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Posted by Rich Handley, Mar. 30, 2011
UPDATED: Follow-up question added, in red.
Ever since news first surfaced regarding BOOM! Studios' upcoming Planet of the Apes comic-book line, fans have wondered what it would be about, in which era it would be set, which incarnations of Planet of the Apes (the classic films, the TV series, Tim Burton's remake, Rise of the Apes, etc.) it would involve, and so forth. Precious little information could be gleaned, however, other than that the title—which follows in the footsteps of previous POTA efforts by Marvel, Malibu's Adventure imprint, Dark Horse and Mr. Comics—would be written by novelist Daryl Gregory (author of The Devil’s Alphabet and Pandemonium) and illustrated by Carlos Magno, with covers by Karl Richardson and Chad Hardin (click here to view some of Hardin's preliminary versions of the cover to issue #1). Now, fans can get a taste of what to expect when the first issue hits stores in April. In this exclusive interview, Gregory reveals details about his plans for the series.
Click on the images at right to view larger versions.
HASSLEIN BOOKS: What can you tell us about BOOM!'s new Planet of the Apes comic series? Will it be an ongoing monthly or a miniseries—and if it's an ongoing run, will you just write the opening arc, or will you remain with the title beyond that initial storyline?
DARYL GREGORY: This is an ongoing series. I've planned out a year of stories, and I'll happily keep writing as long as BOOM! (and the fans) will let me.
HASSLEIN: How did you become involved with this series? Did you approach BOOM!, or did the company initiate contact? And did BOOM! have a specific story in mind, or were you allowed to conceive and develop the full storyline yourself?
GREGORY: Last year, I started scripting Dracula: Company of Monsters for BOOM!, with a story by Kurt Busiek. I'm still writing it, and it's been a fantastic first experience in comics. Then one day, Matt Gagnon, BOOM!'s editor-in-chief, called me and said they were going to do a new book on Planet of the Apes, and was I interested in doing that, too?
Long story short, I was extremely interested. I'd been a fan of the movies since I was a kid. And then Matt told me we could use anything in the classic mythology, and set the story at any time period. By the next day, I had an outline to him.
We have a story that has an epic sweep to it. A large cast of characters, a sprawling city, war, politics, murder, philosophy, economics, destiny... and, of course, apes on horseback, beating the hell out of humans.
HASSLEIN: In addition to your background as a novelist, you've also been a code writer, a high school English teacher and a technical writer. Interestingly, I've been a high school English teacher as well, and like you, a significant portion of my writing has been technical in nature. I wonder what that says about Planet of the Apes writers, given our similar backgrounds...
GREGORY: I think it says that we'd rather be writing Planet of the Apes stories. But who wouldn't? Is there anything more fun?
HASSLEIN: Nope!
GREGORY: I'm still brand new to comics, so I consider myself a science fiction writer who's stumbled into a terrific side job. I've been a fan of comics since I could read, and it's been a thrill to learn how to tell stories in this medium.
 HASSLEIN: The unexpected announcement of this new comic a mere three months before its release, and half a year before the release of Rise of the Apes, took POTA fans by surprise. How long has this series been in development, and how did it manage to remain under the radar, given the renewed attention POTA has received of late thanks to the upcoming film?
GREGORY: I'm not sure how long BOOM! has been talking to Fox, but Matt called me sometime in November. I suppose it remained under the radar because none of us blogged about it.
HASSLEIN: What will the title of your opening story arc be? What can you reveal about that arc in terms of story details without BOOM! banishing you to the Forbidden Zone? In what era does your story take place, how long before or after Battle for the Planet of the Apes is the comic set, and what is the state of humanity at this point, societally and developmentally?
GREGORY: The first arc is called "The Long War." It's set in 2680 A.D., 600 years after the events in the last movie, but before Taylor arrives in 3954. It's a few years after the Lawgiver's coda in Battle, where he talks to the children about living in an age of peace and harmony between humans and apes. [ED. NOTE: The coda in question took palce in 2670, setting this series a decade after the film's Lawgiver scenes.] But when has anyone, anywhere, lived in an age of peace and harmony?
The species have been living side by side since the nuclear war 600 years earlier. The ape-human civilization, after many setbacks, is finally back to steam-age technology. There are factories, airships and steamboats, and the possibility to do more. Apes are definitely the upper class, but humans are not yet mute savages roaming the forests.
The key question is, if the Apes universe is a closed time loop, what happened? Why is it that when Taylor arrives 1,300 years later, ape society is practically agrarian, and humans are in such a fallen state? We're going to start providing some possible answers.
The main story is about that long war. It starts with an act of violence that disrupts the status quo of the society, which leads to insurrection, which leads to ape-human war. We can follow this story for years, as war sweeps across the planet. (And yes, we are talking about the entire planet—it's not just Ape City and the Forbidden City. Hasn't anyone wondered what the apes are doing in, say, China?)
