Marvel Apes

Marvel Apes is a four-issue limited series by comics publisher Marvel Comics which started publication in October 2008.^[1] The series is written by Karl Kesel with art by Ramon Bachs and covers by John Watson.

Marvel Apes
Cover of Marvel Apes 1 (Nov, 2008), art by John Watson
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Bi-weekly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	November — December 2008 February 2009 ("0" issue)
No. of issues	5 (four-issue limited series followed three months later by a "0" issue)
Creative team
Written by	Karl Kesel
Artist(s)	Ramon Bachs
Letterer(s)	Jared K. Fletcher
Colorist(s)	Javier Mena Guerrero
Editor(s)	Thomas Brennan Joe Quesada Stephen Wacker

The Marvel Apes reality is designated as Earth-8101.^[2]

Premise

Marvel Apes was first suggested as a successor to Marvel Zombies by artist and fan Mark Walsh during a convention Q&A session with Joe Quesada.^[3] As with Marvel Zombies before it, Marvel Apes takes place in an alternate universe, in this case a simian-dominated counterpart to Earth-616 that hosts anthropoid versions of popular Marvel superheroes and villains.

As with the introduction of Marvel Zombies in Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Marvel Apes universe is visited by an existing Marvel character, in this case Gibbon.^[4] He is accompanied by a female scientist named Fiona Fitzhugh in what has been described by Kesel as a "The Lord of the Rings-style sprawling epic".

Plot

Martin Blank, the Gibbon, having been restored to his simian appearance, is left with his personal life in shambles. His attempts to side with the heroes are frustrated by his ineptitude and even Princess Python, previously a caring and deeply devoted wife, is now fed up with the meek loser that Gibbon has become. Out of boredom and depression, he replies to an ad posted in the Daily Bugle by Fiona Fitzhugh, a spunky and cheery young scientist hoping to study the nature of super-powered individuals. Upon hearing that Gibbon had his powers since birth (as opposed to the majority of mutants who gain their mutation during puberty), Fiona analyzes his aura and hypothesizes that Gibbon may come from another reality in the Multiverse. While attempting to contact such a reality, Fiona and the Gibbon are sucked into a portal that takes them to a world populated by intelligent simians. Gibbon manages to help Spider-Monkey and the Ape-Vengers, simian versions of the Avengers, subdue Doctor Ooktavius, and he is inducted into the Ape-Vengers. Fiona is sent to ask for Reed Richards' help in returning to Earth-616; she discovers that in the Marvel Apes reality the cosmic storm that gave the Fantastic Four their powers also gave a human appearance to Susan Storm.

Gibbon is at first excited to become a member of the Ape-Vengers, but after witnessing the brutal lynching of Doctor Ooktapus, he questions the Ape-Vengers methods. Meanwhile, Fiona and the ape Mr. Fantastic are able to recreate a gateway back to Earth-616. Captain America then reveals that he is actually the simian counterpart of the vampire Baron Blood, who in this reality was able, by sampling Captain America's blood in the forties, to take over his appearance and powers. The super-soldier serum also removed Baron Blood's vulnerability to sunlight. After turning the Invaders into vampires as well, Blood became the leader of the Ape-Vengers and uses their bloody lynching of supervillains as a way to feed.

Gibbon, with the help of a cadre of dissident heroes, finds the real Captain America, still frozen in ice, and thaws him to lead the last free heroes against their vampiric foe. Baron Blood and the vampiric Invaders are destroyed, but the portal is destroyed after Gibbon, Fiona, and the ape version of Speedball are sent through. Recovering from the battle, they prepare for the possibility of residents of the ape universe finding another way into their reality.

Sequel

Further information: Marvel Zombies (comic book) § Marvel Apes

Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution, a sequel that pits Earth 2149's Marvel Zombies against their alternate meta-simian equivalents entitled, was released, as well as four other one-shot issues: Speedball, Amazing Spider-Monkey, Grunt Line, and Prime Eight.

Collected editions

Title	Material collected	Published date	ISBN
Marvel Apes	Marvel Apes #0–4, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #110–111	April 2009	978-0785139140
Marvel Apes: The Evolution Starts Here	Marvel Apes: Amazing Spider-Monkey, Marvel Apes: Grunt Line, Marvel Apes: Prime Eight, Marvel Apes: Speedball	October 2009	978-0785139911

In other media

The Marvel Apes incarnation of Spider-Man, known as the Spider-Monkey, appeared in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He is depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Forces.^[2]

See also

• Gorillas in comics
• JLApe: Gorilla Warfare!, a concept by DC Comics similar to Marvel Apes
• Larval Universe, another alternate Marvel earth home to animal versions of superheroes