Planet of the Apes #16: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #15 is cover-dated March 1976:

The cover image originally appeared on Marvel's Planet of the Apes #13.

Terror on the Planet of the Apes Phase 2: The Magick Man's Last Gasp Purple Light Show, originally published in Planet of the Apes #13, October 1975

Two People Who Are The Planet Of The Apes Part II, originally published in Planet of the Apes #13, October 1975

Escape from the Planet of the Apes Part 1: Upward to the Earth, originally published in Planet of the Apes #12, September 1975

Escape from the Planet of the Apes Part 2: Strangers in a Stranger Land, originally published in Planet of the Apes #13, October 1975

The contest in this issue expires 31 January 1976. Clearly this doesn't tally with the cover date. It doesn't even tally with the contest expiry date on the previous issue, which was 28 February 1976 for a January 1976 cover-dated issue. Consider also that the only in-house advertisement is for Daredevil #1, which has a January 1976 cover date, and the letter column appeared in other issues cover-dated February 1976, and this issue skipped a month in its schedule - so something clearly went awry.

There is no poster in my copy, nor are there any pages missing. 

Planet of the Apes #15: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #15 is cover-dated January 1976:

The cover image originally appeared on Marvel's Planet of the Apes #12.

The contents are as follows:

When The Lawgiver Returns..., originally published in Planet of the Apes #11, August 1975

Planet of the Apes: Fashions, originally published in Planet of the Apes #4, January 1975

The People Who Are The Planet Of The Apes:, originally published in Planet of the Apes #12, September 1975

City Of Nomads, originally published in Planet of the Apes #12, September 1975

[When the Lawgiver Returns...], originally published in Planet of the Apes #11, August 1975

Outlines Of Tomorrow: A Chronology of the Planet of the Apes, originally published in Planet of the Apes #11, August 1975

When The Lawgiver Returns... is a 23-page chapter. There are 22 pages in the Newton edition. Sort of. The missing page is printed after City of Nomads. It should be page 17 in this Newton edition. Page 17 is a letter column.

Outlines of Tomorrow is a non-comics feature. The original issue has this feature interrupted by a comics feature and continued towards the end of the magazine, ending on a double-page spread. It appears this was the intention. The Newton print is not interrupted in this manner, but it nevertheless does not manage to incorporate the required double-page spread in this instance.

The contest in this issue expires 28 February 1976.

Planet of the Apes #14: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #14 was published 13 December 1974:

The cover is a composite of three separate images from the issue. The main image is from page 51:

The first inset image is from page 68:

The second inset image is from page 66:

The contents are as follows:

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes [Chapter 4: The Island Out Of Time] originally published in Planet of the Apes #10, July 1975

As detailed in my post on Newton's Planet of the Apes #13, the first page of this chapter was printed on its own, with a TO BE CONTINUED advisory note. It is continued in this issue with a modification to the introductory page:

A title panel has been inserted at the expense of the detail in the original panel from as per Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10 page 23:

I repeat my advice: If you want to read Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes seek out a copy of Newton's Planet of the Apes #NN/[19].

[Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes] Chapter 5: Battle, originally published in Planet of the Apes #10, July 1975

On Location: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, originally published in Planet of the Apes #9, June 1975. This is a non-comics feature, and omits two pages of photographs.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part VI [V]: The Children Of The Bomb

You will recall that in Newton's Planet of the Apes #13, only the first 5 pages of Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part V: The Children of the Bomb were reprinted, to be continued in this issue. The chapter does continue in this issue, but it omits the 6th page, being page 51 of Planet of the Apes (Marvel) #10:

And begins with a retitled and mistitled Chapter VI:

The original page 57 from Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10 looks like this:

Do I really need to repeat my advice...?

The Hell of Holocaust, originally published in Planet of the Apes #11, August 1975

Finding the Future on the Fox Ranch!, originally published in Planet of the Apes #10, July 1975

The contest in this issue expires 26 January 1976.

