Tarzan of the Planet of the Apes TPB Review: Grand

One of the most famous sci-fi movie series ever is “Planet of the Apes.” Many people only know the first one with Charlton Heston and the newer movies, but the 60s/70s gave birth to four sequels and a TV series. Add Tarzan into the mix and things start getting confusing. Comic writers David Walker and Tim Seeley combined these two franchises and created “Tarzan of the Planet of the Apes” with art by Fernando Dagnino and the result is pretty awesome.

It is an Earth where Tarzan is being raised by Zira and Cornelius from the “Planet of the Apes” movies and their son, Caesar, is Tarzan’s brother. Here, time and space are going out of control as dinosaurs are somehow in 19th Century Africa and it’s up to Tarzan and Caesar to save their home.

One of the great things about this story is that it like it belongs with the other “Planet of the Apes” movies. In fact, it’s easy to imagine this being made into a movie back in the 60s/70s when the franchise was at its peak. It may seem weird at first that Tarzan of all characters would be in the franchise, but the whole “he can talk to apes” thing makes it a bit more believable.

Another strong aspect is that Walker and Seeley take the time to develop the relationship between Tarzan and his family. There is a strong bond between these characters and it is fleshed out nicely.

Of course, once you deal with time travel and alternate universes, you will hot paradoxes. The reason given for the cause of the paradoxes feels a little weak. If you’re familiar with the “Planet of the Apes” series, you’ll find the cause and the reason to go against everything the movies establish.

Dagnino’s art looks awesome. The ape designs are true to the movies and Tarzan looks great. Not to mention the colors set the tone for the comic nicely. It comes up better whenever there’s a lot on the page. The only negative is that some of the humans aren’t all that interesting and it’s hard to tell which “Tarzan” ape is which.

“Tarzan of the Planet of the Apes” takes a silly idea and makes it grand with great story and art. While there are some shortcomings, these do not harm the comic in the least.