If there's anyone out there who still doubts the significant impact that The Planet of the Apes had on popular culture (even well into the 80's), then they should look no further than the May 1981 issue of The Unexpected #210 which contains this crazy tale with a sensationally monkey-brained twist! I mean, this is what DC horror was all about for a kid like me, voraciously reading these magnificent monster mags back in the day, hard earned allowance spent on over the top, wild 'n wooly weirdness as one would only expect from --The Unexpected! And happy Friday Frights everyone, pull up a Carpathian jungle vine and grab a banana, it's time to go ape—and batty!
From out of the Carpathian night comes the anguished howl of the Ape-Bat on his
ReplyDeleteeternal quest for the blood of the undead! For rancid as it may be, this serum slakes his thirst as if it were Sunny Delight!
Don't miss the pulse-pounding first issue of Ape-Bat! On sale now from The House of Ideas! Exclamation!
This story is absolutely bananas. I love the panel where the ape gets staked. My only disappointment with this tale is that despite the fangtastic cover art for it, we actually see very little of the ape as a vampire and when we do, it's as a very normal looking bat (!) Ah, villagers. They'll stake anything they find to be abnormal. Guess it's not possible to acquire another ape to train?
ReplyDelete"A vampire ape that killed only vampires? Ridiculous!"
ReplyDeleteYou know you're in trouble when even ignorant Bosvanian peasants are panning your post. And I don't see what's up they guy's butt, anyhow. This was a great story! I've been wondering what happens to different animals when vampires bite them ever since I was five years old. Of course apes--but also cheetahs and wasps and elephants and especially rhesus monkeys. Only rarely does someone come along with any kind of answer, mostly about ducks or dobermans. I loved this one.
TGIF already!
PS, ...oh yeah! I almost forgot bunnies!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to DC 70s-80s horror books, I tend to want to concentrate on the art, which is uniformly always good. Story, eh, it's DC pre-code horror.
ReplyDeleteThe ape/vampire fight is a lot of fun, and the muted colors (lots of blues and purples) help the fight stand out with the bright yellow backgrounds. Lot's of fog-covered streets, and the vampire is predictably the suit and cape variety. It's got great atmosphere.
A lot of work went into this, not a lot of skipped backgrounds and the sketchy art sells it. A nice piece of work and a fun read.