As the cover proudly boasts this is the New Giant Size Monthly Edition. This format would prevail for the remainder of the series. However, unfortunately, the monthly frequency would not endure.

This issue was advertised in-house: 

This is scanned from The Silver Surfer #4.

PS 12/1/19: Some new information has come my way about the publication date of this issue. As it is related to other issues I will update this post when I've sorted through the new information.

Planet of the Apes #13: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #13 is cover dated November 1975:

The cover image is a composite of two interior panels. The main image is from the splash page of the first story:

The inset image appears on Page 43 of the following issue, Planet of the Apes #14:

The banner overlaid over the inset image with The Children of the Bomb title is adapted from the title on page 25:

The contents are as follows:

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Part III [Part II Chapter 3: The City!]

This is how the title page for this story appears in Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10: 

This is replicated in Newton's Planet of the Apes #NN[/18]. However, if you compare with the scan of the same page as printed by Newton in this issue, you can see the story numbered Part III rather than Part II, and the Chapter 3: The City subtitle removed completely. This is a flow on effect from errors due to crude chopping of chapters in preceding issues. Such crude editing continues in this issue - the next story is

[Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Chapter 4:] The Island Out Of Time

This is indeed the chapter which follows on from Chapter 3, but the buggers have decided to reprint only this single page of the chapter in this issue - see the TO BE CONTINUED note on the bottom of the page. Of course, this will lead to further flow on effects in the next issue. This chapter also originally appeared in Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part V [Part IV]: The Children of the Bomb

This chapter has been titled thus by Newton, as per the scan above of the first page of this story. However, it is the merely the five pages of Part IV which were left out of the printing of that chapter in Newton's Planet of the Apes #12. And to make matters more confusing, the reprint of the story doesn't stop there - it actually proceeds to reprint the bone fide Part V - or rather, the first 5 pages thereof - and omits the designation of Part V in that chapter as it has already been used. Yes, it's as confusing as that sounds, so let me illustrate with scans. This is from Newton Planet of the Apes #13:

And this is from Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10:

In other words, Newton have effectively contrived a new Part V which consists of pages from the original Part IV and Part V. Reading Beneath the Planet of the Apes in the Newton editions is a mug's game - seek out the original issues instead. However, the complete Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes is perfectly fine in Newton's Planet of the Apes #NN[19].

The poster in this issue is of The Man-Thing:

The contest expires 12 January 1975. Given this is the third consecutive issue in the series to be cover-dated November 1975, and the 12 January 1976 expiry date for the contest, it is quite possible this issue was delayed and published early December 1975. 

Planet of the Apes #12: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #12 is cover-dated November 1975:

The front cover is a composite of three separate images from this issue. The image with Brent screaming Stop--!! is from the bottom of page 9:

The image of Brent and Nova is a detail from the last panel on page 23:

The image of Zaius, Ursus and the army is from the bottom of page 27:

The contents are as follows:

[Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part IV]: The Horror Inquisition

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes [Chapter 2: Arrival]

Both stories originally appeared in Planet of the Apes #9, June 1975.

The Horror Inquisition chapter contains the first 21 pages of the 26 page story.

Arrival is 4 pages only, continued from Planet of the Apes #11. 

The crude chopping up of the stories into segments seen in previous issues continues in this issue. The first page of Arrival in the Newton edition includes a Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes title:

However, in order for this to be accommodated, once again a panel is sacrificed. The difference this time is that rather than deleting the first panel on the page, the second panel is deleted. This is the relevant page from Marvel's Planet of the Apes #9:

The first panel was probably favoured because it contained a caption box which oriented the reader to some degree.

The poster is a poorly miscoloured print of the cover to Newton's Conan the Barbarian #5.

The contest in this issue expires 29 December 1975.

This issue was advertised in-house:

This is scanned from The Silver Surfer #3

Planet of the Apes #10: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #10 is cover-dated October 1975:

The cover image originally appeared on Marvel's Planet of the Apes #10.

