Ape-Ril Special #1 – John Layman, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Gene Luen Yang, Writers; Karl Mostert, Phil Hester/Eric Gapstur, Bernard Chang, Artists; David Baron, Dee Cunniffe, Marcelo Maiolo, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The title says “In This Issue: Apes,” and it’s exactly what it says on the tin. Three oddball stories featuring DC’s top Simian heroes and villains. Let’s see what awaits us!
“Plan of the Apes” by Layman and Mostert features a battle for the ape kingdom following the arrest of Gorilla Grodd—with Mallah, Ultra-Humanite, Titano, and lesser-known rogues Jackanapes and Silverback making their move. Mallah, who has recently broken up with The Brain (by killing him), delves into a mysterious book called “The Monkeynomicon,” which launches us into a strange noir tale involving the villains, Sam Simeon of Angel and the Ape, Detective Chimp, and Monkey Prince. These characters get their own solo stories later, but they all factor into the main story—an oddball adventure involving both high-stakes combat and some of the most ridiculous characters DC has ever created. Mallah actually comes across as a real threat this issue, and the odd trio of heroes has a great dynamic together. Layman is an expert at combining the absurd and the genuinely good in comics.
Next up, “Detour” by Fialkov and Hester turns the focus on Detective Chimp. It’s been a long time since Fialkov wrote anything for DC, but after reading this I definitely want to see more. A man who just committed a (maybe justified?) murder stops to pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be our Chimp detective, and a strange game of cat and mouse begins as the increasingly paranoid man becomes convinced that he’s about to be found out. This is a surprisingly human tale, with a fascinating look into how Bobo understands the human condition.
Finally, the creative team of Yang and Chang reunites for “A Call To Arms,” following up on the Monkey Prince series. Picking up after Marcus’ arm was stolen by Mallah and co, he finds his arm acting weird—because the mad scientists aren’t done. Eek-Gor, Mallah’s evil assistant, is working with Ultra-Humanite to clone the arm for nefarious purposes, and this is complicated, of course, by the fact that the giant ape is Marcus’ evil grandfather. This is a light, funny epilogue to this surprisingly good series of oddball stories.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
