Tracers: The Ape Cover Limit

I have read in several different places that Julius Schwartz had a file in his desk which proved that DC comics featuring apes on the cover sold better in general than comics without simians.  I believe that Schwartz even mentioned this in his autobiography, Man of Two Worlds.  It has also been claimed that to avoid overexposure, the number of ape covers was strictly limited by DC management to one per month.

This latter claim has never made a lot of sense to me.  If your objective as an editor or a publisher is to sell as many comic books as you can (and I suspect that is, or ought to be the goal), then why would you refrain from doing something that has been proven to work in the past?  And DC generally published 30 comics a month, would two gorilla covers really saturate the market?

So I decided to take a look at the matter.  I started with 1960 and used the DC Indexes Time Machine to look at all the covers for a given month quickly.  Note that the default option is for comics on sale in a given month, not cover dates.  It seemed reasonable to use that option, since the concern was not to have to many ape covers on the newsstands at once.

First observation: If DC was worried about saturating the market with similar covers, it sure doesn't show.  In 1960, as many others have noted, DC had an almost endless variety of covers featuring aliens, monsters and dinosaurs.  It was not until looking at comics on sale in April that I located an ape cover:

Okay, so it's a gorilla; I suspect that Schwartz meant ape as a very generic term.  The next month featured one of DC's most famous apes:

After an absence of apes in June, July included an alien ape:

DC then resisted the siren call of the apes until December:

Strange Adventures thus becomes the first series to hit two apes in one year.

And then came 1961.  I am astounded to report that I can find no comics that went on sale from DC in that year which included apes, gorillas, or monkeys on the cover.  There appears to be only one sensible conclusion; at this point, Schwartz had not yet developed his evidence about simians on the cover boosting the sales.

In January 1962, Grodd made his first cover appearance:

This is further evidence that Schwartz had not yet discovered the link between sales and gorillas, as Grodd had appeared four times already inside the comics.

The following month saw the debut of Bizarro Titano:

After three months's hiatus, a simian was prominently featured on the cover of Batman Annual #3:

And once again, there was a gap all the way to March 1963.  You might think it would be hard for Tomahawk, a revolutionary-era hero to encounter an ape.  You would be wrong:

In June of that year, we got one of the classic ape covers:

Let me tell you, if an gorilla is sliding into third base, it's a pretty brave fielder standing there waiting for the throw.

Grodd popped up on the first Flash Annual in August:

And the Great White Ape appeared in October's Star Spangled War #111 that same month, the first time we've seen two in the same calendar period.

But that's it for 1963.  Monsieur Mallah appeared on the cover of Doom Patrol #86 in January 1964:

Tomahawk's giant ape returned in May:

But then there was another gap until November when Jerry Lewis #86 featured a King-Kong type cover.  In December there were two ape covers: Hawkman #6 and Fox and Crow #90.

By this point I was getting pretty skeptical.  Out of 60 months and about 1800 comics, only 16 covers had featured an ape or a gorilla.  And 1965 was not much different, with only two ape covers.

Ah, but then came 1966, and suddenly the African invasion.  In January, came Strange Adventures #186:

In February there were two covers:

And Monsieur Mallah appeared on the cover of Brave & Bold #65.

After a couple months gap, an ape popped up on Sea Devils #30 in May, and Bob Hope #100 in June.  Nothing for July, but August saw Hawkman #16, September had King Colosso yet again in Tomahawk (this time shooting a bow and arrow no less), October had Jimmy Olsen marrying a female gorilla, and November's Showcase #66 had Bwana Beast duking it out with an ape.  All told, there were nine different covers with the simian theme in 1966.

And if you think about it, it makes sense that the editors at DC were pulling out all the stops that year.  Although the company as a whole did well with Batmania, the gains were very uneven.  Batman sales skyrocketed, but the Superman-related titles all dipped as did many other books.

In 1967, there were seven more ape-featured covers, with only two coming in one month: September had Jerry Lewis 103 and Plastic Man #7.

Overall impressions:

1. The number of ape covers do not seem excessive.  However, there certainly was a jump in 1966-67; those two years saw as many of those covers as had been seen in the six years previous.

2. There is little evidence for a hard and fast rule against two ape covers in one month.  There were three months where apes did appear on two covers.  I suspect that the real edict was not to overdo it.

In 1968, the number of simian covers did drop, at least until this series launched:

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Fantastic Four Fridays: Apes on the Moon!

I'm skipping ahead a few issues to get in a post for "Ape Week" as suggested by Silver Age Gold, although I will go back and do issues 11 and 12 in the next two weeks. Note that although this story features apes prominently, they do not appear on the cover.

As the story begins, there is an explosion in Reed's laboratory. He has discovered a new source of energy that will enable Americans to reach the moon ahead of the Soviets. I need hardly mention that the "space race" was in full swing by this time, with President Kennedy proposing a goal of reaching the moon before the end of the decade. Reed's source:

The latter incident refers to the famed Tunguska event of 1908, although the current theory is that it was a comet that hit the earth, and not a meteor. Reed traveled to Meteor Crater in Arizona and obtained a bit of the meteor's fragments, which contained his super-fuel. Reed resolves to make the trip alone, but you know how that idea went, and eventually he had to agree to take the whole team.

Meanwhile, we learn that the "Reds" are also working on the project. And they have some non-human workers:

He also has a babboon and an orangutan on his team. Kragoff knows that the FF derived their powers from cosmic radiation, and thus he intends to gain powers from his trip to the moon. The two missions blast off simultaneously.

The gorilla gains super-strength and the orangutan has magnetic powers, while the baboon can mimic anything (including inanimate objects). The Torch, who has flown over to inspect the communist ship (using a special suit that provides oxygen), observes the human/ape crew and their new powers.

The FF land in the "mysterious blue area" of the moon. This turns out to be the remnants of some past civilization, although there is a newer crystal dwelling that seems inhabited. It also conveniently has a breathable atmosphere, meaning that the FF won't have to wear bulky spacesuits.

Reed, Sue and Johnny head off towards the crystal dwelling, while Ben lumbers behind them. He encounters the three apes and Kragoff, who is now going by the moniker the Red Ghost. The name is apt as he is able to turn invisible and dematerialize. But as they are battling, a stranger shows up:

He explains that his home world is one vast computer, and that other Watchers such as he are spread throughout the galaxy, recording information (and presumably sending it back to the computer). They reportedly only watch, and never interfere, although subsequent appearances by the Watcher raise questions on that score. Since the FF and the Red Ghost and his apes are determined to battle, the Watcher sends them to another area where they will not involve his residence.

The Red Ghost strikes first, freezing Reed and:

Kragoff takes off with Sue. We also learn that perhaps his and the apes' powers are greater than those of the FF because they did not try to shield themselves from the cosmic radiation, and therefore were exposed to it for longer. Reed decides he will have to use brainpower and stays behind to examine the scientific equipment while Ben and Johnny attempt a frontal attack. Meanwhile, Sue has freed the apes from the prison where the Red Ghost is keeping them when they are not in use.

Reed creates a paralysis ray which holds the Red Ghost still. The Watcher proclaims the FF the winners in the battle, and mentions that he will still be watching, but from further away than the moon. But the apes manage to free the Red Ghost; will they now team up against our heroes? Nope:

Comments: A highly entertaining story. For the most part the FF stayed away from battling the communists, unlike some of the other Marvel characters (especially Iron Man). The ending is well-seeded with earlier scenes of Kragoff's brutality towards his apes.

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