For my latest installment of Nexus Graphica, I discuss one of my favorite topics.
| Quote: |
| As I grew up, I discovered I was not alone in my love of the comic book ape. The first appearance of an ape in a comic book dates back to the beginnings of the medium with the initial Fantom of the Fair story in Amazing Mystery Funnies Volume 2, Number 7 (July, 1939). The mysterious Fantom defended the 1939 New York World’s Fair from all sorts of menaces including a giant ape. The Fantom would appear sans simian in the next thirteen issues of the comic with his name eventually being changed to Fantoman. |
| Quote: |
| It wouldn’t be until May, 1951 that a gorilla would grace the comic book cover. Strange Adventures #8 ushered in a new era, the Gorilla Age of Comics. The editors at DC soon realized that comics with ape covers far out sold other comic books, sometimes twice as much. Ape covers became so prevalent that the publisher actually had to limit the number of covers that could feature gorillas. |
Alongside the apes, I also review The Homeland Directive, Orbital 3. Nomads, Orbital 4. Ravages, and The Jack Kirby Omnibus Volume One Featuring Green Arrow.
The Funny Book Ape was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon