Daily Archives: 15 September 2011

Ploog looks so loose in his portion of this issue, I’m wondering if he didn’t have inking help. The art’s still good… it’s just not of Ploog’s usual caliber when he’s inking himself.

The group—the human, the ape, the girl—are sitting around in the President’s secret residence in Mount Rushmore. Their guide has electricity and it’s all very post-apocalyptic, realizing what was before stuff.

It’s a good story. Moench is a lot more interested in that aspect of Planet of the Apes than the ape society. Maybe because no one ever concentrated on the realization stuff in the movies.

The Escape adaptation continues. Moench’s script is good. He doesn’t pause on the jokes, waiting for a smile, he just includes them. It makes it a lot smoother than otherwise.

Rival keeps caricaturing, even when the villain appears. It just makes the villain look more evil, which works.

Ploog’s back on the original story with Moench, continuing their long-term storyline about the human and his ape friend. Moench’s heading West, into the congenital United States, and it makes almost no sense. I’m pretty sure the imagery has shown the Golden Gate bridge in Apes land at one time or another. I don’t think anyone ever worked out a map, just winged it.

Moench’s trying not to wing it. Besides moving very fast, it’s interesting to see. Post-apocalyptic, but not exactly.

And Ploog has eased the art a little. Some luxurious ink washes, but not all. It’s excellent, but indistinct.

Whereas Rival’s art on the Escape adaptation is distinct but not excellent. His caricature approach brings out the absurdity—his government bureaucrat meeting is all officials with their eyes bugged out—and it fits the story. When the tone changes, of course, hopefully Rival will get serious.