• Written by: David F. Walker
• Art by: Dave Wachter, Andy MacDonald (backup)
• Colors by: Bryan Valenza
• Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
• Cover art by: Joshua Cassara, Dean White
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: August 23, 2023

Planet Of The Apes #5 brings Marvel’s adaptation to a close as Juliana and Omatete split up to lead one group of apes to the CDC in Atlanta while the other takes up arms to fight to save Washington D.C.

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Is Planet Of The Apes #5 Good?

Oh, no. David F. Walker’s take on one of the longest-running film franchises in history was starting to show signs of life. But in the final issue, when the world of imagination is wide open, Walker takes the “ripped from today’s headlines” approach for the most irritatingly unimaginative finish possible.

When last we left Juliana Toben, Omatete, and their band of refugee apes, they encountered an Exercitus Viri (terrible name, so we’ll go with EV) blockade in New York Harbor. The EV attempted to board the ship but was rebuffed by apes choosing to fight. No explanation was given as to what happened with the dozen or so EV boats surrounding the refugee ships. They simply went away.

Now, Juliana and Toben make the difficult decision to split up. Omatete will take one group of apes to the CDC facility in Atlanta, per the original mission. The other group, under Juliana’s guidance, will join the military and civilian forces in Washington D.C. to stop the EV from marching on the capital.

record scratch

Yes, you read that right. The EV, a loosely connected group of armed civilians who believe the government lied to them about the cause of the Simian Flu, is planning to march into Washington D.C. to take control of the government they believe is lying to them. After reading this issue I went back to look for a caption that said the EV’s big push takes place on January 6.

I was critical of issue #1 because Walker was handed a golden egg for storytellers but botched the opportunity because he chose to turn the downfall of humanity into a presumably cathartic treatise on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Planet of the Apes fans like these stories because they want to see intelligent apes, not to learn about panicking humans treating each other badly.

Despite the arc’s rough start and the increasingly unrealistic scale of the EV’s reach and ability to take over entire countries, the story started to find its footing by focusing on the apes’ quickly evolving status as allies. The seed of an idea began to bloom when the apes’ role moved from passive to active to dominant when the humans weren’t looking, and that development gave the PotA lore a new angle worth exploring.

Sadly, the lack of issue count and a floundering start denied the seed’s time to fully bloom. So, Walker had an opportunity to end the arc on a high note with a big development or twist that would set the franchise on an intriguing path.

Instead, what do we get? A thinly-veiled take on the January 6 protests in Washington D.C. I can’t express how big an opportunity this series launch could have been for Marvel’s 20th Century imprint or how badly the lack of imagination and editorial oversight fumbled it.

What about the backup? It’s fine-ish. Pug, the world’s smartest gorilla, now made even smarter by the retro-virus, leads a small army of apes against the EV to free fellow apes and humans imprisoned by the EV.

Of course, the obvious questions remain unanswered. How are there enough apes in England to form a formidable army? Why is the EV imprisoning humans, particularly children? Why is Pug leading a human man around with a rope like a pet on a leash? The primary theme of the backup suggests the apes are better than the EV because they display compassion and mercy. Who taught apes to be merciful? Bah! Never mind.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Planet Of The Apes #5 ends the flawed series with the least imaginable chapter possible – a “ripped from the headlines” take on the January 6th protests in Washington D.C. In every way possible, Walker and Marvel misunderstood why the Apes franchise has lasted so long, and Marvel’s new 20th Century may never recover.

4/10