Beware the Planet of the Apes #1: The Woman

What do you think of when you think of monkeys? Curious, cute little humanoid creatures swinging about vines without a care in the world or simian savages who are lawless in their ways? Beware the Planet of the Apes, written by Marc Guggenheim and illustrated by Alvaro Lopez, depicts the creatures as entirely different from what we may expect, with them taking the roles humans are more inclined to take in a biological atmosphere.

In the first issue of the series, which supposedly serves as a prequel to the original film, we are introduced to various characters within the Planet of the Apes universe. The story begins when the highly advanced apes, who ride horses and wear a sleek armor set, arrive at what looks like a general’s observation, “another human settlement.” After spewing some discriminatory species dialogue, he commands his band to get a hold of all of them.

When she trips over a tree branch, a human woman runs into the chaos, scared for her life. A far less aggressive chimp named Lucius offers to help her. Reluctantly, she lets him find her a place to hide while the general, General Ursus, comes right around the corner, asking him who he is talking to. Lucius successfully gets the general off his back and calls out for his newfound friend to escape hiding. As he turned around, he met instead with a tall, looming shadow that had just heard his business.

In Ape City, Zira, Lucius’s relative, asks Cornelius if he knows anything about Lucius’s whereabouts. Cornelius doesn’t know anything but volunteers to ask around, which takes him to converse with another chimp who was part of the hunt more than a day ago. The hunter suspects that Cornelius may have been helping a human evade capture. He asks the hunter where Lucius was last seen, taking him to another panel set.

He ends up crossing paths with the human Lucius was trying to help. He asks her where the young one went, and she points to the Forbidden Zone.

The story continues with Zira and Cornelius heading into the Forbidden Zone illegally with the help of the humans to find Lucius. Regarding the first issue, it’s exciting to see a mystery and work being put towards solving it, giving it a solid back to continue for the rest of the series. If the prequel comics are anything like the films, the series can be expected to be action-packed with various elements and could, quite frankly, be one of the most notable comic series of the month. Talk about starting the year off well.