Throwback Thursday: A Young Boy, Poised To Return to The Planet Of The Apes...

Teaser art by Salvador Larroca

The House of Ideas may have lost the rights to Conan The Barbarian, after regaining them briefly, but now they've recaptured another part of my childhood: the Planet of The Apes franchise.

I have distinct memories of, as a kid in the 1970s, reading the weekly black-and-white British reprint magazines that ran the original Marvel comic stories along with "behind-the-scenes" articles, such as the one that has stuck in mind: 'how to walk like a chimpanzee'.

Trust me, ten(ish)-year-old me was mad for this stuff, and it's one of the most vivid memories remaining from my childhood. I can recall exactly where I was - with my mum at an outdoor café on The Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells - when I read that particular article.

As an imaginative kid - who lived largely inside his own head - with no concept of canon, continuity, franchises etc, everything got smooshed together in my brain with Star Wars, Charlie's Angels and other - long forgotten - elements of my childhood to make one glorious, breathless, experience.

Is it any wonder that my main hobby is now playing and running games that seek to emulate the sensations of thrilling excitement, heroism, and danger that this amalgamated universe of pulp adventure planted in my absorbent young brain?

Sure, there have been other Planet of The Apes comics, from different publishers, over the years, but none have had the lingering impact of those first Marvel stories I read all those decades ago.

And now the comic book adventures of the various apes and humans are coming back to where I first discovered them.

On the official Marvel news site, editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski is quoted as saying:

"The new saga in the pipeline is going explore the limits of what this beloved franchise has to offer through bold comics storytelling, and we look forward to setting foot on this new adventure!"

Starting in 2023, Marvel will be publishing a new line of stories based on the Planet of The Apes franchise, as well as collections and reprints. 

So, hopefully, I'll be able to read again the life-changing article on "how to walk like a chimpanzee".