Planet of the Apes Fanzines

Especially in the pre-internet era, fan-created magazines were the only way for devoted Planet of the Apes fans to share their opinions of the movies, their questions, their knowledge, and to find ways to buy, sell or trade their Apes merchandise. The official Marvel Comics magazines and comics went some way towards addressing the wants of these fans but there was an extended gap in fandom before the Apes fanzine phenomenon really got under way. Arguably, the first Planet of the Apes fanzine was the typewritten-and-xeroxed newsletter of the UK-based 'Planet of the Apes Fanclub' issued at semi-regular intervals during 1976 and 1977. Although this newsletter had the style and substance typical of fanzines of the era, it was published by an officially-licensed fanclub. Also of note is a Planet of the Apes-themed issue of a UK fanzine-type publication called Comics Unlimited, issued in 1975 or 1976. Including a detailed chronology of the Apes movies and TV series by Nigel Brown along with some impressive original artwork, it seems to have been one particular issue of a more general comics-themed fanzine.

It wasn't until 1991 that the first genuine English-language Apes fanzine was launched, inspired partly by the persistant rumours of a new movie from 1988 onwards, and more directly by the revival of the comics franchise by 'Adventure Comics' between 1990 and 1993. Through the letters pages of Adventure's regular Planet of the Apes comic series, fan Terry Hoknes first suggested starting an Apes Fanclub in April 1991, and that September announced it's launch with plans for a bi-monthly newsletter highlighting Ape-related news, articles, reviews, artwork, pen pals, and Ape memorabilia, and inviting other fans to send info, articles and original art. The Saskatoon-based International Planet of the Apes Fan Club produced issue #1 of its Ape Chronicles fanzine in December 1991 and continued regularly until 1999. After a hiatus it was revived in 2004 and 2008-2010. Early issues featured a 40-episode original comic strip starring the ape 'Veetus', created by 'chief consultant' (and, at times, principal writer) Jeff Krueger, who also provided much of the early original cover art. Issue #20 featured cover art submitted by sci-fi writer Martin Wixted shortly before his untimely death (prior to publication). Later issues saw the quality and page-count evolve and advance in line with new technology. The International Fan Club maintained a presence on the internet for many years from 1998.

In the December 1991 issue of Adventure's Apes comic, Cypress, California-based brothers Mark & Tim Wasylyszyn responded to Hoknes' original letter with plans to start their own newsletter. The result was a second fanzine, Ape Crazy, which ran for seven issues in 1992-1993. Dave Merritt was assistant editor on the later issues. Ape Crazy mixed reviews of the comics and films with Apes and other sci-fi news. It also included reprints of two Brown & Watson comic strips, courtesy of Jerry W. Brown; Ship Of Fools (retitled Adventures on the Planet of the Apes) and Pit Of Doom (retitled Trouble on the Planet of the Apes). Ape Crazy collaborated closely with its 'sister publication' Ape Chronicles under the 'International Fan Club' banner during its existence, and the Wasylyszyn twins continued to write for Ape Chronicles subsequently. By either an odd coincidence or a very obscure tribute, the Planet of the Apes Game for PC produced in 2001 included, as part of its back-story narrative, the recorded announcement that "the remaining battalions of the human resistance army stationed in New Cyprus and Saskatoon were attacked" and had been defeated - these first two Apes revival fanzines were based in Cypress and Saskatoon.

The excellently-titled Sacred Scrolls fanzine was first published in 1994, with Illinois high school student Zaki Hasan as editor and Brian Belluomini as designer, and was distributed to a subscriber base of forty or so. It featured articles, original fiction, and even comic stories by Hasan, but didn't make it past two years, mainly due to financial losses. However, Hasan maintained an interest in Apes and contributed to the 2015 book The Sacred Scrolls: Comics on the Planet of the Apes. Brazilian Planet of the Apes fanzine Century City News, meanwhile, created by Luiz Saulo Adami, also included some original comic strips in it's Portuguese-language publications from 1985 onward. One of the most highly-regarded Apes fanzines was Apesfan. Despite editors Joe Lozowsky and George R. Reis only publishing two issues (the first in 1997), the impressive quality and content set a high standard worthy of the most professional fanzines. The 60-page second issue (1999) was a 'Special Edition Tribute' to Roddy McDowall, who had recently passed away. Largely due to disappointment with the 2001 Planet of the Apes re-imagining, Lozowsky and Reis lost interest in taking Apesfan any further.

In the absence of the above fanzines, a group of UK-based fans headed by John Roche, Dave Ballard and Alan Maxwell launched issue #1 of Simian Scrolls in the summer of 2000. This very professional fanzine took inspiration from the format of Apesfan, while its founders had been regular contributors to Ape Chronicles during its first run. Simian Scrolls has continued to be published at irregular intervals since (issue #21 appearing in May 2020), featuring interviews with cast and crew members and well-researched articles. It has run original comic strips including Ape Kingdom: The Hermit by John Roche & Wayne Tully, Beauty in the Forbidden Zone by Ian Ward & Roy Mitchell, Rider From The World's End by Mike McColm and Janet of the Apes by Dave West.

Issue #1 of The Forbidden Zine was published in 2010 by Australian Apes fans Michael Whitty and Neil Foster, who had been involved with the later run of Ape Chronicles. Using Marvel Comics' 1970s Planet of the Apes Magazine as a blueprint, The Forbidden Zine was a high-quality, full-colour magazine centred on a full-length original comic adventure titled Planet of the Apes Begins, mixed with articles and interviews. It was distributed through the Yahoo Planet of the Apes Discussion Group and received special mention in the August 2010 issue of 'SFX Magazine', but a planned second issue didn't materialise.

As the 2000s progressed, websites and internet chat groups provided a cheaper alternative to printed fanzines and contributed to a general decline in publication frequency, or a switch to virtual publishing. Online fan communities such as the original 'POTA Yahoo Group' and the spin-off 'POTA Discussion Group' - among many others - also allowed unprecedented interaction among fans and collaborative creative projects. These in turn were supplanted by social media fan groups, with a much wider membership but with arguably less focus on original content, and Yahoo chat forums were formally wound-down at the end of 2019.

External Links

• UK Apes Fan Club Newsletters at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• Ape Chronicles Issues #1-50 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• Ape Crazy Issues #1-7 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• Apesfan Issues #1-2 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• Simian Scrolls Issues #1-21 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• The Forbidden Zine Issue #1 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive
• Simian Scrolls interviews at Planet of the Apes - The Television Series
• Planet of the Apes: The Forbidden Zone facebook group