Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Planet of the Apes #1: The Yaffa Edition


Under the strictest criteria the Yaffa edition of Planet of the Apes #1 does not quite qualify as a facsimile of the U.S magazine, for it does not include the endpaper photos and Table of Contents, nor Roy Thomas's editorial Road to the Planet of the Apes, nor, of course, the various ads and subscription notices... But it does include virtually everything else, including the three text articles complete with black and white photos: Escape from the Battle of the Planet of the Apes: An Overview of the Apes series by Gary Gerani; The Face of the Planet of the Apes by Ed Lawrence; and Rod Serling Recalls by David Johnson. They may not be reprinted in the same sequence as the U.S magazine, but the layouts are identical, and they are dutifully flanked by the two main features - the Prologue and first two chapters of Terror on the Planet of the Apes, and the first instalment of the movie adaptation.

This issue was published in 1978 with a 50c cover price. Yaffa recycled this issue a few years later with a $1.10 cover price and no issue number.

I'm pretty sure Yaffa didn't publish any other POTA comics, but would be happy to be proven wrong.