The contents are as follows: 

Beneath the Planet of the Apes [Part Two: Enslaved!], originally published in Planet of the Apes #7.

The first 7 pages of this story were published in Newton's Planet of the Apes #9. This print omits the opening panel on the first page in order to include the advisory note "continuing the epic marvel adventure BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES!":

The missing panel is on page 58 of Marvel's Planet of the Apes #7. 

Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part II [Part III]: The Warhead Messiah, originally published in Planet of the Apes #8.

Only the first 12 of 21 pages are reprinted in this issue. The story continues in Planet of the Apes #11. Having neglected to print the full and accurate title in the previous chapter, Newton deemed The Warhead Messiah to be Part 2 of Beneath the Planet of the Apes: 

It is in fact Part 3. This would have a flow on effect in subsequent issues. 

The poster in this issue is an edited print of the cover of Newton's Dracula #1. The swap card has the cover of Newton's The Amazing Spider-Man #7, and is numbered Series A (1 of 15) No. 7.

The contest expires 1 December 1975, so the likely publication date is 18 October 1975.

Planet of the Apes #9: The Newton edition

The cover to Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #9 originally appeared on Marvel's Planet of the Apes #7.

The contents are as follows:

Beneath the Planet of the Apes [Part 1]

Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part Two: Enslaved!

Both stories originally appeared in Planet of the Apes #7.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes [Part 1] is incomplete. Only 19 of the 20 pages are reprinted in the Newton edition - the last page, on page 26 of Marvel's Planet of the Apes #7 is omitted.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part Two: Enslaved! is also incomplete. Only the first 7 pages are reprinted. It is continued in the next issue.

This issue contains a Ghost Rider poster and a swap card featuring the cover to Newton's The Incredible Hulk #2. It is numbered Series A No. 2.

As per the previous issues in the series, this issue does not have a cover date. The contest in this issue ends 17 November 1975. This suggests a publication date of 4 October 1975 as per other such issues. The next issue is also cover-dated October 1975.

Planet of the Apes #11: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #11 is cover-dated November 1975:

The cover image is sourced from the splash page to the opening story:

The cover is slightly modified - the space capsule on the splash page is to the right of the title caption, whereas on the cover it takes the place of the title caption.

The contents are as follows:

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Chapter 1: The Trip 

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Chapter 2: Arrival 

[Beneath the Planet of the Apes Part III]: The Warhead Messiah 

The two Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes chapters were originally published in Planet of the Apes #9, June 1975. Only the first 6 of 10 pages of Chapter 2 are reprinted. The complete story was subsequently published by Newton in Planet of the Apes #NN[19].

The Warhead Messiah instalment continues from Planet of the Apes #10. It was originally published in Planet of the Apes #8, May 1975. Only pages 64-71 of that issue are reprinted.

The poster in this issue is a recoloured version of the cover to Newton's Conan the Barbarian #6.

This issue was advertised in The Fantastic Four Giant Size 84 Page Annual:

The contest expires 15 December 1975.

One of the more intriguing comments in all of the Newton letter columns occurs in this issue. To quote: "...a STAGGERING, NEW range of pocket-size monthly mags" are announced, and they are named as Vampire Tales, The Savage Sword of Conan, Monsters Unleashed, and Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. The pocket-size editions did not eventuate. Indeed, Giant Size monthly editions of these titles - or their proxies, in the case of Vampire Tales and The Savage Sword of Conan - would hit the stands in December. And, in a few years time, Yaffa would fulfil the wish for digest-sized editions of many Marvel titles. But the announcement does shed some light on the extent to which Newton was reconfiguring their line in terms of page count and cover price, as announced in subsequent letter columns.

PS The notice re: pocket size comics also appears in the letter columns in Planet of the Apes #9 and #10.