HASSLEIN: POTA fandom has long been split over the question of whether the Apes films form a closed, circular loop or represent alternate histories. One camp cites the crying Caesar statue as evidence that things will go bad after Battle, as well as screenwriter Paul Dehn's stated intention to portray history as being circular, with Battle leading to Planet and back to Battle again. The other notes discrepancies between Cornelius' historical account in Escape and what actually happened in Conquest and Battle, as well as dialog from Hasslein and Virgil indicating the lanes can be changed. What made you decide to follow a closed-loop model for your storyline? And how would you reassure those who believe Conquest changed history entirely, in the hope that they'll give the series a chance?
GREGORY: I should have elaborated. The key part of my answer is the "if" in "if the Apes universe is a closed time loop." It may not be. I don't think the series needs to decide that. From the characters' point of view, they don't know if the future is hardwired.
However, plenty of readers know what "happened" in the future, in at least one timeline—the most vivid one. That's the big threat that hangs over the series—how will the humans avoid being slaves? Will the apes turn away from technology or embrace it? Those questions are still valid, whether we're in a close-loop universe or not.
(By the way, it's interesting that Hasslein talks about multiple timelines, but he acts as if Cornelius and Zira's appearance is going to definitely cause the apocalypse they describe. He doesn't realize that they've already changed the past by arriving here. Or that his own actions may cause the apocalypse to occur.)
HASSLEIN: How extensive is your knowledge of Planet of the Apes lore beyond the films? Are you familiar with the TV series and cartoons? The previous comic books? Pierre Boulle's original novel? The more obscure tales, such as the Power Records audios and the British hardcover annuals?
GREGORY: Oh no, you will not draw me into your contest, Rich! Compared to you, I'm a piker. I've watched the films many times (and I've been rewatching them lately, as you might expect). But besides reading the Marvel comics when I was a kid, I haven't read anything else, watched the cartoons, or looked to other media. And once I started working on this project, I didn't want to see them. We're treating the five films as canon, and nothing else. I didn't want to be influenced by what other writers had done with this world. I also didn't want to find out that my clever ideas had already been used.
HASSLEIN: What does BOOM!'s license allow you to incorporate? Are you forbidden, for instance, from utilizing concepts or characters from the TV series or Marvel's comics if you ever chose to do so?
GREGORY: My main concern is being true to the continuity and themes of the films. It may be that I'm forbidden from using other characters and concepts from outside the films—but I haven't asked to do anything with those.
HASSLEIN: Will your comics dovetail at all into the new continuity created by Rise of the Apes? Does BOOM! have that license as well, in case it decides to publish Rise-related comics in the future—either an adaptation of the film or spinoff tales?
GREGORY: This series is strictly the classic chronology, and we're not going to try to tie in to either the Burton film or the new reboot. And that makes my job a lot easier!
HASSLEIN: How much input have you had with regard to artwork? Has this been a very collaborative project, or have you and the interior and cover artists worked separately, with little interaction?
GREGORY: Carlos Magno does beautiful work, and he's definitely brought his own aesthetic to the Apes universe. Just wait until you see his gorillas! And how textured this world is!
But the process has been very collaborative, among me, Carlos, and our editor, Ian Brill (who, by the way, is a major POTA fan), the other folks at BOOM!, all the way up to the publisher, Ross Ritchie. We're building something from scratch, showing a world that definitely fits in the classic Apes universe, but shows an era we've never seen before. So we've had to talk about everything—dress, architecture, tools and weapons, body shapes, and even mood.
We've gone through many drafts of the script, multiple drafts of the layouts and character designs, even multiple takes at the color palette. This seems to be a labor of love for the whole team.
HASSLEIN: Finally, why do you think Planet of the Apes has endured for four decades, while other series have had less staying power? And conversely, why has POTA remained more of a niche franchise compared to larger, more mainstream mythos, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and so forth?
GREGORY: Planet of the Apes has persisted because it was never just about apes versus humans. The first movie had such a strong sociopolitical message. And more than any other SF franchise, the movies want to talk as explicitly as possible about the problems of the day: racism, feminism, war and so on. This new BOOM! series continues that tradition. It's about what we're concerned with today. Well, at least what I'm concerned with.
I don't know if there are any good reasons why it's not a larger franchise. And all that could change with the next movie. Look at Battlestar Galactica—would anyone have put them in the same ballpark as Star Trek or Star Wars before the TV series came out of nowhere?
And of course, this comic book could change everything. All we need is for a few million people to buy it, and we'll make franchise history!
Rich, stop looking at me like that.
Special thanks to BOOM! Studios marketing director Chip Mosher for his assistance in arranging this interview.
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