough’s works.

LEGENDERRY RED SONJA #3

“Untitled”
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artist: Aneke

Sonja finds herself prisoner on the Nautilus. Victor comes and shows Sonja around his ship and the gruesome experiments he is conducting. He also introduces his wife Elizabeth who has now been operated on to be obedient just like all the other dead he controls. Sonja is taken back but finds that her meal has a knife in it to help her escape. The meek scientist Pierre that is Victor’s assistant managed to smuggle it in. So she takes out Nemo who comes in and escapes her cell. Only she runs into the brainwashed Elizabeth who sounds the alarm. Sonja takes refuge in the waste tube that is filled with guts and human body parts. Victor ejects the waste tube with Sonja in it. She finds herself floating outside in discarded body parts. Parts that attract a Great White shark.

Not a bad issue. We get an introduction to Victor Frankenstein and see how he manages to control his creations. Sonja finds a possible ally in the meek scientist Pierre. Frankenstein is a smarmy guy you just love to hate. Ends on a cliffhanger that you want to see how she escapes.

JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE #34

“Doomed”
Writer: Christopher Priest
Artist: Ramon Bernado

A barbarian mercenary is outside a city about to go and steal something called The Eye of USAF. He has some modern equipment like binoculars and a computer. Unfortunately he is crushed under the arrival of a spacecraft. Inside are J’onn J’ozz and some other superpowered heroes. They are in Skartaris and have a brief fight with the survivors. Then the ship they arrived in explodes. Later around the fire they talk to the barbarian survivors and tell their story. On another planet their ship was impounded and destroyed so they had to take the panda ship that they had. They went into warp in the Earth’s atmosphere and ended up in Skartaris. They then discuss maybe helping the locals who need these wizard icons to save their people. At the end they meet up with Travis Morgan and Shakira.

So this was an appearance by the Warlord in another title. It starts of course in the middle of something but does a good job of explaining how they came about in their current predicament. I am not familiar with the characters except the Martian Manhunter and just bought it because the Warlord was in it. So far the story intrigues me so interested to see how they handle the time in Skartaris.

PLANET OF THE APES #27

“Apes of Iron!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Herb Trimpe

Brutus and his army of gorillas and mutants continue on to attack the city. They are attacked by cyborg gorillas called Gorilloids. They were created by the Makers a group of mutant humans. These Makers are apparently the creators of the Inheritors and now their bitterest enemies. The Gorilloids kill all the mutants and take the gorillas captive. They are to be brought back for the Makers to continue their experiments in creating cyborg apes. Only Brutus manages to use their hatred of the Makers to turn them to his side. Now with the tanks of the Inheritors and the help of the Gorilloids he can conquer the city.

Meanwhile Jason, Alexander, Malaguena, Lightsmith and Gilbert continue on in the Viking ship. They meet up with Steele Dan and Gunpowder Julius who are taking munitions to a fortress. Seems the Assisimians are on the warpath after Brutus killed their leader. Gunpowder gets them to settle the fight with him and Jason against two to the best Assisimians. They win and make peace with the Assisimians vowing to help them track down Brutus. Later at the feast they hear that the Lawgiver is dying so go off. They arrive in time to see a new peace officer sworn in just as Brutus’s army attacks. In a subplot young Thaddeus a 13 year old Orangutan who went to the Forbidden Zone to find a cure for the Lawgiver, stumbles on the lab of the Makers located in the library.

“Monkey Business in the Editorial Offices”
By John Warner

An editorial on how the Battle adaptation is so different from the movie because it uses the shooting script which was significantly altered from the final movie. Also starting in issue 30 a third series would start involving Derek from the Island story. Alias this was not to be since the series was cancelled with issue 29.

“I Say if it Looks Like an Ape, Talks like an Ape, and Walks like an Ape.. It is an Ape!”
By Jim Whitmore

An article on how to walk like an ape in costume with photos by Freff. This was demonstrated by William Blake and Paula Crist. As I have stated they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas on articles.

“Conquest of Blood!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Virgil Redondo

Breck and his mutant army starts shelling Ape city. A shell knocks out Caesar and the others flee. Breck then starts to play with Caesar with his flamethrower. Only Caesar manages to fight back and use the flamethrower to blow up the ammo truck. This rallies the other apes and they drive back the mutants as Aldo and his gorillas attack from the rear. At the end Caesar orders them to halt but Aldo wants to continue on and kill all humans and threatens to kill Caesar.

So the Terror installment is coming along to an exciting conclusion. I loved the introduction of the Gorrilloids and the Makers as new characters. I know they had grand plans for a new direction but sadly the series would soon be cancelled.