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #NN[18]

This is the cover to Planet of the Apes #NN[18]:

The cover image is a composite of two panels. The main image is from the first panel on page 41 of this issue:

As per the 125% bromide note above the image has been enlarged, and otherwise modified (the ape's spear is closer to Derek on the cover image than in the original panel).

 The second image of the gun wielding ape is from the last panel in Planet of the Apes #9 page 27:

The story contents are as follows:

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Chapter 1: The Trip

[Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes] Chapter 2: Arrival

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes Part II Chapter 3: The City!

[Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes] Chapter 4: The Island Out of Time

[Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes] Chapter 5: Battle

Chapters 1 and 2 were originally published in Planet of the Apes #9, June 1975.

Chapters 3-5 were originally published in Planet of the Apes #10, July 1975.

According to the GCD, Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes was originally intended for an Annual, but was reformatted for publication in two consecutive issues. For this reason, Chapter 3 is also the beginning of Part II. 

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes  had previously been published by Newton in Planet of the Apes #'s 11-14. The chapters were chopped up in various configurations to fit the page count of individual issues which led to unfortunate surgical events such as the splash page above being the last page of one issue, and the story continuing in the next issue without the splash page. 

Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes was also serialised in the UK Planet of the Apes series.

To the best of my knowledge, the first time Kingdom On An Island Of The Apes was published in full in a single issue was in this issue. Presumably it has been collected since, but I haven't come across a record of it in the GCD.

The non-comics content in this issue are as follows:

Simian Visions: The Written Worlds of the Apes, originally published in Planet of the Apes #19, April 1976

The Man Who Sold The Planet Of The Apes!, originally published in Planet of the Apes #5, February 1975

Exclusive Interview With Marvin Paige Planet of the Apes #7, originally published in April 1975

The Remaking Of Roddy McDowall, originally published in Planet of the Apes #8, May 1975

Knowing Your Place On The Planet Of The Apes!, originally published in Planet of the Apes #8, May 1975

Knowing Your Place On The Planet Of The Apes! is incomplete in this issue. Two of the pages are  printed out of sequence as standalone images, whilst two others are omitted altogether.

The non-comics content accounted for almost half the pages in this issue. The reprinting of a previously published story and the collation of a mass of previously unused non-comics material suggests the inventory of new material was well and truly exhausted.

This issue contains no issue number, no comics-related in-house advertising or competition or letter column. The only advertising is for pop music magazines on the inner and rear covers. 

Thanks to Mark Muller for advice re: the 125% bromide note.

Update 28/1/2019: In the original post I designated this issue #NN[19]. Given the new information to hand re: the post-August 1976 period I have now amended the issue number to #NN[18].

Planet of the Apes #NN[19]: The Newton edition

This is the cover to the final issue in Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes series:

The cover image is a composite of two interior panels:

The story contents are as follows:

Escape from the Planet of the Apes [Part 4]: In The Cradle Of A Father's Sins, originally published in Planet of the Apes #15, December 1975

Escape from the Planet of the Apes [Part 5]: When The Calliope Cries Death, originally published in Planet of the Apes #16, January 1976

Escape from the Planet of the Apes Part 6: But Who Shall Inherit The Meek?, originally published in Planet of the Apes #16, January 1976 

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes Part 1: Slaves, originally published in Planet of the Apes #17, February 1976

The centre of the book contains the following two non-comics feature articles:

Man The Fugitive, originally published in Planet of the Apes #7, April 1975

Interview With Dan Striepeke, originally published in Planet of the Apes #5, February 1975

The GCD and other sites reference But Who Shall Inherit the Meek? as And Who Shall Inherit the Meek? Planet of the Apes #16 refers to the story as "And..." on its index/title page, even though it is "But..." (or, strictly speaking, "but" in lower case) on the story page. There is no such title page in the Newton printing, so But it is.

Slaves is a 21 page story - only 16 pages are reprinted in this issue.

