With the release of War For the Planet of the Apes — the third in 20th Century Fox’s successful reboot of their venerable science fiction series — on the horizon, it’s vital that we remember just how game-changing director Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 original film was.
That picture, co-written by The Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling and based on the novel Monkey Planet by Pierre Boulle, opened up a world of barbarism, humanity, nuclear warning, adventure, horror and thought-provoking science fiction that the world immediately latched onto. Planet of the Apes spawned four sequels, a TV series, an animated series, a myriad of comic books and merchandise (it was perhaps the first film franchise to be mass-saturated on everything from lunchboxes to bubble gum cards to toys).
RELATED: All the Planet of the Apes Movies Ranked
Add to that list Titan Books’ latest Apes release, Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone, a fully authorized collection of 16 stories based in and around the original Apes universe, filled with the kind of violence, wit and intellect that coursed through those first five films.
Authors included in the book are Dan Abnett, Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Beard, Nancy Collins, Greg Cox, Andrew E.C. Gaska, Robert Greenberger, Rich Handley, Greg Keyes, Sam Knight, Paul Kupperberg, Jonathan Maberry, Bob Mayer, John Jackson Miller, Ty Templeton, Will Murray and Dayton Ward. Each tale explores a different drama within the post-apocalyptic world, treating readers to unique visions and non-stop action.
We have a few copies of Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone to give away (SLP $14.95 USD). To win email [email protected] with the words YOU’VE FINALLY MADE A MONKEY OUT OF ME! in the subject line.
Winners will be chosen at random. Good luck!
And if you’re not a gambler, you can buy Planet of the Apes: Tales From the Forbidden Zone here.
And be sure to catch War for the Planet of the Apes when it hits theaters this summer on July 14, 2017.