The Battle adaptation is quite different from the movie. I personally like it since its like a new story. The flamethrower welding Breck was not in the movie. A great series that is sadly coming to a close.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #36

“Beware the Hyrkanians Bearing Gifts…!”
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema

Conan comes riding back to Aghrapur the capital of Turan. He rides right up to King Yildiz who is inspecting his sorry looking palace guard. The horse collapses dead and Conan also collapses from exhaustion. This impresses Yildiz who wants Conan for his guard. So Conan settles in and trains in all the aspects of warfare. When not training he is having an affair with Amytis the wife of the King’s adviser. One day a gift arrives from one of the newly conquered city-states. A stone head that matched a statue from another conquest. Yildiz places the head on the statue and it comes alive. Conan notices that the priest who brought it is controlling it and throws his ax to kill the priest. The adviser wants to sent Conan north to fight the rebellious hill tribes after he notices how much concern his wife shows the barbarian.

So Conan decides to come back to Aghrapur and finds himself in the palace guard. A fun story that gives Conan time to learn many of the finer points to civilized warfare. I love his time training with the bow. He finds it an unmanly weapon and the scene with the heckling Turanians is priceless. It starts with a quote from R.E.H.

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.

So needless to say the Turanians learn a hard lesson. So Yildiz is finally shown and he is one weak fop. He now wonders if his ambitious son didn’t try to kill him with the statue. So Karim Bey finally figured out that Conan is cuckolding him and that should make for an interesting story. I think Conan’s time in the Turanian army is coming to an end.

PELLUCIDAR #1

“Fear on Four Worlds Part III”
Writer: Mike Wolfer
Artist: Cyrus Mesarcia

Abby and Ethan have just met up with Dian and Tanar. They have no time the explain as a giant ant breaks through the ground. They flee to the safety of the forest. Shortly later the Va-gas come through a portal. So the four find shelter in a cave and explain what happened to each other. Its decided that Abby and Ethan can get back to Caspak through the tunnels. As they try to reach the tunnels they are ambushed by Horibs. These lizard-men riding giant toads attack but must fight the Va-gas that attack them. Only the Va-gas are not used to the heavier gravity and lose the fight to the Horibs. The Horibs go after Dian and Tanar while another group decides to pursue Abby and Ethan through the tunnels.

So the next installment of the shared universe saga sees them in Pellucidar. They get to battle the Horibs which were a favorite of mine from the series. They take some time to talk about how they can learn the language of all these worlds so quickly. They theorize that these worlds have some type of telepathy. I like that this is addressed. It ends with Abby and Ethan going back home and Dian and Tanar in danger from the Horibs. Sets up nicely the end of this series and a continuation of the next Pellucidar series.

LEGENDERRY RED SONJA #2

“Untitled”
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artist: Aneke

Years ago Elizabeth was the girlfriend of Victor Von Frankenstein. His creation was angry at Victor for killing the love of his life so for revenge the creature snapped the neck of Elizabeth and tossed her out the window. Apparently Victor used his science to bring her back. Sonja finds this fascinating and agrees to help her track down Victor. They find his ship which almost crashes into Sonja’s ship. Sonja uses a tracker she fires with a rocket launcher to track the ship. The trail abruptly ends because the ship is also a submarine. It surfaces and sinks Sonja’s ship. Victor now has the two prisoner and commands Captain Nemo who is now an undead monster to retrieve them.

So we get some background on the origin of Elizabeth and why she is an undead creature. Victor has also now taken over the Nautilus and Captain Nemo is an undead creature. We still don’t know the big picture of Victor’s plan but there is still plenty of time. I am enjoying this new take on Sonja. She seems to not have any of the tragic baggage that she does in the Hyborian reality.

THE WARLORD #6

“Ballad Part VI”
Writer: Mike Grell
Artists: Dameon Willich and Tim Burgard

Morgan and his army arrive at Thera. There they fight the undead army of Deimos. Unfortunately fighting the undead has its drawbacks. For every one the undead kill then it rises and joins the undead. So Morgan’s army is decimated. After Petrius dies charging Deimos, Morgan calls a retreat. As they recuperate more troops join lead by Machiste, Mariah and Ashir. As Morgan goes to contemplate what to do his daughter Jennifer approaches him. She says he must sacrifice himself to defeat Deimos. So later Morgan offers to surrender himself to Deimos. At the surrender site Morgan jumps into the lake. He comes out with the Hellfire sword. The sword is the only thing that kills Deimos. With him dead the sun returns and his undead army disintegrates. The epilogue has Tinder talking with Tara about the bright future when he finds out his hero has once again left. In disgust he breaks his lute.

The final entry to the mini-series. It brought all the characters together. It had Morgan once again defeat Deimos and save the world. It also had him once again run away from his responsibility. This was an enjoyable series. It was a leisurely stroll down memory lane for this wonderful character. I remember enjoying having the Warlord back. One thing I was upset about was Grell didn’t take this opportunity to reunite Morgan and Tara with their son. I thought this was a great opportunity missed. Still lucky for us the saga of the Warlord was not over.