Man the Fugitive is a 7 page feature in Planet of the Apes #7 but it is only 6 pages in the Newton edition - the first page has been dropped, seemingly for the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu in-house advertisement which precedes this feature. 

Planet of the Apes #17 advised that the next issue would contain In The Cradle Of A Father's Sin. On the basis of the inclusion of this story in this issue, it stands to reason that this unnumbered issue would be the 18th issue in the series. 

However, as counterintuitive as it is, it is now evident that this issue was actually preceded by Planet of the Apes #NN[18], which compiled the previously published instalments of Kingdom on an Island of the Apes.  This post originally had the issue number designated #NN[18] but given the new information to hand concerning the post-August 1976 period I have amended the post to reflect the issue number as #NN[19].

Planet of the Apes #17: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes #17 is cover-dated August 1976 and is the final numbered issue of the series. Two unnumbered issues followed. There was also an Annual.

The cover image originally appeared on Planet of the Apes #14.

The story contents are as follows:

Terror on the Planet of the Apes Phase Two: Up the Nose-Tube to Monkey-Trash, originally published in Planet of the Apes #14, November 1975

Escape from the Planet of the Apes Part 3: Trouble In Paradise Lost, originally published in Planet of the Apes #14, November 1975

Dreamer In Emerald Silence, originally published in Planet of the Apes #15, December 1975

The following non-comics feature is included:

Shaping A Simian World, originally published in Planet of the Apes #14, November 1975

Dreamer in Emerald Silence is a 28-page story. However, Newton buggered up and effectively made it a 29-page story by duplicating page 67 in the middle of the story, after page 78 which contains an in-house ad: 

Page 25 advises that "Terror on the Planet of the Apes continues in issue #18 with: "The Society of the Psychedrome!"" This story was not published by Newton.

Page 52 advises "Next issue: In the Cradle of a Father's Sins." This was published in the unnumbered 19th issue of Planet of the Apes.

This issue includes a 2-page letter column, a competition (no expiry date) and in-house advertisements. The Dracula advertisement above features a pre-production image of the forthcoming unnumbered Dracula issue (more on this in a later post). An image of the cover of Planet of the Apes #17 - without the date/issue number information or the poster/contest/price banner - is also included:

The Newton Comics reader in August 1976 had cause to expect the line would continue for the foreseeable future -  the letter column proclaimed changes to formats and announced new titles, the competitions were still in place - in other words, an editorial hand was evident with plans for the future in place. This would change very shortly.

Newton Comics' Dracula #12: Another Dracula Lives! connection

Newton Comics' Dracula #12 is cover-dated February 1976, and features a cover illustration which  originally appeared on the cover of Marvel's Vampire Tales #4:

A few years after Dracula #12 Page Publications published an Australian edition of Vampire Tales #4:

The contents of Dracula #12 are as follows:

The Lady Who Collected Dracula, originally published in Dracula Lives! #9, November 1974
Scarlet in Glory!, originally published in Dracula Lives! #9, November 1974
The Scars Of Dracula, originally published in Dracula Lives! #9, November 1974
A Night In The Unlife!, originally published in Dracula Lives #9, November 1974
Twice Dies The Vampire!, originally published in Dracula Lives #9, November 1974
Dracula A.D. 1972, originally published in Dracula Lives! #10, January 1975
The Blood Book, originally published in Dracula Lives! #10, January 1975
A Vampire Stalks Melrose Abbey, originally published in Dracula Lives! #10, January 1975

This issue also includes a colour poster of The Hulk based on the cover to Newton's The Incredible Hulk #13, and a number of in-house ads, a letter column and a contest.

On the one hand, Dracula #12 is directly related to the template set by Dracula Giant 100 Page Annual - it features a front cover based on a Vampire Tales issue, whilst the contents are an orderly albeit incomplete presentation from two consecutive issues of Dracula Lives!

On the other hand, continuity-wise, it is more closely related to Dracula #11 - The Lady Who Collected Dracula is Part 2 of Last Walk on the Night Side. Of course, there are as many stories from Dracula Lives! #8 in Dracula #13 as there are in Dracula #11... And in terms of continuity, the Dracula Annual precedes Dracula #11... Indeed all three issues could have been titled Dracula Lives!

Identifying the contents of Newton comics is one thing. Explaining the whys and wherefores is quite another.

Newton Comics' Dracula Giant 100 Page Annual: Speculations, second-guesses and reversed images

This is the front cover to Marvel's Vampire Tales #1:

The image was reversed in Page Publications' Vampire Tales #1:

The reversed image appeared a couple of years earlier in Australia, on Newton Comics' Dracula Giant 100 Page Annual:

The contents of this issue are as follows:

Fear Stalker, originally published in Dracula Lives! #4, January 1974

This Blood Is Mine!, originally published in Dracula Lives! #4, January 1974

In Search Of Dracula: A True History of Dracula and Vampire Legends, originally published in Dracula Lives! #4, January 1974

Look Homeward, Vampire!, originally published in Dracula Lives! #4, January 1974

A Duel Of Demons, originally published in Dracula Lives! #5, March 1974

Night Flight To Terror!, originally published in Dracula Lives! #5, March 1974

A Death in the Chapel!, originally published in Dracula Lives! #6, May 1974

Yes, Virginia, There IS a Real Dracula (Undead and Well in Wallachia), originally published in Dracula Lives! #6, May 1974

Shadow Over Versailles, originally published in Dracula Lives! #6, May 1974

Although the cover is from Vampire Tales #1, the contents are unrelated to that series. In fact they are an orderly albeit incomplete resume of the Marvel Dracula Lives! series. The first two stories had already been published in Dracula #11. The Dracula Lives! title on the cover of Dracula #11 suggests Newton was gearing up towards a comprehensive restaging of the Dracula title from a predominantly Tomb of Dracula-based title towards a Dracula Lives!-centric title. This is partly true - even though the preceding 11 issues of Dracula did contain a rather random selection of Dracula Lives! and Vampire Tales content, the subsequent Dracula issues featured a larger portion of Dracula Lives! reprints, even as it continued with the Dracula title on both the cover and indicia.

Dracula Giant 100 Page Annual has a January 1976 cover date. This places it neatly between Dracula #11 (cover date December 1975) and Dracula #12 (cover date February 1976). I note however that the competition expiry date in Dracula #12 (21 February 1976) is a week earlier than the expiry date for the competition in the Dracula Annual (28 February 1976). I expect this is due to the longer shelf life of an Annual compared to a regular issue. but it is also symptomatic of problems in the Newton offices in December 1975/January 1976.

Consider also why it was necessary to publish the Dracula Annual in the first place. I mentioned in my previous post that Dracula #11 was the first of the new monthly editions with an increase in price and page count. The increase was significant - basically double the page count and price. Dracula #11 was lumbered with the stresses of both a page increase and a fortnightly schedule - it was the first monthly edition, but it filled the slot originally reserved for a 44-page fortnightly issue. Given the first two stories in the Dracula Annual are also the last two stories in Dracula #11, it appears likely that Fear Stalker and The Blood is Mine! were dragged into urgent service for Dracula #11 to help fulfil a higher page count at the expense of the next Dracula/Dracula Lives! issue scheduled for January 1976. This may have had a flow-on effect as those two stories were already prepared for the January1976 issue, at which point it was decided that in order to compensate for the duplication, extra pages would be added to the January 1976 instalment, which caused the page count to balloon to 100 pages, and voila!, a 100-page Annual was born! Pure speculation on my part, but it does account for the duplication of the stories and the interruption to the schedule of new, monthly numbered issues - and maybe it also accounts in some way for the contest dates.

Dracula #12 did indeed proceed to reprint Dracula Lives! stories - but that's a story for another blog post.